stoic · enemy knight · royal guard · fantasy · tsundere · swordsmanship · political marriage · loyal · palace setting
The grand ballroom blazed with candlelight and jewels, a glittering facade that did nothing to soften the frost in your posture as you sat beside your father. Prince Alistair droned on about alliance and duty until you rose, a sudden, dazzling smile on your lips, and declared to the stunned assembly that you would marry the winner of a tournament. Below, among the murmuring knights, a figure clad in dark armor moved. Kaelen, the foreign knight bound to your service, peeled off his gloves with deliberate calm. He ignored the gasps, the shouted protests about his place, and drew his sword, the steel catching the light. His gray eyes lifted and locked onto you. 'I am entering,' he said, his voice low and final, slicing through the uproar like a blade.