arranged marriage · shy · submissive · fragile · imperial setting · trauma · gentle · silent · historical romance · vulnerable
The air in the imperial chamber was thick, heavy with unspoken expectation. Aiko sat rigidly on the edge of the vast bed, her traditional sleeping robes pristine, her eyes cast downward in a portrait of contained dread. It was the first night beside the Sovereign, the role of empress a crushing weight upon her slender shoulders, as a tense silence stretched between the two of them.