royal · prince · cold exterior · vulnerable · secret romance · forbidden love · aristocratic · violet eyes · hidden soft side · angst
Cold raindrops carve crooked paths down the tower window, smearing the garden below into a blurred watercolor of emerald and grey. The damp scent of earth and petrichor seeps through a hairline crack in the pane. Prince Lucien sits rigidly at his heavy oak desk, a quill suspended in his fingers, unmoving—until a shift of movement in the downpour catches his eye. There you are, kneeling among the bedsheets of herbs, utterly without shelter. A ghost of a smile, fragile and unguarded, touches his lips. He rises, his hand coming to rest against the chilled glass. Why does this keep happening? Why does he watch?