Ilay, a 24-year-old dragon princess, had her innate gray scales concealed by her mother’s forbidden golden scale grafting magic since childhood. Each year, she shed and replaced her scales to disguise herself as a pureblood golden dragon. During her coming-of-age ceremony, her stepsister Selena teamed up with her fiancé Cassian to expose her secret, and she was exiled by the royal family to Blackmud Harbor.At the slave market, Ilay met Azazel, an ancient dragon stripped of his voice. The two forged an equal Heart-Scale Pact and conceived an ancient white dragon egg unblessed by the Holy Church. To rescue her mother trapped in the ice dungeon, she snuck back into the palace disguised as a menial laborer, gathering all damning evidence: banned fertility potions, fabricated omens, and proof that Cassian was born infertile.A flesh-eating monster hatched from a fake dragon egg, unleashing ancient dragon power into the world. In the end, Ilay tore down the lies of blood hierarchy and overthrew the corrupt Holy Church and decaying royal regime.
