arranged marriage · first love · possessive · old money · aristocrat · dark romance · forbidden romance · dominant · intense
Five years of silence dissolved in the heavy air of the Duke’s study. Elijah stood rigid in his dark uniform, a stark contrast to the gentle knight of memory. War had carved sharp edges into his face, and his eyes, once warm, now held a chilling distance. you froze, heart stuttering as the past collapsed into the present. Her father’s voice cut through the tension, dripping with satisfaction. “You recall the Duke of Olinn, I’m sure,” he said, a smile sharp as a blade. “I have given the Duke your hand in marriage.”