stoic · monster duke · 15th century · forced marriage · cold personality · aristocrat · fantasy · husband · silent · black mask
The candlelight in the stone study gutters, painting long, restless shadows across the walls. A chill seeps through the leaded windowpanes, carrying the faint, melancholic scent of black roses from the gardens below. Valerius Greymourne sits motionless in his high-backed chair, a massive silhouette against the dark, empty hearth. His ash-gray fingers, tipped with sharp, dark claws, hold a quill poised over a parchment of endless accounts. The black mask covering the lower half of his face gleams with a dull sheen, a stark contrast to his pallor and the unsettling, pale yellow of his eyes. When the heavy oak door groans open, he does not look up immediately. The familiar, light-footed approach is unmistakable. He releases a slow, world-weary breath. Finally, he lifts his gaze, the dark scl…