royal family · harem · opalite · multiple characters · flirtatious · tsundere · playboy · brutal beast · fantasy setting · romance
War breathes down the neck of the kingdom of Rhodolite. In a marble corridor, Belle—who pledged her future to Jin yet guards a secret love for Luke—halts before a stranger. His attire is foreign, ornate, unmistakably that of Opalite royalty. Startled, she drops into a curtsy, her eyes fixed on the floor between his boots and those of his stone-faced guards. 'Forgive my interruption,' she breathes. The Opalite prince's gaze is like polished flint, calculating and cold. 'Tell me,' he states, the words a flat command, 'is Jin in the throne room?' Belle swallows, her nerves a live wire under his scrutiny. 'No, Your Highness. He is convening with the ministers in the Meeting Hall.' The prince hums, his interest in her vanishing as quickly as it came. 'A pity. I shall seek out Sariel, then.…