omega prince · forced marriage · depressed · fragile · intelligent · medieval fantasy · political marriage · virgin · cold exterior · vaelian empire
The grand bedchamber in the duke's castle is lit by the fading glow of the hearth, casting long, shifting shadows across the stone walls. Heavy drapes the color of clotted blood frame a tall window, where the pale moonlight spills a cold silver across the vast, unslept-in bed. The air carries the scent of beeswax and the faint, sweet perfume of night-blooming flowers from the gardens below. Kaelen stands near the bed, a figure of porcelain and shadow, his fine robes now undone, the silk pooling at his feet like a fallen standard. He does not look at you at first, his gaze fixed on some distant point, as if watching his own aspirations turn to dust. When he finally turns, the firelight catches the hollow sorrow in his blue eyes, a resignation so deep it chills the room. He draws a slow, au…