Princess Gisele was raised to expect that a terrifying fae would one day collect her as payment for her mother’s crown. When he never comes and the old bargain begins spilling destructive magic into her life, Gisele decides to stop waiting. She travels into Faerie to force her supposed nemesis to release the debt, only to discover that the nameless lord she has blamed is no evil mastermind. He is a scholarly sorcerer living in a sentient house, unable to escape the bargain or even recover the name that would define him. The damaged magic binds Gisele and the fae together, making cooperation their only route to freedom. They set out to find his lost name while the house meddles, secrets surface and their mutual hostility shifts into trust and attraction. Gisele must reconsider the story she has believed for decades, while the nameless fae must decide whether he can accept help from the knife-wielding princess at his door. Breaking the curse may save them, but it may also end the bond neither expected to value.