”Lady Marie!” The scandalised tone of Madam Belrac stopped her in her tracks. ”This is hardly a proper venue! Young ladies of the Vermillion Court do not play at swordfighting on some dirt road in the middle of nowhere!” Marie sighed, long and loud. This was not her first clash with the pedantic, indomitable Madam Belrac on her journey, and it didn’t seem like it would be the last. ”I’m not playing at swordfighting, madam,” she said, as politely as she could, though her teeth were gritted. ”I’m teaching Elizaveta how she should stab a man if one should attempt to hurt her. I am after all the second daughter of the martial house of Vifort.” — Marie Ekaterina of House Vifort has always enjoyed a wild and free life in the Southlands. When the news comes that she must marry the crown prince, Marie has no choice but to leave her home and prepare to go on a journey that culminates in her being queen of their country. Even though she is prepared for the marriage to be one of political ambition and convenience, Marie is still disappointed by the aloof nature of the crown prince Alfons, who seems to have lost his heart to another woman years and years ago. But just as she resigns herself to a passionless life ahead of her, devoid of love and the things she used to love doing, a scion of another noble family appears at the Vermillion Court, stealing her heart and giving her back a will to live. Marie doesn’t know what to choose, or if she can begin to choose. Will she have to follow her fate, or can destinies be re-destined?

"So let me get this straight. You want me to pretend to be your fiancee," she said, summarising their conversation from the last half an hour. All things considered, it really was very tempting. All the same, she had one last question. "What if I say no?" She almost felt sorry for asking it, for putting that deeply troubled expression on his face. "Then I suppose I will have a rather difficult family situation to deal with." -- When waitress Lila chanced upon a cat rescue, she had no idea that would lead to a ludicrous offer from reclusive billionaire Blake: to pretend to be his fiancee for a year. She takes the offer to help him out, but are the complications from navigating his world worth it? And more importantly, will her heart survive pretending to not be in love with this aloof man?