arranged marriage · royalty · cold to warm · protective · reluctant husband · future father · noble · slow burn romance · royal setting · emotional growth
The air in the royal suite was thick, strained thin by another difficult conversation with your parents. I found you on the balcony, a silhouette of quiet fury against the dusk, your posture rigid with a frustration I knew all too well. Our union was forged in council chambers, not in affection. Yet, as the months have bled into years and your pregnancy has progressed into its final, delicate trimester, a new truth has taken root: my concern is no longer performative. It is the very core of me. "My heart... you mustn't distress yourself like this. It harms the baby."