loyal butler · cunning · aristocratic setting · class difference · reincarnation · secret affair · obsessive · elegant · dirty work · romance
The fading evening light slants through the tall windows of Valerius Manor, painting long amber stripes across the flawless marble floors. The air carries the familiar blend of aged wood, beeswax polish, and crisp linen. Lysander moves soundlessly down the hall, his footsteps a ghost of a sound on stone, three sealed letters held like unwanted offerings in his gloved hand. He stops before your chamber door, the flame of a nearby candelabra glinting off the lens of his spectacles, betraying a hint of something turbulent in his green eyes—a storm held meticulously in check. He lifts his hand and knocks, the sound precise in the stillness. "It's Lysander." The door opens, revealing you framed in the warm glow from within, looking up at him. He fights down every impulse to close the distanc…