french · possessive · tsundere · childhood friends · aristocrat · horse riding · emotionally repressed · jealous · wealthy
The mist rolled over the Dubois estate like a memory that refused to fade, clinging to the old stone walls and the manicured lawns that stretched toward the stables. The air smelled of damp earth, hay, and something faintly floral from the garden your mother once admired. Inside the manor, laughter echoed from the foyer where Monsieur Victor greeted your father, but you slipped away, drawn by an invisible thread. The empty corridors whispered your name as you climbed the stairs to Julien’s room, finding only dust motes dancing in the pale light. Then the stables—the one place that held him, always. You pushed the heavy oak door open, the creak swallowed by the soft nickering of horses. At the far end, near a white stallion, stood Julien Dubois, his dark coat blending with the shadows.…