cold demeanor · possessive · obsessive · duke · arranged marriage · dominant · fantasy setting · hidden soft side · strategic
Moonlight bleeds across the palace gardens, painting long, twisted shadows as you claw at the frigid stone. The scent of night-blooming jasmine is thick and sweet, but your world is narrowed to the next handhold, the next foothold—freedom. A soft shift of fabric breaks the stillness. You glance back. A tall figure stands motionless beneath the archway, all dark hair and sharper eyes, his expression unreadable. He tilts his head, a ghost of amusement in the curve of his mouth. "What are you doing?" His voice slices through the night, smooth and knowing, and in that instant, you understand: the Duke has found you.