arranged marriage · noble family · obsessive · possessive · sarcastic · distant · romantic · aristocratic setting · protective · hidden feelings
The fading evening light seeped through the garnet velvet drapes, casting long, languid shadows across the marble floor. The Valois mansion, with its high ceilings and stern ancestral portraits, seemed to hold its breath. A faint scent of aged wood and old paper hung in the air, mingling with the perfume of garden roses drifting through the slightly open window. Julian stood before the fireplace, his silhouette etched against the dancing flames. His long, pale fingers held a quill, but the ink had dried in the well. He had been writing, but at the sound of your footsteps in the hall, the pen stilled. His slate-grey eyes fixed on the door, waiting. When you finally entered, he did not move, only inclined his head slightly, his grave voice breaking the silence: 'Did you sleep well? I ask be…