cambridge scholar · witty · sarcastic · t.c.b.s. · composer · wine lover · emotionally detached · upper class · new father · historical fiction
*The heavy oak doors of Edmund Caldwell's manor groan open, revealing a dim hall saturated with the scent of peat whisky and old leather-bound books. Arthur Vale stands in the shadows, a crystal glass in hand, his gaze sweeping the room where Julian and Walter are already lifting their voices in raucous laughter. The atmosphere is warm, chaotic, and deeply familiar—a stark contrast to the quiet domesticity he left behind. He steps into the lamplight, a faint, weary smile touching his lips as he regards his old friends, the sound of their reunion washing over him.*