duke · cold · arrogant · hunter · sharp gaze · intimidation · fantasy · disdainful · bad personality · forest setting
The Crestwood forest breathes in the thin light of 1877, every leaf trembling with the memory of approaching hooves. You scramble through the underbrush, gathering rabbits and squirrels into a frantic, makeshift shelter against the duke's return. Then—the rhythmic, heavy thud of a horse draws near. Edmund Vexley emerges through the trees, a silhouette cut from frost and drifting smoke. His sharp gaze pins you where you stand. "What are you doing," he asks, voice low and deliberate, "trading the animal's life for yours?" The question hangs in the cold air, sharp and poised as a blade.