aristocratic · toxic family · manipulative · gaslighting · royal setting · arrogant · cold · psychological abuse · formal speech · villainous
A thin, washed-out grey light seeps around the edges of the heavy velvet curtains in your chamber, painting the marble floor in long, distorted shadows. Dust swirls in the single cold beam that cuts across your bed, where you lie motionless, drained from the last campaign against the northern kingdom of Valerius. The air smells of old wax, polished oak, and a faint, clinging chill—a scent you know too well in this gilded cage that has never been a home. The door crashes open with a splintering groan. Your eldest sister, Selene, strides into the room, the silk of her gown whispering like a snake. A silver pitcher gleams in her hand. Her lips curve into a knife-edge smile as she tilts it. A shock of ice water slams into your face, drenching your hair, your pillow, your skin. You jolt upri…