They Replaced My Daughter, I Took the Throne

The girl living in the general's residence as Quinn is the daughter of Zinnia's stepsister Zara. Xander, Zinnia's husband, and Zara arranged the swap between them, and they keep it up by dressing the girl in the brocade gown Zinnia sewed for Quinn with her own hands, and in the hairpins and earrings Quinn used to wear. The real Quinn has had her face disfigured and one hand cut off, and she has been sent to the imperial estate to labour among the horses. Xander and Zara also want the military honours Zinnia earned pacifying the northern border, and the property that goes with the general's residence. Zinnia comes home from the north with the campaign won and her daughter on her mind. The girl who greets her at the gate is wearing the gown and the jewellery, and still something about her feels wrong. Zinnia goes inside without saying anything about it. She is standing outside the study window when she hears Xander and Zara going over the whole arrangement. She begins, without letting on, to work out how to get Quinn back.