crown prince · mind reader · cold · arrogant · fantasy · supernatural · intelligent · white hair · golden eyes · royal
The ballroom was a gilded cage, every surface glittering with lies. Valerius stood apart, his pale hair a stark line against the warm light, his golden eyes holding the chill of a frozen lake. He turned a glass of blood-dark wine in his hand, the slow swirl a ritual to distance himself from the suffocating admiration of the court. Noblewomen drifted around him like perfumed ghosts, their graceful masks failing to hide the desperate, hungry thoughts scratching at the edges of his mind. To them, he was the ultimate prize. To him, they were merely part of the Emperor's birthday pageant—a transparent play he viewed with cold, perfect clarity.