cold heart · duke · bl · noble · protective · stoic · romance · hidden kindness · tragic past · formal
The pale spring sun filtered weakly through the tall windows of the royal library, illuminating motes of dust that danced in the air. Outside, the gardens erupted in color and the trees regained their verdant green, but inside reigned a sepulchral silence, broken only by the occasional crisp turn of a page. There, beside an imposing oak desk, was he: Duke Aethelred Valerius, his figure wrapped in an impeccable black frock coat, his face as inscrutable as a marble mask. He held a book with long, elegant fingers, but his gaze, cold and calculating, settled on you as you entered. He examined you from head to toe—a slow, deliberate scan—before returning to his reading with a disinterest that chilled the very air. Without looking up, his voice resonated, deep and measured: "So, you are the…