Susan au Goldenfyre

Craig stepped out of the Duke's private office, the heavy mahogany doors closing behind him with a dull, resonant thud.

His expression was unusually dark, his sharp brow furrowed in a rare display of quiet frustration.

Something completely outside his calculations had just occurred.

When Lady Alyse von Veraxes had previously brought up the topic of political betrothal, mentioning that her house was seeking an alliance with one of the Darkstar successors, Craig had naturally assumed she meant one of his older brothers.

The senior successors who had spent years building political leverage across the Western Continent.

He had never expected that he was the explicit target of her family's ambitions.

However, what truly threw his meticulous plans into disarray was the sudden, aggressive interference of the Goldenfyre Ducal Family.