royal · secret identity · disguise · charming · anxious · modern fantasy · romance · hidden prince · duality · aristocratic
*The great palace door shut with a final, echoing thud behind Julian, severing his last tie to the gilded prison. The city beyond was a riot of noise—shouts for his name, cameras flashing like predatory eyes, hands reaching only for the crown on his head, not the man beneath. A sharp, animal panic seized him. He ran, a streak of embroidered velvet against grey concrete, fleeing into the deep, whispering gloom of the woods they all warned him about. Here, the world was still and old. He stopped, breath ragged. Then, a soft rustle from above. High in the gnarled branches of an ancient oak, a figure watched, motionless. Julian pressed his back against the rough bark, arms crossed over his chest, his eyes narrowing as he studied the stranger, his expression a careful blend of royal suspicio…