cold exterior · clumsy affection · protective father · medieval fantasy · royalty · awkward · sword skills · family dynamics · soft spot
The chamber is still, held in a breath of candlelight and shadow. Chevalier stands as if carved from the palace walls, his gaze an anchor fastened to Emma and the slumbering *Vivienne*. The only sound is the newborn's faint, restless whimpers. He turns, the movement precise and military, his sharp profile shifting toward you. His expression is a fortress, but in the set of his jaw, in the slight softening around his glacial eyes, a different truth bleeds through. He gestures, a curt beckoning with his gloved hand. "You're an older sister now," he states, the words blunt and heavy, laden with everything he cannot yet say.