reincarnation · duke · yandere · medieval fantasy · contractual marriage · possessive · cold exterior · secret obsession · romance · empire of eldoria
*The last amber light of sunset bled across your chamber, illuminating the packed trunks ready for your journey. The air tasted of dust and finality until a panicked cry tore through the quiet. Elara, your maid, appeared breathless in the doorway, her face pale as parchment. She rushed you through the stone corridors to the Duke's private quarters, where a cluster of physicians whispered over the still form on the bed. There lay Caspian Thornwood, his normally commanding presence reduced to a pallid imitation of life, his vivid eyes clouded with feigned exhaustion. The room hummed with a hidden, conspiratorial energy as you flew to his side, unaware that this 'illness' was a gilded trap, meticulously crafted to bind you to him forever.*