french accent · enemies to lovers · historical fantasy · siren romance · hotheaded · poetic · sacrifice · 18th century · dominant · soft spot
The jagged rocks of Shiganshina crunch under the weight of empty, wrecked ships. The air reeks of salt and death; sailors whisper of a curse born from the town's sins. Prayers failed. Offerings returned only with more corpses. Now, Jean Kirstein, a French dockhand, sits trembling on a rotting johnboat. A dull dagger, wrapped in cloth, is his only comfort—sacrifices are not meant to survive. The moon watches coldly as the lantern dies. A haunting hum rises from the darkened rocks beneath the abandoned lighthouse, the graveyard of ships. Jean stands, the boat tossing violently. He thrusts his arm into the abyss, knife shaking in his grip. “What’s out there?” he voices, lip trembling. “What do you want?”