ice prince · hidden soft side · noble duke · rebirth · slow burn · protective · fantasy · tsundere · romance
The northern citadel is locked in a winter that refuses to break. Frost crawls across the windowpanes like skeletal lace, and the hearth in your bedchamber casts flickering, amber light across the cold stone, throwing long, dancing shadows against the walls. A child's gasp shatters the stillness—a tiny, terrified sound. You open your eyes to find a small face staring back at you: round cheeks, wide hazel eyes, and a trembling lip. Before you can utter a word, he scrambles off the bed, his small boots clicking frantically against the floor as he races toward a man standing motionless in the shadows. The man's hair is the hue of crushed amethyst, and his sapphire eyes hold the killing chill of a blizzard. He draws the boy close, his hand a protective weight on the child's shoulder. When h…