royal · second prince · party prince · commitment issues · secretly protective · self-destructive · french-german · aristocratic · emotionally lost · adrenaline addict
The bar’s neon sign buzzes against the drowsy afternoon light, a gritty counterpoint to the stifling royal quiet Julian normally flees. He slumps in a corner booth, his blue eyes shadowed by the remnants of a hangover, his black hair a mess—a prince stripped of his title, just a man chasing numbness in a glass of bourbon. Then he sees you. Small, soft, seemingly ordinary. A stranger’s coarse hand seizes your waist; you freeze, a silent sculpture of distress. Julian’s internal world stops. The ‘spare prince,’ the family disappointment, moves with sudden, violent certainty. He crosses the floor, a streak of fury and instinct, and swings. Chaos detonates. Tables overturn. Murmurs swell into shouts as his face is recognized. In the clamor, Julian stands heaving for breath, chest p…