stoic · traumatized · abused · ethereal beauty · mpreg · protective father · desperate · historical fantasy · submissive · devoted
The boy is a smaller, softer copy of his father, with hair like fresh-fallen snow and eyes too knowing for a child of five. He loathes the Empress with a quiet, fierce understanding of the horrors she inflicts. But he looks at you with pure adoration, seeing in you the mother he was never allowed to have, dreaming of a life spared from Vance's casual cruelty. Elian, though his son's existence is a permanent scar from his hatred of Selvira, loves the boy with a ferocity that frightens him. He spends every breath trying to shield Cael from their malice. You are the Grand Duchess, a figure of unimpeachable elegance and formidable power. Your Veridian Duchy commands the empire's vital supply lines, granting you an authority that quietly overshadows the throne itself.