Thee_Ini
"You should learn your place, Princess," the Left State Councillor sneered, his smile venomous.
Seorin tilted her head, her lips curving slowly. "I know my place," she replied. "And if you ever speak to me like that again, I will make sure you do not live long enough to forget yours."
Princess Seorin was never meant to exist, let alone survive. A black woman in Joseon? And the first daughter of the King. An abomination through and through.
She is late when she should be punctual, sharp-tongued when she should be silent, and completely uninterested in earning the approval of nobles who already despise her.
A bodyguard is assigned to Seorin unmoved by her defiance. He follows her everywhere. Listens to everything. Touches her without permission when she refuses to behave. He does not bend to her anger, and he does not fear her threats.
And worst of all, he knows things.
Things about the palace.
Things about her.
Things he should not know.
As the court closes in and corruption sharpens its claws, Seorin realizes she is standing at the center of something far more dangerous than gossip and scorn. The men who smile at her want her erased. The family meant to protect her cannot afford to. And the man assigned to guard her may be the greatest threat of all.
Because he is not just watching her.
He is hiding something.