Isoda

> They erased her name. Burned her bloodline. Left her for dead.

But Milena survived. Reborn into the heart of the empire that destroyed her, she moves through the royal courts like a shadow—silent, sharp, watching.

She has no interest in love. No patience for power games. Only one goal: make the crown remember what it tried to forget.

Then she meets him—the Crown Prince.
The man who unknowingly signed her family’s death.
The man who starts to notice her.
The man who, slowly… she can’t stop thinking about.

This is not the story of a girl who wanted to be queen.

This is the story of a forgotten heir who falls in love with her enemy… and still plans to bring down the kingdom

The forgotten blood

The footsteps above grew louder — deliberate, heavy, echoing like a countdown. Milena tightened her grip on the journal. Gareth quietly doused the lantern's flame, plunging them into thick, breathless darkness.

Milena leaned close to whisper, "Do you think they left?"

Gareth shook his head. "They're listening. Waiting."

She glanced around the chamber, her eyes adjusting. The tapestry fluttered slightly. There was a draft — a hidden way out?

She stepped closer and felt along the wall behind it. Stone… stone… then nothing.

Together, they slipped behind the tapestry and into a narrow corridor barely wide enough for them to move side by side. The journal tucked into Milena's coat thumped softly against her ribs with each step — like a heartbeat reminding her she carried her family's truth.

As they crept through the dark, Gareth whispered, "Milena… that journal said they purged your house. Do you think… do you think the queen was part of it?"

Milena didn't answer. The truth trembled on the edge of her memory. Faint flashes of her previous life flickered in her mind — a woman in crimson robes, a burning sigil, screams, betrayal.

She stopped. "Yes," she finally said. "And she knew I'd be reborn."

Gareth stared at her. "Then that means… your return wasn't unexpected."

"No," Milena said grimly, "it was feared."

Suddenly, torchlight glowed behind them.

"They're in the tunnel!" someone shouted.

Milena and Gareth broke into a run.

The chase had begun — not just for her life, but for the truth of House Eldryn. And Milena would not let history erase her a second time

Shadows Above, Secrets Below