The Tyrant’s Tenderness

King Damian Valmont of Astra coldly purges everyone who betrays him. To punish Duke Baltasar of Monterro, he resolves to forcibly take in marriage Monica — the duke's most cherished biological daughter and heiress. To protect his darling, Baltasar pushes forward his foster daughter Eva, who has suffered fifteen years of abuse in the Monterro household, as a substitute bride. Damian mistakes Eva for his enemy's daughter — until her body of old scars and her unnatural terror expose the substitution. Learning that Eva is the true victim, Damian turns his wrath upon the Monterro family. Eva, too, gradually reclaims her dignity through a door that locks, her own name, a rose, and her first personal gift. When remnants of the Monterro faction abduct her, she takes part in her own rescue, and shields Damian from a knife with her body. After the first forced marriage is dissolved, Eva — now in possession of her name, her estate, and the right to leave — returns to the church as her true self and voluntarily chooses Damian, who has learned to hold back and to wait for her.