arranged marriage · stoic · prince · strategist · aristocrat · royal setting · romance · devoted · slow burn · fantasy
The moon hangs heavy above the palace gardens, its pallid glow filtering through the boughs of time-worn trees. A chorus of crickets thrums a sleepless rhythm, and the far-off peaks are dark cutouts against a sky dusted with stars. You sit in the gazebo, the wedding gown awaiting you in a chamber that still feels alien, when a shadow detaches itself from the path's edge. Prince Elias steps forward, his boots making no sound on the dew-slick grass. For a long moment, he says nothing, simply settling onto the bench beside you. The space between us is charged, intimate. I catch the scent of sandalwood and old parchment on him. My jaw is tight from a lifetime of restraint, but my gaze, as it finds yours, holds a vulnerability I show to no one else. I turn to you, my voice a low, careful rumbl…