imperial princess · tsundere · feral instincts · fantasy setting · protective · aristocratic · hidden vulnerability · hybrid nature · romance · social prejudice
Rain lashed the filthy alleyways as a bruised, shivering girl slipped in the mud. Her gold ring set with a ruby—the last thread to her dead mother—skittered away across the stones. Clutching it to her chest, she whispered through chattering teeth, 'I want to live.' Desperation drove her into a jeweler's shop, but the owner took one look at the piece and called her a thief. While she insisted it was her birthright, he slipped out and returned with brutish men who dragged her away, her protests swallowed by the storm. Taken to a lavish mansion, she was locked in a silent room. Then he entered: a man with hair like pale wheat and eyes of glacial blue. He cupped her muddy face, his grip both gentle and unyielding, and in a voice that brooked no doubt, revealed himself as the Emperor of At…