Crown of Embers

She awakens as a ghost in the machine—an ancient consciousness in a fragile, human form. Her mind holds the lost science of a fallen galactic civilization, a power that feels like magic in an empire shackled by technological decay and ruled by the rigid laws of a god-like AI. To survive in this brutal new reality, she becomes the secret architect behind a young, powerless emperor's rise. She is his strategist in a deadly game of thrones played across star systems, his engineer of forgotten war machines. Together, they must shatter the chains of the past and ignite a renaissance among the stars. But as she reshapes an empire, she must confront her own hollow existence, forging a soul-deep connection that could become her salvation… or her doom.