Elia Vane, a human princess, is framed by her fiancé and her uncle, stripped of her inheritance, and sent into the Forbidden Forest as a sacrifice. Yet the forest does not reject her—the young woman awakens its life-force and becomes the first warden accepted by the forest in centuries. Deep within the forest, she meets Aethern, the "Stag King" feared and misunderstood by humans—an ancient being who guards the boundary between forest and mankind. Faced with the Crown Prince's conspiracy and the trials of the forest, Elia breaks down prejudice with courage and kindness, joining hands with Aethern to uncover the truth and protect the balance of two worlds.
