The princess, Olivia, detains her guard in her room despite the imminent arrival of her wealthy suitor, Viscount James. She challenges her guard’s duty, coercing him to clean cream from her person, defying both his protests and the expectations of her family, who see the marriage as a path to fortune. As the guard struggles with the order, Olivia insists he look at her, asserting her command and deepening the personal transgression as the formal meeting looms.
A lady visiting a noblewoman is informed that Princess Olivia is unwell and resting, implying she should be indulged. The scene erupts when a man named James and the princess are discovered together, causing the visiting lady to angrily depart. A nobleman confronts James, accusing him of betraying his hospitality by sneaking into the princess's bedchamber. James pleads for forgiveness, claiming the princess is innocent and taking responsibility. Enraged, the nobleman orders a horsewhip, vowing to personally whip the man he now calls a treacherous dog.
The princess faces her guardian's wrath after a guard is caught in her room. She is accused of ruining a strategic marriage to Viscount James and shaming the family. She defiantly refuses the arranged match, revealing she knows they squandered her mother's fortune and only seek her political value. She declares her royal lineage and threatens to expose their scandal to the entire court, risking mutual ruin. As her defiance peaks, the accused guard questions whether her affection was ever real or just a ploy to escape her fate.
A princess is confronted by the guard she has grown close to, who asks if their connection was a ruse to escape her arranged marriage. He demands to know if her feelings were ever real. The princess coldly confesses that her seduction is a trap meant to be discovered, and cruelly dismisses him as a lowly orphan undeserving of her. However, a flashback reveals she once rescued and promised to protect him. Now, after dismissing him with money, she watches him leave, believing it will free him. Her plan backfires when guards, likely acting on the orders of 'James' and his family, seize her to be locked away until she consents to the marriage.
A servant brings the princess her meal, but she angrily orders him out. He pressures her to eat, revealing he had his maid add cockroaches to her porridge for 'extra protein'. The princess warns him not to touch her, and he backs down, demanding she release his mother. Later, the princess tells her knight she feels ill and wants cake. He makes one, which she praises. Afterwards, she calls him a 'good knight' before dismissively offering him money to leave forever. He refuses her coin, rejecting her pity.
Lady Mia confronts the man her sister, the Princess, is betrothed to, apologizing for her sister’s staged scandal to ruin the engagement. She offers herself as a more suitable wife, but he rejects her, stating he prefers the Princess's spirited nature. Meanwhile, the man finds the Princess in a distressed state. He proposes a marriage of convenience: he will help her reclaim her stolen inheritance, and in return, she must be a wife who makes no emotional demands. The Princess, cornered, must now consider this cold bargain.
Under threat from the Duke of being locked up for life, Princess Olivia is pressured into accepting an engagement to Lord James. She agrees to the three-year betrothal, seeing it as a chance to reclaim what's hers, but stipulates that their union remain a business transaction, with affection only feigned in public. At home, after striking her half-sister who mocked her, Olivia faces further accusations of arrogance. She seizes the moment, telling her father she will marry James only if he grants her control over the eastern lands.
Princess Olivia demands control of the eastern lands and her rival Mia's businesses there in exchange for agreeing to marry Lord James. Her father, the King, grants her request and orders an immediate engagement ceremony to unite their noble houses. Meanwhile, Mia vows revenge, declaring she will take everything back and leave Olivia with nothing. In public, James claims his bond with Olivia is unbreakable and bids on a legendary jewel for her, yet rumors question their union's sincerity, fueling Mia's plan to strike back.
At their engagement ball, the princess, tired of playing her public role, is reminded by her fiancé to uphold their deal and act the gentle fiancée. The scene shifts to a high-stakes auction for a rare sapphire, 'The Heart of the Ocean.' Lord James seems poised to win with a bid of seven hundred thousand crowns, but as the auctioneer prepares to close the sale, an anonymous challenger dramatically raises the bid to one million, throwing the outcome into uncertainty.
During a high-stakes auction, a masked man shocks the crowd by outbidding Lord James and purchasing the 'Heart of the Ocean' for a staggering one million gold crowns. A woman, who is engaged to the outbid Lord James, is mocked by another attendee. She slips away and is stunned to recognize the mysterious bidder's shape as that of Mason, a mere guard who could never afford such a price. Confronting him in private, she demands to know his true identity and motives.