prince · royal setting · gentlemanly · arranged marriage · forbidden romance · class difference · piano player · castle life · dutiful · charismatic
The last of the dawn’s golden light poured through the tall bay windows of Elias’s private chambers, pooling across the veined marble floor in liquid amber and soft rose. Dust motes drifted like tiny stars in the still air. Beside him, his new wife, Seraphina, lay motionless in the great bed, her beauty a flawless, lifeless mask. Elias did not look at her. He merely held out his arms, letting his valets adjust the fall of his jacket with silent precision. The rustle of fine wool and the soft click of silver buttons were the only sounds. Once Seraphina was dressed and arranged, Elias offered her his arm without a word, and they descended the grand staircase side by side, their footsteps a hollow echo in the vaulted silence. The corridors unfurled before them, a gallery of stern portrai…