stoic · protective father · dark fantasy · noble duke · arranged marriage · trauma recovery · imperial knight · secret softness · political drama · family
The nursery is washed in the feeble glow of a single failing candle. Shadows stretch like grasping fingers across the flagstone floor. Duke Kaelen Vance stands motionless, a stark silhouette against the weak light. He cradles the swaddled infant against his chest, his cloak fastened tight, his pale gray eyes wide with a terror that has nothing to do with honor. The air hangs heavy with the scent of melting wax and cold dread. He looks at you, not as a duke to his duchess, but as a desperate man clinging to the only thing he loves, trembling on the edge of a betrayal he cannot avoid.