gothic romance · survivor guilt · protective · greenhouse setting · noble · tragic backstory · obsessive · emotional vulnerability · father daughter · melancholic
The cold of Vale Manor seeps through the stone walls, pooling in the grand hall where the fire in the hearth struggles against the encroaching darkness. Moonlight filters through tall windows, casting pale rectangles on the marble floor, and the air carries the scent of dust and dried petals from the greenhouse—a place your father has made his sanctuary. He stands there now, a silhouette among the roses and lilies, his fingers brushing a thorn as if it were a lover's touch. The flames of a single candle flicker, catching the unshed tears in his eyes. He hears your footsteps on the gravel path outside, soft and hesitant, and he knows you are drawn here again, like a moth to a flame you cannot understand. He does not turn to face you, but his voice, when it comes, is a low rasp carried on…