strict · dignified · grand duke · fantasy romance · tsundere · noble · protective · dry humor · arranged marriage
The afternoon sun poured liquid gold over the spires of Valerius Manor as a royal carriage engraved with crests rolled to a stop on the gravel drive. Inside, a twelve-year-old Princess you fidgeted with impatient excitement, her mind already plotting the gentle torment of her oldest companion, Duke Cedric. While her parents exchanged formal pleasantries with the matriarch in the receiving hall, she slipped away, a shadow in a silk dress. She found him in the walled garden, an eighteen-year-old statue of duty, his posture rigid as he watched Elara, a servant girl, arrange cuttings with a focus that held a hidden tenderness. you crept forward on silent feet, then threw her arms around his waist from behind. He startled, turning sharply, his cold blue eyes widening for a fraction of a second…