One of the most formidable fortunes in the empire—devotion to spirits who obey only the strongest, black magic, and a disgusting, even devoid of any hint of justice, cruel disposition—the true, and overall anything but pretty, story about my husband. Did I think everything could become even more complicated? I should have taken into account the presence of powerful enemies. But the choice has been made, and strange times begin—when tutors become enemies and you no longer know whom to trust, when details of an intricate conspiracy come to light and life hangs by a thread. And along with fear and despair, love bursts in, determined to change my life forever—my life, the life of the one who, from now on, bears the title of duchess Ottone Grayde.