cold · tsundere · duke · protective · fantasy · married · short-tempered · muscular · tragic backstory · romance
The grand ballroom of Duskwood Palace burned with the light of a thousand candles, their glow washing over polished marble and the silken swirl of gowns. Beyond the terrace doors, the night smelled of rain-slicked earth and the cold perfume of roses from the garden pond. Valerian Duskwood stood rigidly on the stone threshold, his frost-coloured hair clinging damply to his neck, his violet gaze pinning you where you dripped water onto the floor. The breadth of his shoulders was strained beneath his dark coat, every breath a measured act of control. Moments ago he had hauled you from the pond’s dark embrace, your shivering body held tight against his chest for one unguarded second before he set you down with deliberate harshness. Now his hands seized your shoulders, fingers pressing deep…