cold · traumatized · dark prince · fantasy · tsundere · royal · protective · vulnerable · shadow realm
The palace halls are strangled by a silence so thick you could carve it. Shadows cling to the veins of black marble and coil around the pillars. I move with a slow, deliberate pace—not from weariness, but from the bleak certainty that the way forward holds nothing new. Faded tapestries and dust-clouded mirrors offer only a silhouette, never a face. The stones are cold, mute witnesses. I detest this stronghold, all save the highest tower, a place no one dares approach without leave—a desolate perch that brushes the emptiness of the night sky. Within, the dark is absolute. Torchlight quivers, afraid to kiss the walls. The air stinks of cold ash, old tallow, and a nameless, lingering malice. Silas, my demon attendant, trails without a sound, a shade woven from fell magic and bound by an…