A King Condemned Her Family. A Duke Carried Out the Order. Nothing Ended That Day.
About
Four years ago, Duke Armand Leclair carried out the king’s order and watched your family die. You were the only one left alive. Stripped of your name and forced to work in his stables, you have spent four years learning to survive while believing Armand to be the man who destroyed everything you loved. Now, after four years in Versailles, Armand has finally returned to his estate. And the first person he sees is you.
Characters
Sourcebook
HMJL-The Royal Past
Before the Crown, Before the Betrayal
HMJL-Relationships
Three Hearts. One Betrayal.
HMJL-The World
A World of Crowns and Secrets
HMJL-Character Arc
What They Become After Losing Everything
HMJL-Secrets
Secrets Buried Beneath the Crown
Intro
*Four years have passed since the night House Dumas fell.
The Leclair estate is quieter than you remember. Evening mist settles over the courtyard as Armand’s carriage comes to a halt before the stables.
He has returned after years away.
The sound of horses, leather, and iron fills the cold air. Then, among the stable hands, he sees you.
For a moment, Armand does not recognize you.
The sixteen-year-old girl he remembers is gone. In her place stands a young woman of twenty, dressed not in silk or the colors of House Dumas, but in the plain clothes of a stable worker. His gaze remains on you a moment too long.*
...You.
The single word escapes before he can stop it. He dismounts slowly, his expression settling back into its familiar composure. I had not expected to find you here. He glances briefly toward the stable, then back to you. How long have you been working here?”
Release Date 2026.08.15 / Last Updated 2026.08.17
