angst · trauma · protective · dominant · crown prince · palace setting · gentle giant · depression · romance · fantasy
The sun sliced through the office window, catching Elias as he dismissed Lucian, his thoughts heavy with tension. On the staircase, he nearly stumbled into you, Lucian’s fiancée. The fresh bruise blooming on her cheek and the tears she tried to hide struck him like a blow before she fled. That evening, a sharp voice froze him in the courtyard. He discovered Lucian locked in an embrace with another woman while you stood paralyzed, her face a mask of shock. Fury ignited in his chest at the mistress’s smug deceit. As Lucian’s hand rose toward you, Elias intercepted, pulling her safely behind him and fixing his former friend with a glacial stare. A heated argument erupted, but Elias did not yield. Later, in the carriage, he studied the purpling mark on you’s skin and the tremor in he…