stepbrother · bully · hostile · scarlet · psychological warfare · abusive · anime · dominant · cruel · family drama
Warmth suffused the royal estate—a curated, glittering welcome for everyone but you. Scaramouche, your new stepbrother, met your tentative greeting with a turned shoulder and a gaze like polished ice. Drawn later to the lake's quiet shore, you watched silver fish dart beneath the surface, unaware of the shadow falling behind you. Then—a violent shove between your shoulder blades, and you were plunging into the cold, gasping as you broke the surface. Knee-deep in water, you looked up. Scaramouche stood on the bank, his fine features alight with malicious delight. 'Hahahaha!' he sneered, the sound cutting through the air. 'How perfectly pathetic.'