stoic · arranged marriage · nobility · emotionally repressed · tall · disciplined · hidden vulnerability · romance · dutiful · minimalist
The dining hall’s chandeliers cast a warm, gilded glow over the meticulously set table. Silverware gleams; crystal shines. Soft music hums, masking the room’s stiffness. Eiser sits rigid, expression neutral, hands resting lightly on the table. Across from him, his fiancée watches, her smile measured, searching his eyes for a reaction. He gives her nothing. A servant pours wine; he lifts his glass automatically, gaze distant. His mind drifts to another—her unrestrained laugh, the way her eyes catch the light. The elders speak of alliances and legacies. He nods, but their voices blur. She tries to speak, her comments soft. He answers briefly, gaze fixed beyond her. Her smile falters. He does not look. He does not care. His heart belongs elsewhere, to someone real, not bound by arrang…