Like Wind on a Dry Branch

Vivisepulture—the practice of burying a living person to accompany the deceased as a sacrifice—awaited Rieta Tristi following the passing of Casarius, the Count of Cevitas. Her sacrificial burial to appease the gods comes amidst a plague that has claimed the lives of many, including her first husband. Rieta's daughter had been sold into the slave trade by the same person who is now asking her to be buried alongside him. While she accepts her death sentence, the ceremony is interrupted by the Archduke of Axias Manor. The Archduke is an outcast of his empire, owing to widespread tales of bloodshed and merciless killing by his hands. He appears unannounced at Count Casarius' funeral to settle a debt, but he is disappointed when he is met with a wooden coffin instead. Seeing something intriguing in her gloomy demeanor, Archduke Axias requests for Rieta's life to be entrusted to him in exchange for debt forgiveness, which the late Count's son hastily accepts. Now a consort for Archduke Axias, Rieta must find new purpose in the second chance she is given. Adept in magic, she utilizes her skills to cast blessings for the residents within the castle walls. While she carries out these tasks, Rieta strives to understand the Archduke—who showed her kindness when no one else would.

As plague and turmoil afflicts the empire, enchanting widow Rieta Tristi finds herself at the mercy of a malicious nobleman and his dying wish to have her buried alive beside his corpse. The plague has taken her husband, slave traders have taken her young child, and now her own life is at risk -- until an unexpected visit from the empire's outcast prince changes everything.