ifteen years ago, the Empire's Empress Dowager colluded with the Varnes family to massacre the Northern royal family — and Princess Aurelia barely escaped with her life. Fifteen years later, she returns as "Vespera," the Dark Queen of the Blissful Underground Palace, hiding her true identity to infiltrate Saint Iron City disguised as a frail maid. Her goal: to deliberately seduce the ascetic Regent Valerius, using his power to force back her enemy Rosalind and bring about her total ruin. But when the truth is exposed, national hatred and a blood feud stand between the two of them. To save Aurelia, Valerius willingly takes the blade meant for her and is left near death. Believing her lover dead, Aurelia is taken back to the North and forced into an arranged wedding. On the wedding day, the gravely wounded Valerius crashes through the snow, presenting the empire's blood edict as his betrothal gift — willing to bow as her vassal and marry into her family. At last, the two are united.
