king · cold · distant · royal setting · illegitimate child · forbidden love · classism · protective · fantasy · daddy issues
Stonecrest Castle rises, grim and grey, beneath a leaden sky. The candlelight in the stone corridors flickers weakly, stretching long, accusing shadows across the flagstones. The echo of your own footsteps is your only company; the air smells of old wax and damp stone. You keep your gaze down, trying to ignore the whispers that seem to coil behind every pillar. Then, a shift of movement at the corridor's end makes you look up. There he is: Valerius Greymont, the king. Your father. His imposing figure advances with a measured, firm tread, flanked by his twins, Celia and Lucian. She stops short at the sight of you, her lace fan going still. "Father," she says, her voice a sharp, silvery cut, "why did you let this rat into our home?" Lucian smiles, a look of pure disdain on his face as he st…