Chapter Text
In the sprawling lands of Arkendale, the sun kissed the spires of the royal castle each morning. The daughter of the realm, Millicent Romanov, was admired by both nobles and peasants for her presence, which was as majestic as the sunrise. At twenty years of age, she bore the weight of her parents' ambitions on her slender shoulders. Despite her refined appearance, Millicent harbored a yearning for something more—a life untouched by royal decrees.
Across the narrow Sapphire Sea, the lush and vibrant kingdom of Everwyn flourished. Anastasia Augustenburg, the youngest among their five children and only daughter of King Thaddeus and Queen Lyria, was the heart of her family. Anastasia had been raised in the shadow of her four older brothers' aspirations to take the kingdom. She loved adventure, possessed a strategic mind, and an insatiable curiosity about the world outside their kingdom, but she was not interested in power.
It appeared that the two princesses' paths would never meet until a precarious agreement between Arkendale and Everwyn was mediated, which required the exchange of royal heirs as emissaries.
Nothing could be more precise than Arkendale. From the neatly defined borders to the strictly enforced rules to the tested laws, everything spoke of control and order-from the towers of the capital city to the very intricate layout of cobblestone paths that wound through its busy streets. The people to whom such order represented monarchy as the very embodiment of stability made Arkendale flourish. Yet even within the beauty of the royal palace, the lone heir to the throne, Millicent Romanov, did not feel the most secure.
She'd roam around the garden of the palace, which spread across several acres of grounds with the finest flora in the land-precision-trimmed rose bushes, shimmering fountains in sunlight, and hoary oak branches that hold secret stories older than Arkendale itself. Walk silently along stone paths, and for once break away from the strict expectations of his title and privilege.
The sky was clear on this particular morning, and the cool air had a subtle lavender scent. Millicent barely noticed, though. The water ran beneath her fingertips as she sat on the brink of a marble fountain, staring at it blankly. Beside her was a letter sealed with the golden crest of the wild realm to the west, Everwyn.
Her parents had formalized their betrothal agreement weeks prior, and the letter was simply a legal confirmation. Everwyn's Prince Kael is coming to Arkendale. By securing trade, military assistance, and sharing wealth, their merger would strengthen the ties between the two kingdoms. It was a strategic match in every way.
She hated it, Millicent loathed the idea.
She had always been aware of her responsibilities as the future queen. As the only child of King Aldric and Queen Talia, she carried the weight of an entire kingdom on her own. Arkendale’s strength depended on its ability to forge alliances, and her, being the only representative for a marriage, was a crucial piece of a strategy. But it didn’t make it any easier to accept.
She had devoted her entire life to preparing for this role. Diplomacy, economics, and military strategy would take up the hours of all her days. She could recite every noble family in the kingdom along with their history by the time she had reached ten. At fifteen, she was an excellent negotiator, able to listen to the subtle notes and give a graceful response to them. Now, at twenty-one, she was fitted as a role model, intelligent, composed, and dutiful.
But she was never that perfect, perfection was just a façade. Beneath her calm exterior was a storm of frustration and pressure. She wanted more than a life dictated by duty. She wanted freedom—the freedom to follow her own path, to make her own decisions, and to travel outside the kingdom's gates.
Jagged mountains pierced the sky, and wild rivers surrounded ancient forests in Everwyn, a land of extremes. It was wild, unpredictable, and fiercely independent; its people, its rulers, and, most importantly, its youngest princess all carried these traits.
Anastasia Augustenburg, the fifth child and only daughter of King Thaddeus and Queen Lyria, had grown up in the shadow of her four older brothers. In a family full of warriors and statesmen, she had been an exception since birth. Everwyn's tough personality was embodied by her brothers, Thorne, Kael, Alric, and Rowan. They were strong, competitive, and often bold. Anastasia was quiet and calm, and her strength came from her sharp intellect and unwavering resolve rather than from her physical skill.
But in a family where one earned power and influence through deeds on the battlefield and in the court, she usually felt like an outsider.
Despite her aspirations, Anastasia, because of being the youngest, was often ignored in the family. Her brothers were intent on fighting for their father's attention and filled the royal court with their larger-than-life characters.
In the midst of their accomplishments, she struggled to find her place. Her brothers loved her fiercely, but they often treated her as a fragile flower, someone to be protected rather than included in the kingdom’s affairs.
As the youngest Augustenburg, she had always felt the weight of her family’s expectations. Her father demanded loyalty and strength, her mother wisdom and composure. Her brothers, though protective, expected her to fulfill her role as the princess of Everwyn with grace and dignity.
But Anastasia wanted more than to be a pawn in their game. She wanted to shape her own destiny, to prove that she was more than just a princess.
Every night, when castle’s peaceful and stars glinting between the peaks of mountains, she would dream of another life. A different life, where tradition did not bind her, where she would travel across the world and where she could decide for herself.
But she knew that dreaming was again dangerous, because it had less to offer along with the deeper realities of survival that in Everwyn almost always outweighed the flashes of desire.