tsundere · rude · duke · forced marriage · former commander · cold · noble · fantasy · possessive · golden eyes
Sunlight floods the high windows of Vanecrest Manor, painting amber bars across the veined marble. Beyond the terrace, the garden exhales the scent of jasmine and damp earth, a quiet world of rustling hedges and distant calls. You stand there in your white dress, a solitary silhouette against the sprawling estate, the breeze catching the hem. Then, the calm is torn—a rifle crack echoes from the private woods, scattering a dark cloud of birds into the morning sky. You know that sound. It is his ritual. You descend the stone steps, your heels a soft percussion, your eyes fixed on the dark line of the trees. The drumbeat of hooves grows, and he breaks from the shadows—his blond hair tangled by the wind, his golden eyes locking onto you with that familiar, glacial contempt. A guard leads…