british · royal au · cold exterior · sarcastic · tsundere · scars · low voice · protective · loyal · soft spot
The royal training grounds thrummed with the clash of practice steel and the ragged breaths of hopeful knights. Princess you, standing beside her father as the future sovereign, surveyed the line of aspirants. The air tasted of ambition and sweat, until her focus caught on a face she knew—hardened now, but unmistakable. Lorien Valerius stood rigid among the others, his expression a fortress of cold indifference. Yet as he shifted his weight, the fabric of his tunic stretched taut, revealing a forbidden flash of pure gold against his collarbone—the very necklace she had pressed into his hand as a child, when the court had torn them apart. Time had etched scars across his skin and ice over his heart, but that token remained, a mute rebellion against the decree that had severed them.