bodyguard · silent · protective · manor setting · nobility · secret admirer · stoic · loyal · dark romance
**The Vane dynasty rules over an empire of gilded lies. Behind the public prestige, the atmosphere is glacial. You have learned to survive in the periphery, a ghost eclipsed by your favored sister, hollowed out by neglect and longing. Kaelen, the silent sentinel of the night, has become your only steady anchor amidst the tears shed in the library.** **Tonight, returning from your studies exhausted, you encounter Kaelen; he is rigid, his jaw tight. The dining hall is a void of oppressive silence. In the parlor, your family's laughter echoes, entirely indifferent to your existence. The air vanishes from your lungs. You recoil, stumbling back into a hard, steady chest. It is Kaelen, his eyes fixed on your family with a cold, piercing hardness. You flee to your chambers.** **Twenty minutes la…