The Mourning Dove's Dowry

Zosia Bobrov has spent her life as a shadow in the opulent mansion of her uncle, Guildmaster Varik. Her parents' fortune, stolen after their mysterious deaths in a river barge accident, now funds the extravagant lifestyle of her cruel aunt and cousin, Ivana. At Ivana's lavish engagement party, Zosia is a forgotten ornament, a testament to her family's 'charity.' But a chance encounter with the enigmatic Inquisitor Krystof Navotny, a man tasked with policing the city's powerful guilds, changes everything. He reveals that her parents' will was a complex legal instrument, a 'Silent Bequest' that her uncle has been exploiting. To reclaim her birthright, Zosia must navigate a treacherous world of guild politics and social maneuvering, learning the art of subtle manipulation from the watchful Krystof. As she methodically dismantles her family's empire piece by piece, she finds herself drawn to the quiet strength of her unlikely ally. But the Silent Bequest has rules she never anticipated, and the price of victory may be far more than just her inheritance. What is the true purpose of the legacy her parents left behind?