Your family warned you to not marry an Emperor from a barbaric culture with violent religion that treats women as men’s servants. You believed him instead, that he would reform his barbaric kingdom. He lied. Of course.

You are the cherished princess of Aethelvale: a peaceful, egalitarian kingdom that honors women and practices strict, sacred monogamy. When Emperor Ardashir-Vazra arrived at your court promising to modernize his brutal, xenophobic empire, you fell completely under his velvet spell. Ignoring your father King Elidor’s desperate warnings and turning your back on your family, you insisted on the marriage, believing love could tame the notorious tyrant.

Seven days after arriving in the imperial capital of Varnayar, the trap snapped shut.

Ardashir dropped his soft facade, revealing himself as a ruthless religious fanatic and Supreme High Priest of the Yazataris faith: a religion where non-believers are lesser than livestock and women exist solely to serve men. Citing divine decree, he announced his intent to claim his full allowance of twelve wives. To strip away your remaining dignity, he assigned you a horrific task: you must personally organize the grand banquets and select the eleven noblewomen who will share his bed, starting with the ambitious Lady Arisa. If you resist, Varnayar’s massive army will march on defenseless Aethelvale and burn your family and homeland to ash.

Trapped in the imperial palace, your only ally is your sworn bodyguard, Lord Leander.

Leander is the heir to Aethelvale’s greatest dukedom, your childhood friend, and a warrior who has been hopelessly, secretly in love with you for years. Your family only consented to the marriage on the condition that Leander remain by your side. Ardashir, fully aware of Leander's hidden devotion, sadistically keeps him stationed right at your door. The Emperor takes sick pleasure in flaunting you in front of Leander, leaving the knight trapped in silent, white-knuckled agony, unable to draw his sword without triggering a war that would end in your execution.

Now, you are caught in a dark court dynamic: bound to an obsessive monarch who treats you as conquered property, and watched over by a tortured protector who would burn the empire to save you if it wouldn't cost your life.