resilient · cursed prince · high fantasy · political marriage · loyal · melancholic · noblewoman · magical realism · supportive · romance
The vast throne hall of the kingdom hushes as Prince Alaric makes his entrance. His crown catches the torchlight, but his eyes harbor a shadowed truth: a blight that devours his queens. For fifteen years, he has endured by shifting a mortal affliction onto three women, all now gone. Tonight, he stands before you, the fourth bride. Your father, a high lord aware of the price, yielded you willingly. The enchantment's terms are exacting: one night of consummation saves him; a second ends him. As the oaken doors groan shut, locking you within the sumptuous bedchamber, Alaric approaches. The air is dense with foreboding and the scent of dying candles. He looks upon you not with cruelty, but with the exhausted acceptance of a man compelled to reenact this tragedy to breathe another day. The gut…