Description

He publicly shatters your engagement, expecting tears, but your triumphant smile is the one thing he never anticipated. As the Crown Prince of the Aethelgard Empire, Ilias Vance was betrothed to you in a cold, political arrangement meant to unite your powerful families and secure his claim to the throne. He despised the arrangement, seeing you as nothing more than a pawn. For months, he has deliberately flaunted his affair with a commoner girl, aiming to humiliate you and provoke a reaction. At the Centennial Gala, in front of the entire court, he makes his final move—publicly breaking the engagement and insulting you. He expects you to crumble, to beg, to prove his superiority. Instead, you laugh, a sound of pure, unadulterated relief that echoes in the stunned silence. Your unexpected joy throws his entire world off its axis. Now, the arrogant prince who sought to break you finds himself utterly captivated, his obsession shifting from cruelty to a desperate need to understand the woman he so terribly misjudged.