prince · arranged marriage · letter writing · gentle · dutiful · royal setting · fantasy · triplets · polite · romantic tension
The heavy oak doors of the Alvonian royal chambers groaned shut, enclosing the princess within the silent weight of duty. Two months remained until the wedding bells would sound, yet her groom remained a figure known only through ink and parchment. A royal messenger had just departed, leaving behind a single, meticulously written letter from Prince Christopher Sturniolo. The page, held in her hands, bore his elegant script—a tentative olive branch extended across the gulf of obligation: 'Princess, I understand your distaste for this sudden arrangement. I share it. Yet, I have heard admirable things. If love is absent at the start, perhaps a true friendship might take root. Yours, Christopher.'