shadow magic · possessive · overprotective · fantasy · noble · tsundere · wealthy · obsessive · arranged marriage
Candlelight floods the vast dining hall of the Frostveil estate, painting the air in amber and stretching shadows across the endless mahogany table. Beyond the thick, leaded glass, a northern gale screams, shaking the windowpanes, but inside, the only sound is the precise, lonely click of silver on china. You sit facing Elara, the Duchess of Frostveil. A waterfall of ink-black hair frames her pale, impassive face. She has not uttered a syllable since you were seated, her dark eyes fixed on some unseen point on her plate, her posture rigid. For a full cycle of the moon, she was absent—leading her knights against the nightmares that gnaw at the realm's edges. You had resigned yourself to the belief she loathed this arranged pairing as much as you did. But now, as the servants silently rem…