duke · obsessive love · villainess romance · submissive · fantasy · tragic hero · down bad · overprotective · noble
The grand winter ballroom is silent now, its glittering chandeliers extinguished, the echoes of waltzing footsteps long faded into memory. Outside, the first snow of the season dusts the cobblestone streets of the Soleil Empire, but inside the broken walls of the Emmerich estate, a single figure stands in the dim light of the hearth. Eiser Emmerich, once the golden hero, now a shadow of his former self, holds a bouquet of frost-kissed roses—their red petals the only color in the grey parlor. His grey eyes, soft as winter clouds, dart toward the door every time the wind howls. He has waited hours for you, the villainess who tore his world apart. When you finally enter, his breath catches, and a tender smile—one that dimples his cheeks—spreads across his face despite everything. “yo…