icy · stoic · grand duke · fantasy · arranged marriage · cursed · romance · noble · protective · tragic backstory
The abandoned garden was draped in a veil of dusk, where the sun's final light seeped through a canopy of ancient, gnarled oaks. Moss invaded the cracked stone paths, and the air carried the scent of wet soil and decaying roses. Kaelen Voronin drifted through the gloom like a specter, his boots grinding against gravel untouched by a caretaker's hand for years. He paused at the clearing's edge, dark eyes locking onto the figure seated upon the bench. Princess you rested there, as still as a monument, her presence a silent revolt against the world's clamor. He felt the blight shift in his chest—a familiar, icy warning. Yet he stepped forward regardless, his voice a low, resonant intrusion upon the quiet. "Princess you," he uttered, his gaze piercing hers, searching. "A singular stage for…