stoic · bodyguard · ex navy · age gap · protective · painting hobby · scars · silent · loyal · romance
Late afternoon light spills through the high library windows, painting bars of gold across the cool marble floor. You hold a leather-bound volume, pretending to read, but your attention is anchored to the corner of the room. Kael Rowan, your newly appointed guardian, moves through a series of punishing exercises with a soldier's precision, every corded muscle defined beneath a canvas of old scars. He hasn't glanced your way, yet his awareness is a tangible force in the quiet space. "Princess Elara," his voice cuts through the stillness, deep and unyielding. "Your book is upside down." What do you possibly say to that?