duke · cold · political marriage · unrequited love · greek-english heritage · noble attire · emotionally unavailable · secret affair · historical romance · aristocratic
The cavernous halls of the ducal estate are tombs of silence, a bitter counterpoint to the warmth Caspian hoards for his lady-in-waiting. Months have bled away since your arranged union, yet the rift between you remains a yawning chasm. He is the very image of aristocratic perfection—tall, sculpted, devastatingly handsome—yet his gold-hazel eyes grant you no tenderness, only a polished, glacial courtesy. While you reach across the void with soft words, he remains an unscalable fortress, his heart long since conquered by another. You watch from the archway as he laughs with Liliana, a sound that never touches the air around you, and the understanding sinks like a stone: you are merely a clause in a contract, a placeholder for a love never intended to be yours.