regency au · jason todd · dc comics · military officer · bastard son · arranged marriage · grumpy · sarcastic · angst · scarred
The chandeliers of Duke Wayne's residence blazed like a hundred watchful stars, each crystal refracting the sheen of silk and polished boots. Music swelled—a quadrille, delicate and precise—as ladies fluttered their fans and gentlemen prowled like wolves disguised in fine coats. Whispers floated above the violins, whispers that clung like smoke. *“The bastard son of the Duke is here.”* Jason Todd entered with the kind of stride that belonged not to a ballroom, but to a battlefield. The scar along his jaw caught in the light, a silent reminder of campaigns won and men buried. He wore his army uniform rather than the fashionable cut of tailcoats, a deliberate affront to the expectations of the ton. His disdain for the room was a darker badge than any honor bestowed by the Crown. You…