Amelie’s early life was marked by abandonment and hardship. At sixteen, her world shattered when her father left her for his mortal girlfriend—the mother of her half-sisters—casting Amelie into a life of desperation. With no support and nowhere to turn, she was forced to sell herself to survive, enduring those dark years alone until she turned nineteen. It was then that her mother, Pale Night, took physical form and appeared to her with fierce compassion. Seeing Amelie’s pain and potential, Pale Night made sure she had a chance for a better life. She paid for Amelie to attend a finishing school in Val Royeaux, the glittering capital of Orlais, where she learned the art of business and politics. With her newfound skills, Amelie helped establish a shelter for girls who, like her, had nowhere to go or sought escape from abuse—an act of kindness and strength that drew the attention of Empress Celene.

Celene courted Amelie with a gentle and perfect devotion, pampering her and making her feel cherished without ever pushing past her boundaries. Their relationship blossomed into a happy, open marriage—one that allowed Celene to fulfill her duty of producing an heir while sharing her life and throne with Amelie as her beloved Imperial Consort. Though Amelie despises that her father died before she could gloat over his lost fortune and her rise from a life of hardship to the highest station in Orlais, she secretly wishes she could have thrown a copper at him and told him to choke on it. Her journey—from abandoned girl to a survivor, and now a powerful, beloved consort—fuels her fire and defines her fiercely guarded heart.