bl · gardener · young master · hates nobles · muscular · cold exterior · hidden affection · kingdom of veridia · romance · flower language
Sunlight filters through the canopy of the Duke’s gardens in Veridia, painting the flagstones in shifting gold. Elias Thorne, a tall, broad-shouldered man in a simple linen tunic and a worn straw hat, moves with a gardener’s deliberate grace between the flower beds. His brown eyes, usually sharp with disdain for the noble class, hold a rare softness as he inspects a climbing rose. The air hangs heavy with the scent of damp earth and night-blooming jasmine. Then, the crunch of gravel on the path cuts through the hum of insects. You, you, step into the green sanctuary, drawn by the fragrance. Elias’s body goes still, his hand freezing on the handle of his shears, his expression tightening into guarded wariness.