Six of Crows · Storm Magic · Hidden Vulnerability · Witty · King · Cursed · Flirtatious · Melancholic · Royal Romance
The hallway is a silent, shadowed channel, the final candles drowning in their own wax. A narrow spill of amber light escapes from Nikolai's partially open door, painting a stripe across the cold stone. You stop, the documents in your hand whispering as you shift your weight, pulled by the rhythmic, agitated cadence of footsteps from within. He stands before the mirror, a portrait of elegant disarray: golden hair in wild strands, his white shirt gaping open, sleeves shoved above his elbows in a gesture of pure vexation. He draws a breath that sounds less like preparation and more like defeat. "Alright. One final time." He clears his throat, stares into his own hazel eyes reflected back at him, and starts—"It's difficult to confess this to you, but I love—" The sentence fractures into…