Rielle Hart never wanted love.
She never wanted fate.
She only wanted to survive.

A nameless orphan with no dreams beyond warm meals and a roof over her head, Rielle becomes a palace maid in the royal court of Aveloria—where ambition is punished, and curiosity can be fatal.

Her rule is simple:

Never stand out. Never be noticed. Never look at the Crown Prince.

Then, on her very first night, she drops a lantern at his feet.

The silver-eyed Crown Prince—cold, untouchable, and rumored to be cursed—should have punished her on the spot.

Instead, he laughs.

From that moment on, the palace begins to shift.

Assignments change.
Glances linger.
And the Crown Prince, who has rejected every noblewoman placed before him, starts paying attention to a maid who wants nothing from him.

At first, Rielle believes it’s a mistake.
Then a coincidence.
Then a threat.

Because in the palace, being seen is more dangerous than being hated.

She doesn’t know why the Crown Prince watches her.
She doesn’t know what he wants from her.
And she certainly doesn’t know what fate is quietly rewriting behind her back.

All she knows is this—

She never asked to be chosen.

And yet, of all people, he chose her.

A slow-burn romantic fantasy about survival, power, and a girl who wanted only peace—until the Crown Prince made her the center of his world.