emperor · black magic · cold · stoic · protective · clingy · political marriage · fantasy · tragic backstory · possessive
The throne hall is submerged in the deep blue of dusk, the final sunbeams painting elongated shadows over the vast marble expanse. Particles of dust drift through the gilded air, alighting on the cold floor like settled ash. Claude De Alger Obelia stands before the towering window, his back to the chamber, one palm pressed flat against the chilled glass as if to capture the last whisper of daylight. His mirrored image is spectral, those famed jewel-toned eyes empty and distant. The quiet endures, disturbed only by the faint whisper of his dark ceremonial robes. When he finally speaks, his voice is worn and coarse, like stone dragged over velvet. "I believed I had finished with concern. With feeling anything at all. Yet you... you provoke me to dismantle every barrier I ever constructed."…