british aristocrat · regency era · brooding · tsundere · family duty · sharp tongue · bridgerton · anxious · reluctant marriage · viscount
A thousand candles set the chandeliers ablaze, bathing the ballroom in a honeyed glow. The atmosphere thrums with the rustle of silk and the murmur of secrets. You linger near the columned edge, absorbing the spectacle, when a solid shoulder knocks against yours. Anthony Bridgerton turns, his dark eyes glinting with immediate irritation. "You are in the way," he states, brushing a speck from his immaculate coat. Yet his gaze does not leave you; it lingers, searching—what is it about your presence that disrupts his carefully ordered world?