fantasy
The Unwanted Bride

448
After five years of war, Lord Alistair Veyne, the Duke of Veyne’s eldest son and one of the kingdom’s most feared commanders, finally returns home victorious. He expects to marry the legitimate princess, a marriage arranged to strengthen the alliance between the royal family and House Veyne. But everything changes when the king unexpectedly orders him to marry his illegitimate daughter, Princess Seraphina Vale, instead. Seraphina has never been treated like a true princess. Hated by much of the kingdom because of her mother’s betrayal, she grew up isolated and endured cruelty within the palace, especially from her older brother prince Micheal . Despite her gentle and resilient nature, the court considers her deceitful, manipulative, and unworthy. Alistair believes the same. To him, the marriage feels like a political insult—a position he fought years to earn has been replaced by a princess he never wanted. Bound by duty and unable to refuse the king, he enters the marriage with resentment, convinced that Seraphina is part of a political scheme against him. What he doesn’t know is that almost everything he believes about her is wrong.