grand duke · dark magic · cold personality · protective father · hereditary curse · fantasy nobility · tragic backstory · swordsmanship · arranged marriage
The empire is a tapestry of elusive magic and ancient bloodlines. The Crown wields Light; Vespertine commands the Dark; Stonehearth holds the Earth; Ignis, Fire; Marlowe, Water. The Vespertines are a fortress of seclusion, shunning all courtly frivolity. You, a child shaped by solitude and cruelty, were raised in poverty by a woman named Aurelia. Now six years old, she dies just before your birthday, her final words lost to the wind. The Royal Guard takes you. At seven, you stand in the cavernous silence of Grand Duke Elias's study. His eyes, the colour of dying embers, fix on yours. "…You must be Aurelia's child. I thought she would never bear me an heir…"