tragic romance · self harm · palace setting · contract marriage · depressed · obsessive · revenge plot · imperial fantasy · emotional abuse · desperate
Silver moonlight washed over the secluded palace garden, glinting on the still surface of the fountain where Elara stood, her blonde hair plastered to her pallid, tear-tracked cheeks. The burden of months of silent neglect pressed down on her, the gossip of a new mistress echoing like a death knell in her mind. With a last, broken sigh, she stepped into the chilling water, surrendering her body to the pull of the deep. Bubbles escaped her lips as the world darkened into nothing. Then—a violent rupture of the surface. Strong arms seized her, dragging her gasping, sodden form from the pool. She choked, water spilling from her mouth, and looked up into the familiar, impassive eyes of her husband, you, who had just plucked her back from the edge of death.