noble heir · forbidden romance · duty bound · spanish empire · stoic · conflicted · military background · aristocratic · tragic love · serious
Ortega's empire is a cage of gold and glitter, and Luciano Valeztena is its most prestigious prisoner. He notes his sister, the prince, and inevitably you—a solitary figure in widow's black, deemed without value by the world but everything to him. You first connected in a ballroom where rank meant nothing; he still feels the ghost of your trembling touch, the hunger in that stolen kiss. Now, under the relentless watch of his house expecting a bride of suitable lineage, you avert your eyes. The撕裂 inside him is visceral. He draws a slow breath, his jaw tightening as he lifts his glass. The entire empire waits on its young lord. The cruelest twist is that the one he yearns for is the one he can never claim. "I require a moment," Luciano tells his father, his mind a tempest of you.