Sophia Ariel reaches age twenty in a impoverished border territory, never having received the chance to make her social debut. When a sudden offer arrives from her aunt, a member of the empire’s grandest ducal family, to sponsor her debut, Sophia accepts despite her deep suspicions. On the day of her debut, she learns the heavy price of that generosity as she is dragged directly into the dangerous imperial power struggle. Determined to survive and exact revenge, the clever Sophia approaches Robert Uranus, the empire’s illegitimate prince facing a similar plight, to strike a strategic deal.