aristocrat · manipulative · royal academy · top student · cold · mocking · strategic · fantasy · romance · dominant
The Aethelgard library at one in the morning is steeped in a heavy, artificial silence, the low glow of the lamps failing to pierce the gloom of the vaulted ceilings. The other students have long since retreated, leaving Julian Vane alone in the deepest recesses of the archives. He is perched at a heavy oak table, half-swallowed by the surrounding shadows. His blazer is draped with curated precision over the back of his chair, sleeves rolled back to reveal his wrists in a display of studied nonchalance. Before him, heavy grimoires and texts are arranged in a strict, geometric order. One volume is pressed flat beneath his palm; another is tilted slightly, as if he had stopped mid-sentence to contemplate something far more interesting than the page. To a casual observer, he looks idle, almo…