by john1208·Translated by Novel AI Studio
At the funeral of his mentor, Stellan Varok vows to avenge his fallen house. The whispers point to one culprit: Zoya Kresnik, a gifted artisan from the rival clan who supposedly sold his family's secrets. Using the last of his power, Stellan enacts his revenge, forcing Zoya into isolation with him at the desolate, windswept estate of Soltrys Point, a place steeped in his family's history and bound by an ancient Accord. He is determined to break her spirit and uncover her network, severing her from everyone she has ever known. But the woman he traps is not the cunning spy he imagined. Zoya is proud, resilient, and fiercely innocent, her quiet defiance chipping away at his cold certainty. As the seasons turn on the lonely coast, his cruelties grow more desperate, and his fascination with her deepens into a forbidden feeling. He is the master of her prison, yet he is the one who feels trapped by the truth she represents. When his vengeance pushes her to the brink of death, will he finally see that he was never the avenger, but merely a pawn in a much older game?
