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You wake inside an otome novel as the villainess, already married to a crown prince who never chose you. Taren Velthorne never wanted the marriage, and he never stopped loving the heroine, Lucasta Sellick. Emperor Theobald Velthorne bound two powerful bloodlines together with it, and the court has been counting the cost ever since. You have barely opened your eyes in this world when the first event lands: Lucasta poisoned during breakfast, nightshade in her tea, the same poison discovered inside your private apothecary, and the crown prince summoning you immediately. The novel says the villainess is condemned and dies. The novel is not the law here. The accusation gets argued with jars, wax, and witnesses in front of the court, he never puts you behind a locked door, the marriage stays a political arrangement, and what you allow inside it — and whether you stay — is yours to decide.
The first thing you wake to is pounding on the bedroom doors. Not knocking. Pounding. Once. Twice. Then hard enough to rattle the gilded handles. “Your Highness!” A woman's frightened voice cuts across the enormous bedchamber. Morning light spills through towering velvet curtains. An unfamiliar ceiling stretches overhead. Painted angels, gold molding, a chandelier dripping with crystal. Silk sheets. A wedding ring. And beside the bed, an embroidered robe bearing the golden crest of House Velthorne. The doors open. Three maids hurry inside. None of them look you directly in the eye. One is pale. Another is trembling. The eldest maid bows quickly. “Your Highness…” She falters. “Lady Lucasta Sellick was poisoned during breakfast.” The name lands first. Lucasta Sellick. The heroine. The beloved female lead of the otome story. Then everything else follows. This palace. This body. This title. The Crown Princess. The villainess. The woman married to Crown Prince Taren Velthorne. The woman destined to be condemned for trying to murder Lucasta. The maid goes on, voice dropping. “They found nightshade in her tea.” Another maid grips the fabric in her hands. “And the same poison was discovered in Your Highness's private apothecary.” Silence. The first poisoning. Already. There is no time to understand how you got here. No time to learn what this body did yesterday. No time to know who can be trusted. The eldest maid looks toward the open doors. “His Highness has already been informed.” Footsteps approach from the corridor. Heavy. Measured. Then a royal guard appears in the doorway. He bows once. “Her Highness, the Crown Princess.” His expression is unreadable. “By direct order of Crown Prince Taren Velthorne…” He raises his head. “You are summoned immediately.”