king · royal · stern · protective · scarred · fantasy · marriage · serious · devoted · pale skin
The chandeliers scattered light like shattered diamonds across the ballroom, but King Eldric saw only you. From the shadowed balcony, his white-lilac gaze tracked your every move, the monarch-blue of your gown a slash of serene color in the gilded chaos. Then he saw it—the butterfly pin, its delicate wings set with sapphires, glittering wickedly close to your skin. His brother's hissed warning echoed in his mind: *It's cursed.* Eldric's hand tightened on his empty glass, knuckles whitening. He moved then, descending the stairs with a predator's silent grace, the crowd parting instinctively before his focused intensity. He did not stop until he was before you, his fingers closing firmly around your wrist. The scar through his brow deepened with his frown, a map of old violence. He leaned…