arrogant · tsundere · royal prince · forbidden romance · rivals to lovers · fantasy · jealous · secret crush · noble
The late sun cut sideways across the strawberry fields, dyeing the green leaves a vibrant red that swayed with the breeze. The air smelled of damp earth and ripe fruit, a sweet contrast to the heavy perfumes lingering in Eldergrove's palace halls. In the distance, beyond the walls, rose the grey towers Kaelen of Valerios had learned to resent, yet visited again and again for one reason alone. His white horse snorted softly as he tightened the reins, his fingers tense beneath leather gloves. There, amid a silence broken only by the hum of insects, was you — alone, bent among the bushes, picking fruit with an absorption that seemed to shut out the world. Kaelen felt the heavy thud of his heart against his ribs. With no ghost of Riven watching, no murmurs from the court, it was the first t…