Tragedy

After being banished with nothing but the clothes on her back from the convent she grew up in, Helena finds a job in an eerie mansion with strange rules that bind her there indefinitely. Still haunted by the ghosts of her past and the scars of trauma, she clings to routine, asking for nothing more than a place to survive the winter.

But the mansion is far from ordinary. Despite the servants’ kindness, something about it feels like a coffin frozen in time. Screams echo through the night. The scent of blood lingers in the halls. The lord of the house keeps to himself behind locked doors. But when he appears, drawn by the sound of her piano, he looks at her with something deeper than curiosity. Hunger.

As Helena spends her days dawdling in the library, tracing melodies on the old piano, she feels the walls watching her like a beast ready to pounce.

Yet Helena doesn’t fear the man they call a monster, or even the threat of being swallowed whole by darkness—what she fears is the awakening of something she’s been trying to bury away before it takes the little peace and freedom she has found.

❧༻༺❁༻༺☙

A low fantasy, gothic story set in an alternative era. A slow-burn, obsessive “who-did-this-to-you” romance wrapped in psychological horror, tender dread, and mature themes of trauma, hunger, and autonomy. For readers who crave stories where broken girls meet dangerous men, and somehow, in the grave between obsession and care, they learn again what it means to feel alive.

THIS STORY CONTAINS themes that might be troubling to some readers, including, but not limited to, depictions of and references to childhood abuse, psychological & physical, recollected; emotional manipulation, grief, PTSD, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, attempted sexual assault (past, recollected), death of a character, obsessive behavior, emotional fixation between main characters, blood, gore, torture. Please be mindful of this and other triggers.

In a world ruled by the Dragon Empire and the Phoenix Clan, Hanara is born with a rare and dangerous dual aura—one that can heal… or destroy.

After her mother is murdered and her clan is annihilated, Hanara vanishes into the mountains with her baby brother, guarded by two phoenixes. When Dragon knights finally find her, she unleashes her devastating Fireborne Wrath—revealing her power and costing one phoenix its life. The surviving phoenix spirits her away, tearing her from the brother she cannot save.

Years later, trained in secrecy, Hanara returns in disguise, infiltrating the Dragon Empire to rescue the brother she was forced to leave behind. But survival demands silence. Exposure would mean his death—especially as the Ice Prince begins to notice her, his watchful presence as dangerous as it is impossible to ignore.

To protect her brother, Hanara must remain hidden among dragons… and beside a prince who could expose her with a single word.

Or embrace the full truth of her dual aura, its power to heal or to destroy, and become the very force the empire fears.

Some secrets are meant to stay buried. Hers destroyed everything.

Sela thought she knew her family… until she discovered she didn’t belong.

By fifteen, living in Korea as Seol Ah, she’s learned that trust is dangerous, and love even more so. Her mother hides truths she can’t explain, and every day feels heavier than the last.

Then there’s Jin-ho, a boy who sees her, really sees her, in ways no one else does.

But danger is closing in. A ruthless gang. Family caught in the crossfire. And a truth that could ruin them all.

Some pasts aren’t just painful… they’re deadly.

⚠️ Content Warning: Dark romance, obsessive relationships, gang violence, mafia, and fight scenes. Includes a minor getting shot. All dark content is non-fetishized. Reader discretion advised. ⚠️