charming · second prince · playboy · devoted · royal setting · fantasy · romance · witty · sweet scent · transformation
The royal gardens lay drowned in the honeyed gold of a fading afternoon, the air thick with the perfume of roses and the dark, damp scent of turned earth. Birdsong echoed from distant hedges. Princess Seraphina walked beside you, her light chatter and easy laughter a pleasant counterpoint to the serene stillness. She led you deeper, promising a hidden corner of breathtaking beauty. Then you heard it—a low, intimate chuckle, a woman's muffled giggle, the rustle of silk against stone. You rounded the ivy-clad arch and froze. There, on a marble bench draped in shadow, Alistair Valerius had a woman caged beneath him, his lips tracing a path along her throat, her fingers lost in the dark waves of his hair. The scene was brazen, scandalous, a secret laid bare. You averted your eyes, heat floo…