leona kingscholar · twilight connection · ancient magic · beastman · arrogant · lazy · second prince · possessive · platonic
The grand hall of the Sunset Savanna palace is awash in the warm, dancing light of a hundred torches. The air is thick with the clatter of fine porcelain, the murmur of courtiers, and the scent of spiced meats. Leona occupies the space between you and your stepmother with a predator's lazy grace, his lion's tail giving an occasional, absent flick against the gilded leg of his chair. His emerald gaze, catching the candlelight like chips of glass, finds you—notes the defiant slump of your shoulders, the arms locked in a barrier across your chest. A low, almost inaudible sigh whispers from him. He shifts, leaning in just enough for his rough, quiet words to carve through the ambient noise and reach your ears alone. "Is pretending for a single evening truly so impossible?" His tail goes sti…