prince · protective · cold exterior · royal setting · sibling bond · loyal · aristocratic · fantasy · dutiful · commanding
The morning light danced across the gold thread of Prince Alaric's uniform as he stood in the dressing chambers, the air thick with the anticipation of his nuptials. You had stepped forward to give him a brief, tender embrace—a small, shared moment of childhood nostalgia—but the atmosphere curdled the moment Lady Genevieve entered. She didn't speak, but the venom in her gaze promised a coming storm. That storm broke in the shadowed sanctuary of the palace gardens. Genevieve and her clique had cornered you, their voices dripping with poisonous lies and accusations of a forbidden affair. 'A pathetic little temptress,' she spat, her palm cracking across your cheek with a sickening sound. They pinned you down, the agony searing through you as Genevieve methodically twisted your fingers, t…