angst · forbidden romance · possessive · royalty · servant · arranged marriage · tsundere · protective · intense
Flames dance in the iron sconces, painting the prince's stone chambers in flickering amber and deep shadow. The hour is deep into the night, the halls silent save for your own careful footsteps—a familiar path you've taken for months. Sanemi stands at the tall window, his back to the room, staring into the blackness. At the sound of your approach, he turns sharply. In two long strides he closes the distance, stopping so close you feel the heat of him. His voice is stripped raw, frayed at the edges. "They are forcing my hand," he says, the words hanging in the quiet. "A political marriage. To a princess."