To the unknowing eye, the exotic young woman making her way through the English countryside is just another poor girl, hungry and looking for work. But Elena Del Fuego is much more than that. She is the youngest daughter of the King of Spain and she is running from an arranged marriage he forced upon her. Elena learned of the betrothal when she was ten years old, and found out that it was to happen on her eighteenth birthday to a Portuguese Prince twenty years her senior. She had eight years to plan her perfect escape. Her escape takes her to Derbyshire where she finds work as a housemaid at a grand estate called Ascot. While Elena had always planned to keep her head down, she cannot help but notice the handsome heir to the dukedom, David Wilde. But life is not like a fairy tale. The handsome heir cannot marry the maid and turn her into a princess, for Elena is already that. She is a princess with two nations chasing her, two nations determined to keep Elena and David apart and to take Elena home.

Eighteen years ago, tragedy struck the royal family of Zhelia when Crown Prince Eduard was murdered by masked assailants, leaving the throne in peril. The very next day, a new prince was born-Prince Julien, who was quickly crowned as the new heir to the throne. However, a dangerous secret lies hidden, one that could either save or destroy the royal family and the kingdom. What is this secret? And how long can it be kept hidden? As Julien grows, the truth behind the previous crown prince's murder starts to resurface, and the killer, still at large, may be closer than anyone thinks. If the murderer uncovers the secret, it could lead to the fall of the royal family. Will Julien uncover the truth behind the murder before it's too late? How will the people of Zhelia react if the secret is revealed? Could it cost the crown? Amidst political danger and dark mysteries, will love be found, or will the burden of the secret bring everything crashing down? The fate of the kingdom and the future of the throne hang in the balance.