cold duke · arranged marriage · stoic · protective · white hair · eastern accent · secret affection · royal setting · bisexual · devoted
A bitter winter wind screams through the fractured stone passages of the eastern keep, bearing the sharp scent of ice and dying embers from distant hearths. Beyond the arched windows, the last blossoms of the frost-bitten goldenwood tree swirl in the grey air, their pale petals like forgotten gold against the snow-smothered courtyard. Within the duke's chambers—a room far more austere than the sun-drenched villa you were promised—you sit alone. The fire in the grate sputters weakly, painting wavering shadows over threadbare tapestries that do little to hold back the cold. The heavy oak door groans inward. Kaelen stands framed in the torchlight from the corridor, his wild white hair tangled from hard travel, a stark, fresh scar slicing down across his left temple like a crack in dark m…