

To avenge her father, Vivian Gale disguises herself as a man and infiltrates the Imperial Medical Bureau, becoming the empress dowager's personal physician—while secretly plotting her downfall. Misunderstood as a foe, she faces repeated assassination attempts from Emperor Edmund Mortimer. Their clash of wits ignites unexpected feelings, until her identity is revealed. They eventually unite to overthrow the empress dowager's tyranny—and find love amidst vengeance.

When the Duke dies suddenly, his greedy brother Richard steals the title and fortune. Overnight, Cordelia—the Duke’s only daughter—is stripped of her nobility and secretly blinded in a vicious plot. To protect her commoner lover, Luke, she brutally breaks his heart and drives him away. Believing she abandoned him for status, Luke leaves for the frontier, fueled by hatred. Years later, Luke returns as Luciano Thorne, the Empire's most powerful war hero and new Duke. Meanwhile, Cordelia is trapped at home, desperately guarding what's left of her inheritance. When her uncle forces the blind Cordelia to marry a 70-year-old merchant, Luciano arrives with an immense dowry to claim her himself. Luciano intends to punish her for the ""betrayal."" But seeing her scars and suffering, his hatred turns back into obsession. As they get caught up in revenge and irresistible attraction, the truth finally comes to light. Ultimately, the feared war god bows only to her, restoring her sight and placing the ducal crown back on the woman he has always worshiped.

I was the second princess of the Phoenix Court. And I fell in love with a lowly black serpent. In my past life, just to be with him, I purposely picked that black serpent during the Sacred Bonding ceremony when we each chose our companion beasts. After that, we spent every night together. I didn't care what the whole clan thought. I was determined to marry him. But on our wedding day, that same serpent I'd given my heart to drove an arrow straight through me, killing me while I was three months pregnant. As I lay dying, I heard him hiss bitterly in my ear, "If it weren't for you, I'd have been with Seraphine by now. You should've died a long time ago." That's when I finally got it. All he cared about was power. And he'd been in love with my older sister all along—the sister who was next in line for the Phoenix throne. When I opened my eyes again, we were back at that same moment—the Sacred Bonding ceremony. Before everyone, he dropped to his knees and confessed he loved my sister. He begged not to be bound to me. The whole clan looked at me with pity. But I only smiled and pointed to a small white serpent resting quietly off to the side. That black serpent thought clinging to my sister would make him powerful. What he didn't realize was that only the one I chose would become the true heir to the Phoenix Court.