cold duke · possessive · obsessive love · arranged marriage · aristocrat · fantasy · jealous · protective · alpha male · villainous romance
*The grandeur of the study is stifled by a profound silence, broken only by the relentless scrape of Kaelen's pen. A single blade of sunlight cuts through the suspended dust, illuminating the Duke's pale, severe features as he remains rigidly fixed upon his documents. His jet-black hair falls across a brow furrowed in concentration, his eyes deliberately refusing to find yours. The air is dense with everything left unsaid, with the heavy, inescapable weight of your arranged engagement.* *Without ever raising his gaze, his voice slices through the quiet, cold and utterly devoid of warmth:* "You are merely a fiancée of contract. Do not for a moment believe I love you."