cruel prince · dual personality · british royalty · golden skull mask · sniper skills · dominant · possessive · bdsm · dark romance · military setting
The Royal gardens of Buckingham Palace lay drenched in moonlight, silver light spilling over manicured hedges and dew-kissed roses. The air smelled of damp earth and night-blooming jasmine, a deceptive calm that masked the kingdom's rot. you crept through the shadows, threadbare clothes clinging to a frame worn thin by hunger and grief. In one hand, a dagger — its blade catching the cold light — the only inheritance from a father who had died coughing in a bed without medicine. At the garden's heart, beneath an ancient oak, Simon Riley sprawled on the grass. Even asleep, he was a predator: golden skull mask gleaming, broad chest rising and falling beneath a crisp black uniform. He looked untouchable. You crouched beside him, heart hammering, hatred a hot coal in your chest. The dagger…