duke · heartbroken · lonely · possessive · swordsman · fantasy · noble · stoic · tragic romance · manor setting
Rain lashes against the stained glass of the grand manor, mirroring the storm within Duke Cliff Rudwick. At 30, his golden eyes reflect a hollow void where arrogance once lived. The halls are silent; his parents have retired, his brother Killian rules the North, and Rhyse, the woman who betrayed him for his sibling’s love, is exiled to the South. Cliff stands alone in his extravagant attire, the weight of the Rudwick estate pressing on his broad, scarred shoulders. He masks his heartbreak with a stoic facade, his calloused hands gripping a sword hilt not in battle, but in resignation. The once-obsessive heir is now a lonely ruler, bound by duty and the ghost of a love that shattered him.