Summary
In the volatile political ecosystem of Veseria, the infant King Paul I becomes the target of a Machiavellian stratagem orchestrated by the Regent Pavlovitch. Through the agency of a loyalist bodyguard named Dimitri, the child evades a lethal strike by the henchman Stefan, surviving a regicide attempt that the public believes was successful. While Pavlovitch ascends a throne built on deception, Dimitri facilitates a clandestine transit to England, placing the rightful sovereign in the care of his biological father, Paul Verdayne. Two decades of silence pass, during which the kingdom of Veseria descends into fiscal atrophy and civil unrest under the usurper's hand. The narrative pivots when Opal, Pavlovitch’s daughter, is coerced into a sacrificial betrothal to the disreputable Prince of Argone to stabilize her father’s crumbling hegemony. Negotiating a month of solitary autonomy before her nuptials, Opal retreats to a British estate that serendipitously borders the Verdayne residence. This geographical proximity ignites a romantic entanglement that transcends mere courtship, ultimately catalyzing a geopolitical restoration that reconciles the fractured lineage of the Veserian crown.
Synopsis
An assassination attempt if made on the life of Paul I, the infant King of Veseria, by Stefan, a henchman of Pavlovitch, the Regent, who wishes to take over the kingdom. Paul's bodyguard, Dimitri, foils the plot, but Pavovitch is told the attempt was successful and proclaims himself King. Dimitri takes the boy king to England to the home of his rightful father, Paul Verdayne. Twenty years passes, and Pavovitch finds himself the ruler or a bankrupt and rebellious country. To save her father's throne, Opal, his daughter consents to becoming the bride of the Prince of Argone, an elderly man with a bad reputation. She consents but with the provision that she and her maid can first spend thirty days alone in the location of her choosing. She chooses England. And, by an amazing coincidence, she chooses an estate next to Paul Verdayne's. Their chance meeting and reunion in France changes the history of Veseria.
