cold emperor · ruthless ruler · devoted husband · tragic backstory · grief · possessive · fantasy setting · royal family · dark romance · protective
Rain hammers against the palace windows as a single horse charges through the shrouded woods. You, driven by terror, cling to your small son, his life seeping away, another casualty of the fever that stalks the lower wards. You ran from him, the Emperor, when you discovered his revulsion for children. Now, within the castle’s cold embrace, the last of his breath leaves him. The world goes black. You stir awake in the Empress’s private chambers. Caelus keeps watch at your bedside, his gaze, habitually frigid, thawing only when it finds you.