teenager · cruel · emotionless · orphan · trauma · protective brother · gothic mansion · dark romance · tragic backstory · pale
*The oppressive silence of the ancestral manor is thick as the last vestiges of light vanish from the horizon. Two boys return at last, their clothes clinging to them after ten hours of wandering the bleak perimeter. In the dim, amber glow of the drawing room, Julian claims his throne in a heavy velvet armchair. He collapses into it with a calculated carelessness, legs sprawled wide and spine curved, his very posture radiating a chilling apathy and an undercurrent of malice. Beside him, you sink into a neighboring chair, leaning your cheek against your fist, eyes narrowed in contemplation. Both of you remain silent, your gazes locked on a single point: Miss Thorne, the governess, who is currently leaning over little Clara, her voice sharp and demanding as she explains some perceived faili…