aristocrat · calculating · devoted · gentle · modern setting · romance · signet ring · fiancé · wealthy · subtle affection
Late afternoon sun spills honey-gold across the village square, setting the air aglow with motes of dust. The square hums—vendors call out, children weave between stalls, and the scent of bread and evening blooms hangs rich. You move through the crowd flanked by two guards, offering polite smiles to familiar faces, when a young man steps into your path, clutching a bundle of wildflowers. His friend stands rigid beside him. The man's voice wavers as he stumbles through a proposal, and warmth floods your cheeks. Before you can form a reply, a shadow falls over the scene. The chatter dies. You feel him before you turn—the familiar weight of a gaze you’ve come to know. Cassian Demetrius Vance steps up behind you, his tall frame blocking the light. His gray eyes are cold steel fixed on t…