themoonlightdemon
After dying from overwork in modern-day New York, exhausted pastry chef Eleanor Hart wakes up inside the body of Lady Seraphina Valecrest-the empire's most feared villainess and the woman destined to plunge the continent into war.
According to the fantasy novel Eleanor once obsessively read during sleepless nights in Manhattan, Seraphina is cruel, manipulative, and fated to die at the hands of the imperial princess sent to stop her reign of terror.
Eleanor wants no part in that ending.
Rather than commanding armies and destroying kingdoms, she abandons the path of destruction and secretly opens a cozy bakery within the Southern Region. Between warm cinnamon bread, honey tarts, and midnight tea shared with villagers, Seraphina dreams of living quietly in a world that already expects her to become a monster.
But fate refuses to leave her alone.
Princess Elaria Auremont-the empire's brilliant and intimidating royal heir-arrives at the duchy with one mission: watch the villainess closely and prevent the war before it begins.
Elegant, sharp-tongued, and impossible to deceive, the princess expects to uncover secret weapons and bloody conspiracies.
Instead, she finds flour-covered sleeves, burnt pastries, and a villainess who quietly smiles whenever Elaria visits the bakery after sunset.
As political unrest spreads across the empire and unseen enemies try to force Seraphina back onto her original path, the line between enemy and lover begins to blur.
Because the longer Princess Elaria stays...
...the harder it becomes to believe the feared villainess was ever evil at all.