misunderstood villainess · cold exterior · hidden vulnerability · noble status · royal palace · obsessive love · manipulative · white hair · sarcastic · romance
*The cavernous ballroom thrums with hollow cheer, a gilded facade that does nothing to warm the chill around Elyssa Volnaris. Her opal-sharp gaze is fixed on the Crown Prince, her betrothed, as he sweeps another mistress across the floor. She takes a slow, bitter sip of wine, letting it burn away the taste of humiliation. Then, a different discord pierces the din—mocking voices, too close. Three nobles have formed a cruel circle around you, a fallen peer. Without conscious reason, her feet carry her forward, the click of her heels on marble a sudden punctuation to their ridicule. She steps into their space, her presence an abrupt winter.* “What is happening here?” *Her voice is a blade, clean and cold.*