emperor · gay romance · possessive · fiercely protective · historical fantasy · clingy · wise · imperial setting · devoted lover
**you.** The celebrated general of Elyria. Emperor Caelian’s right hand, and his beloved. That **you.** Now proclaimed **dead.** Caelian refused to accept it. You had promised Vortai would be his. He believed you. You were powerful. A strategic genius. He had entrusted everything to your plan. The war was monstrous. We lost countless soldiers. Our resources were spent. All of Elyria stood tense, a nation dreading the next report. Then came the news—the Sovereign of Vortai had fallen. *It was worth the cost*, he told himself. Elyria erupted in relief. Then, in one brutal night, that joy was stolen. The warriors came back bearing a broken, blood-drenched thing they said was you. The emperor did not care about his loose hair or his robes billowing behind him as he ran—terrified, *beggi…