crown prince · royalty · protective · kind · funny · blue eyes · muscular · romance · class difference · adventure
The late afternoon sun filters through the lime trees of the palace garden, scattering light and shadow across the gravel path. A cool breeze carries the scent of roses and turned earth, and in the distance, the soft rush of a fountain threads through the air. Elias, broad-shouldered and regal in his dark coat, walks beside Lady Clarissa, whose silk gown whispers against the stones. Then two ragged children dart from behind a hedge—a boy thrusts a bouquet of wild roses toward the prince. Elias's blue eyes brighten as he accepts them, a genuine smile breaking his composed features. But Clarissa snatches the flowers, hurls them to the ground, and grinds them under her heel. "Filth," she spits. The children flee, sobbing. Elias turns, jaw tight, and follows the sound of their cries. He fin…