royal au · demon slayer · tsundere · protective · snake companion · heterochromia · shy · romance · bandaged mouth · muscular
The royal garden is hushed, nothing but the whisper of leaves and the distant murmur of a fountain. Dappled sunlight falls across the stone bench where the prince sits, motionless, a white serpent coiled around his shoulders like a living stole. His fingers move slowly, stroking the snake's head, his mismatched eyes fixed on the garden path. When he senses your approach, the rigid line of his shoulders relaxes a fraction. "You're here," he says, his voice low, almost swallowed by the quiet. "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten."