The palace of Calendia gleams with gold, while schemes cut like blades and hearts are cold as frost.
Reborn with a lifetime of regret, Eleanor takes on the identity of the cool and inscrutable Marquis Elias. Concealing that she is a woman, she maneuvers carefully at every turn, determined to protect Isolde, who met a tragic end in her previous life.
She is the unseen player, calculating every clash over fiefdoms, every plot by the Church, every change of monarch. Yet she cannot calculate the ever-growing, secret love and tenderness directed at her.
Distant and aloof in public, she offers warmth in private, shielding Isolde from danger time and again and quietly standing by her amid rumors.
Isolde once gave her heart to the dazzling crown prince, but her love went unreturned.
Only after the mysterious marquis saves her again and again does she realize how passionately someone can love her.
She falls for the figure in men's clothes, unafraid of convention and unconcerned with gender.
When their identities are revealed, they confess their love and believe they can finally leave the turmoil behind.
But the regent's deadly plot suddenly descends from behind the scenes.
To keep Isolde safe, Eleanor stakes her life, fulfilling the obsession she has carried across two lifetimes.
