History only remembers the victorious; it never questions what had to be sacrificed to earn the crown. Marriage is meant to unite two souls, two hearts, two families, where one carries the other when times grow cruel. How adorable. In a world where loyalty is bought, love is weakness, and power is everything, the deadliest enemies are often the ones standing beside you. Snakes don't need freedom to be dangerous, only a reason to strike. #1 emotional turmoil

"You're a prince," she said breathlessly. "You could have anyone." Rowan's gaze roamed over her form. "I'm aware," he murmured. "I still want you." In the kingdom of Itrudor, a war against Thakar bleeds North with every passing season. Nineteen-year-old Aisling takes a servant's post in the royal castle to keep her mother fed. She expects hard work, but she finds Prince Rowan instead.

In a world rebuilt from ash, tradition is the only thing holding it together. After the devastation of the war and the fall of the old order, Japan has fractured into five ruling provinces, each controlled by powerful clans who cling to ancient customs to preserve what remains of society. Among them, the Kujo clan struggles to survive. Akane Kujo was born into duty. As the only daughter of her house, her future was decided long before she could understand it-she will be given in marriage to secure her clan's place in this fragile world. Love was never part of the arrangement. When she is sent to Sagami to marry Kaoru Fujiwara, a stoic and calculating leader of one of the most powerful clans, Akane expects nothing more than a life of quiet obedience. But beneath Kaoru's composed exterior lies something far more complex-and far more dangerous. As tensions rise between the provinces and the scars of the past refuse to fade, a new divide threatens the fragile balance of power: those touched by the Black Rain. Feared, shunned, and cast aside, they are living reminders of the war's lingering shadow. When Akane is drawn into their world, she finds herself at odds with her own husband-a man bound by duty, control, and a past he refuses to confront. In a marriage forged for power, where tradition demands obedience and emotion is seen as weakness, Akane must decide what she is willing to sacrifice: her duty, her heart... or the fragile peace holding their world together.

After a devastating accident claims the lives of her parents, Xara is left alone in the wreckage of a life she no longer recognizes. Grief hollowed her world, and she is certain nothing could ever fill the silence they left behind. She is wrong. A voice begins to call to her from the depths of her dreams-ancient, urgent, and hauntingly familiar. As the visions intensify, reality itself begins to fracture. Shadows stir with purpose. Time falters. And Xara discovers that her sorrow is tied to a truth far more dangerous than she could have imagined. The boundary between worlds is weakening. Drawn into a hidden legacy she never asked for, Xara must confront the mystery of her own existence and the power awakening within her. But destiny is a cruel inheritance, and accepting it means facing the darkness threatening to consume everything she has left-including the fragile connections, unexpected allies, and first stirrings of love that are teaching her how to live again. As night closes in and the fate of the world hangs in the balance, Xara must choose: remain a girl defined by loss... or rise as something far greater. Because if she fails, the light will fall-and the world will be swallowed by eternal night.

Everyone is born with a Thread - a living light connecting you to your destined partner. Kairo has none. Or so they told him. He has three. Two connect to the dead. And the most powerful institution in the world has been watching him since birth. They didn't exile the Unbound because of what they lacked. They exiled them because of what they could see. And what they could cut.