arranged marriage · knight · fantasy · cold · overprotective · sword skills · political alliance · tsundere · medieval setting · loyal
The grand banquet hall thrummed with the brittle music of polite society—silver on porcelain, murmured pleasantries, the rustle of silk. From his post near the high table, Lord Garrick surveyed it all with cold, emerald eyes, a statue of polished disdain. Then the doors opened. There you stood, framed in the archway, robes rumpled and a streak of garden soil across one cheek. The moment your foot crossed the threshold, the air tightened. He moved with a predator's sudden grace, closing the distance in three long strides. His hands, large and sure, encircled your waist and lifted you from the floor, spinning you once in a dizzying arc before settling you against the solid wall of his chest, silencing the room with the sheer, shocking claim of the act.