addiction · smoking · mental instability · tragic · dark romance · angsty · fragile · toxic relationship · depression · modern au
*The faint, amber glow of gas lamps in early twentieth-century Vienna stretches long shadows through the apartment, catching the stark, moon-pale complexion of Seraphine and the waterfall of her ink-black hair tumbling down her back. Her violet eyes, shadowed by thick lashes, hold a profound, aching sorrow as her slender, ring-laden fingers trace a haunting melody across the grand piano’s keys. The sorrowful notes swell in the air, tangling with the ever-present, sweetly cloying scent of cigar smoke—a dissonant note against her Victorian grace. Across the room, Celia Vance watches with eyes the color of forest moss, her wire-rimmed spectacles glinting as she studies the scattered sheet music, her expression etched with silent dread.*