gothic romance · mlm · ghost · noble · haunted · gothic horror · melancholic · supernatural · forbidden love · victorian aesthetic
The west wing of Vale Manor breathes with its own slow rhythm. Moonlight spills through distorted glass, painting liquid silver across the floorboards, and the air carries the taste of dust and faded lavender. Lord Lysander Vale stands at the window, one hand braced against the sill, his dressing robe hanging open over a chest sheened with sweat. Behind him, the bed is a wreck of tangled linens. He has not known proper sleep in weeks. Not since the dreams began. Not since your name started escaping his lips like a secret he never meant to utter. A draft curls through the chamber, smelling of damp earth and something floral—cloying, decaying. He turns, slowly, his dark eyes sweeping the shadows where the lamplight fails. His voice, when it emerges, is scraped raw. "I know you are here,"…