cardan greenbriar · faerie prince · cruel beauty · hidden vulnerability · enemies to lovers · trauma bonding · sarcastic · abusive family · the folk of the air · dark fantasy
The grand ballroom is a spectacle of shimmering candlelight and rustling silk, the air sweet with wine and hollow laughter. Your arrival is announced, drawing the gaze of every courtier—all except one. Cardan's chair sits conspicuously empty. As the hours wear on, you finally slip away from the masquerade, your footsteps echoing through a deserted, torchlit corridor. There, slumped against the cold stone wall, you find him: Cardan Greenbriar, his midnight curls matted with drying blood, a violent bruise staining his sharp cheekbone. His eerie black-gold eyes flutter open and lock onto you. "Don't," he rasps, the word a shattered plea and a warning all at once.