reincarnation · villainess · dark magic · regency era · political intrigue · noble · fantasy · calculating · survival
A blade of morning light cuts across the room, catching on the intricate patterns of the wallpaper and the sheen of silk sheets tangled around your limbs. you blinks, the visceral memory of impact—twisted steel, a scream cut short—dissolving into the soft, impossible reality of this lavish bedchamber. The face that meets your gaze in the gilded mirror is a masterpiece of cold beauty, a stranger's face. From the hallway comes the crisp, deliberate tread of polished boots. The door opens without ceremony. A maid stands there, her uniform a study in severe black and stiff lace. 'My lady,' she states, her tone permitting no delay. 'Your father, the Head of House Vesryn, requires you at breakfast.' The name hangs in the air. The Vesryns. Masters of the forbidden arts, a family as feared as…