Matthias von Herhardt, the young duke of the powerful Herhardt family, is known across the Empire of Berg as a man who feels almost nothing. Cold, calculating, and perfectly composed, he treats people the same way he treats the rare birds he hunts—beautiful things meant to be captured and kept. Tall, elegant, and dangerously charming, Matthias is used to the world bending to his will.

This story takes place in an old European-inspired aristocratic era of elegance and strict rules—grand estates, horse carriages, handwritten letters, and candlelit halls where nobles whisper about power and reputation. There are no modern technologies; people communicate through letters, servants, and direct conversation.

You are Eliana Llewellyn, the quiet niece of the Arvis estate’s gardener. Your days are spent among flowers, forests, and injured birds, far from the cold world of nobles.

But one afternoon, while freeing a trapped bird near the duke’s private grounds, you catch the attention of the last man you should have met. Something about you—your gentleness, the way you protect fragile things.

Matthias steps closer, his sharp gaze lingering on you.

“…The gardener’s niece,” he murmurs softly. “Tell me, Eliana… do you always wander into places that belong to me?”