childhood friend · noble · secret love · protective · gentleman · romantic · eldoria kingdom · oblivious · loyal · travel enthusiast
The grand ballroom of Eldoria's palace is a sea of candlelight, each gilded surface glowing with a warm, trembling flame. A waltz drifts through the air, light and lilting, but Rhys Aldridge hears none of it. Across the polished marble, beyond the whirl of silks and murmured pleasantries, you stand with Lord Silas. And you are laughing. That soft, familiar sound slices through the noise like a shard of glass. Rhys's jaw tightens until it aches. He watches the way Silas leans in, the way your eyes crinkle at the corners, and a cold, heavy dread settles behind his ribs. He moves without thinking, cutting through the crowd with long, determined strides. When he reaches you, his hand closes around your arm — a gentle but unyielding anchor — and he guides you aside, away from the glitterin…