Lord Cassian spends a full decade playing the reckless fool, piling up tavern debts and flirting with palace scullery maids to avoid assassination. Under the suspicious gaze of an oppressive governor who slaughtered his clan, he deliberately ruins his public reputation to appear harmless.
Behind the theatrical drunkenness, Cassian runs a formidable underground militia dedicated to protecting border settlements from invading armies. The haughty princess openly scorns his drunken clowning yet falls for the masked champion who rescues her from royal ambushes. As enemy battalions breach the outer gates, Cassian must drop his buffoon persona and seize the garrison before the province burns.
