One minute I’m a broke village scribe dodging creditors, the next I’m tripping over my own feet, stealing a guard’s armour three sizes too small, and chomping into a magical mango that portals me straight into the hidden kingdom of Siddhashram. Now the locals keep calling me “Your Scribiness,” the cows predict the weather, a cosmic rat claims to be my spiritual life-coach, and someone is definitely trying to poison the king—possibly with the very soup I’m paid to taste-test. (Note to self: demand hazard pay.)

What’s in it for you?

• Jungle chases, mango-powered portals and royal conspiracies.

• An endearing romance that slowly weaves its way into our action packed, blunder filled adventures.

• More pratfalls, poisoned banquets and last-second reversals than you can shake a mangoe at—all narrated by a hero who still can’t walk past a staircase without gravity filing a complaint.

So, brave reader, ready to tumble down marble staircases, sip suspicious soups, and find out whether a reluctant royal (with chronic bad timing) can out-wit destiny? Crack open Reluctant Royal today, leave a review to tell future adventurers what they’re in for, and—if you spot any mangoes lying about—maybe run the other way.

Because in Siddhashram, the treasury is fruit, the rats talk back, and even a scribe can rewrite history… one embarrassing mishap at a time.

On the last day of his very normal, very mortal life, retired Jack Vale goes to bed thinking about coffee and travel plans—and wakes up in a coffin. Wrapped in someone else’s expensive robes, toe-tagged WINDOW 02:19, and suddenly very bad at breathing, Jack discovers he’s been “promoted” to Cadder: one of the city’s semi-legal undead. His only allies are Kali, the cat who just started talking inside his head, and Ayami Choro, a fox-sly Field Compliance Officer from the Bureau of Arcane Compliance who would really prefer not to see him shredded and filed as evidence.

In a mana-tech river city of emberstone heaters, teleporting “windows,” bureaucratic spellwork, and Hounds who smell leaks in the system, Jack is carrying something no one undead should have: a prototype oath-core focus wand illegally bound to two names—his, and a Moss Court royal marked by an unchilding curse. If she dies, he goes back in the box. To stay a person instead of paperwork, Jack has to learn to manage his unstable magic, out-clause Ayami’s terrifying boss, and follow a paper trail of couriers, stitchers, and wayfinders before the Bureau, the Hounds, or whoever stamped his corpse through Window 02:19 can finish what they started. 

The Illegal Wizard: Recently Undeceased is a grim-cozy, bureaucratic fantasy about second chances, dangerous contracts, and the undead professor who refuses to stay properly deceased.