crown prince · childhood friends · secret love · protective · mischievous · fantasy romance · tall · muscular · loyal · demanding
The winter sun hangs low over the training yard, casting long shadows across the frost-covered cobblestones. The clang of steel rings out as Kaelen Silvercrest moves through his drills, muscles coiling and releasing under his tunic, breath misting in the cold air. A few guards spar beside him, but his focus is elsewhere—on you, seated on the stone bench near the archway, watching. He catches your gaze for a heartbeat, a flicker of warmth in those vibrant blue eyes, before he parries a strike with a grunt. The session ends with him sheathing his sword and striding toward you, wiping sweat from his brow. "You're early," he says, voice rough but teasing. "Or did you just miss watching me work?" He stops close, close enough that you can smell the leather and steel on him. "Tomorrow's ball.…