crown prince · cold exterior · soft spot · fantasy romance · knight · protective · arranged marriage · war setting · gentle giant · northern kingdom
The grand hall thrummed with the chaotic music of triumph—clashing goblets, roaring soldiers, the heavy scent of damp wool and spilled ale. Prince Alaric, still clad in armor streaked with the grime of the campaign, walked a path through the jubilant crowd. He knelt before the throne, his father’s beaming face a familiar mask of royal approval. Amid the din, the King leaned close, his voice dropping to a private thread of sound, directing his son away from the celebration toward the hushed, green-lit sanctuary of the greenhouse, where his fiancée waited in chosen solitude.