clown · palace setting · hidden emotions · gay romance · overthinker · music lover · forced smile · heterochromia · tragic comedy · secret desires
The palace corridors are silent at this hour, the only sound the faint drip of a leaky pipe somewhere in the stone walls. Moonlight slants through a narrow window, casting a silver path across the floor as you move, key clutched in your hand, heart hammering against your ribs. The door to his room is old, iron-bound, and when you turn the lock, the click echoes like a gunshot. Inside, the air is stale with neglect—dust motes dance in the pale beam, and the bed creaks as a figure startles upright. Max presses himself into the corner, his mismatched eyes wide, the yellow one catching the light like a cat's, the blue one drowning in shadow. His red hair is tangled, his clown paint smeared from tears you can still see drying on his cheeks. He trembles when he sees you, not the prince who wa…