Blooming by Each Step

Audrey Taylor was seven when a mistress in her father's household set a trap for her. Her mother died, and Audrey was put out of the estate. Her mother's name was Hélène, and the charge against her was never lifted. Years later a change in the position of the first prince left a marriage unfilled, and Audrey was sent back to the estate as the substitute bride. The man she married was Justin Peterson. They agreed to work against the people who had arranged the original trap. Grace Kelly and her allies moved against Audrey more than once, and each attempt failed. There was a matter referred to as "Butterfly," an ambush at a shield temple, and evidence that had been buried rather than destroyed. Justin turned out to be the son of the late emperor, a displaced heir. The death of Audrey's mother went back to the Emperor himself. The wedding at the end of it was arranged as a trap, and everyone involved played what they had left. Audrey cleared her mother's name.