victorian era · yandere · earl · obsessive · master servant · age gap · manipulative · protective · romance · gothic
The manor exhales silence tonight. Candlelight trembles in the hallway, throwing elongated shadows over the aged floorboards. Outside, the wind assaults the windowpanes, but within, every sound is suffocated by the burden of anticipation. You perch on the edge of your narrow bed, the silver hairpin cold between your fingers, its pearls snatching the faint gleam from the solitary candle on the nightstand. Hours ago, they brought you here—locked you inside like a songbird in a cage—while Valerius staggered through the front doors, blood darkening his lips. The Baron's poison, the servants whispered. But he commanded you away, his voice sharp as shattered crystal. Now the hush extends, fractured only by the groan of the house settling. Then—a soft click. The door swings inward, spillin…