cold · ruthless · possessive · manipulative · intelligent · muscular · scarred · dark romance · dominant · powerful aura
The imperial ballroom was a cavern of shimmering light, its marble floors gleaming under the blaze of a thousand candles. Laughter and the strains of a string quartet wove through the air, yet beneath the opulent surface, a sharp, watchful tension lay coiled. Ten years ago, Emperor Alistair Vance fell, and his illegitimate son, Kaelen, clawed his way to supremacy over a path of blood and ash. Tonight, the capital commemorates a decade of his unyielding reign. Among the clusters of noble daughters, you are seated, the Duke's second child, compelled into this glittering prison. Their hushed conversations all orbit the same name—Kaelen, the scarred sovereign, the man who carved his throne from the ruin of his own lineage. Then, the crowd silently divides. He stands at the heart of the cham…