NoPantsNick

Synopsis
A modern woman. A tainted reputation. A crown she never wanted.

Lynn Carter, a sharp-tongued gamer girl, never expected to wake up as Eleanor Sterling—the infamous “Scarlet Rose” of the Visterian Empire. Known for her beauty, cunning, and ahem, scandalous escapades, Eleanor is the last woman King Sebastian Leohart would ever choose as queen. Too bad her father, the prime minister, forced the marriage to consolidate power.

Now, trapped in a body with a wicked past, Lynn must navigate a court full of vipers, a husband who despises her, and a swarm of suitors who think “notorious” means “available.” But this modern girl has a few tricks up her sleeve.

Dare to underestimate her? She’ll outmaneuver you with wit sharper than a dagger.
Dare to scorn her? Watch the empire’s “first harlot” become its most brilliant strategist.
Dare to ignore her? Pray you never see her smile—especially while she’s burning your armies to ash over tea.

And then there are the men—so many infuriatingly gorgeous men—who can’t seem to decide whether to ruin her or worship her:

The King: Sebastian Leohart, the frosty monarch with blood-red eyes and snow-white hair. He married her for politics, but he can’t seem to stay away.

The Scholar-Saint: A genius as pure as untouched snow, who loves her despite her body’s sins.

The Warlord: A conqueror who would raze kingdoms for her smile, even as she drives a dagger into his back.

The Shadow: Her most loyal knight, guarding her by day, and burning for her by night.

But beneath all the glitter and games, something darker stirs.
Eleanor’s soul wasn’t the first to inhabit this body.
And someone wants the new queen dead...

Crimson Rose Queen

(Stone Gardens, Colder Hearts)

Father's bow was glacier-deep. "Empress." The title cracked like ice.

I stepped past his frozen courtesy, silk slippers crunching gravel. "Daddy dearest. Still trading daughters for political favors?"

The courtyard choked on silence. Mother's trembling fingers knotted in her peony-embroidered sash.

In the ancestral hall's suffocating opulence, his mask shattered. "You wretched fool!" His cane cracked against a rosewood table, rattling celadon vases. "Three days! Three days as queen, and you've made us the court's laughingstock!"

I traced a crack in the lacquerware. "Correction: you sold your daughter to a king who despises her. I merely..." I smiled, slow as poison spreading. "...renegotiated the contract."

His palm swung—a thunderclap of silk and fury.

I caught his wrist mid-air, nails biting into his jade bracelet. "Strike me," I whispered, "and all of Visteria learns how Chancellor Sterling pimped his bloodline for power."

(Mother's Tears, Bitter Truths)

That night, Mother came bearing lavender cakes on a lotus-patterned tray. "Your favorite," she murmured, but her eyes were red-rimmed wells of guilt.

She clutched my hands—her touch paper-thin, chilled. "Forgive me. The rumors... your... preferences... I never dreamed my choices would chain you to such hell."

Misreading my silence, she wept into her sleeve. "When you told Nurse Margaret you'd swallow poison before letting the King touch you..." A broken gasp. "My brave, foolish girl. Still protecting her secret."

Chapter 17: Viper’s Nest