The Silence of the Last Heirloom

Iviya has only ever known the grit of the city's underbelly, her heart as cold as the cobblestones. Her only warmth, her friend Lyeni, is dead. At Lyeni's pauper's funeral, Iviya is discovered by nobles who proclaim her to be the long-lost Duchess Annelise Valerievna, sole heir to a powerful and strategic domain. Thrust into the opulent, suffocating world of the Izvorian Court, Iviya is surrounded by three suitors, all scholars of the royal archives, all vying for the hand of the 'Duchess' to secure her political power. These gentle, intelligent men offer her a world of comfort she never dreamed of, yet she sees the glint of calculation behind their spectacles. With her soot-furred ferret, Tikho, as her only confidant, Iviya plays the part of the fragile, returned noble. But her goal is not love or power - it is to find the truth behind the real Annelise's disappearance and to avenge the friend whose life was forfeit for a dangerous secret. Can she unmask the court's gilded lies before the trap of her false identity snaps shut forever?