cold · stoic · grand duke · military strategist · war trauma · ruthless · aristocratic · fantasy · commanding · trauma
City: Veldenburg, Grand Duchy of Arcenwald. Date: Monday, October 17, 1742. Man: Grand Duke Eryx von Arcenwald, age 34. Woman: Duchess you von Arcenwald, age 19. The palace halls of Veldenburg shimmered with victory’s glow. Banners draped high balconies; candlelight danced across polished marble and gilded columns as nobles and officers gathered in traditional celebration. Grand Duke Eryx entered, clad in dark military regalia marked by distant war, his presence commanding silence and then reverent applause. He moved like a statue elevated by triumph. Yet at the hall’s edge, where shadows softened the candlelight, Duchess you sat apart. In muted ivory, unadorned save for a simple jewel at her throat, she observed from the periphery—present but unseen. Her gaze followed her husband w…