The beautiful princess — the only heir to the throne — is forced to marry a duke twice her age.

A union decreed by the king himself, her father, meant to preserve the fragile peace within the kingdom.

But long before this wedding, her heart had already belonged to another.

Sir Kael — the knight of her personal guard, the one who saved her during the rebellion and had been by her side ever since.

Closer than anyone else, despite the laws, despite the chasm that separated them.

Between them burned a secret, forbidden, and perilous love — one that even her impending marriage could not destroy.

On the day of her wedding, Kael stands among the guards, clad in armor.

No one suspects that, at this very moment, he dreams of driving his sword into the duke’s heart and taking his beloved away — forever.

He has no right to lift his eyes toward the bride he once kissed in the darkness of her chambers, in the garden beyond the high hedges of the labyrinth, in the dim corridors where every whisper was a crime.

The princess, wearing her crown and veil, walks toward the altar — beautiful, untouchable, doomed.

She knows: it’s over.

Or perhaps... it’s only just beginning.