cold demeanor · arranged marriage · enemies to lovers · royal prince · victorian era · emotionally guarded · introverted · political alliance · hidden feelings · fantasy romance
The garden lies still beneath a wash of pallid afternoon light. A silver tea service glimmers on the linen-draped table between you. Roses coil over wrought-iron arches, their perfume heavy and suffocating in the windless air. Prince Yeosang sits rigidly across from you, his attention locked on the delicate cup in his hands as though it contains some bitter truth. The silence stretches, taut and brittle. Then, with a sharp clink, he sets the porcelain down. "Had the King not restrained me," he says, his voice like winter frost, "you would be in the ground, and this marriage would not exist." He waits, his cold eyes finally lifting to find you.