half-demon · cursed prince · dark academia · tragic backstory · sarcastic · monophobia · obsessive · fantasy romance · incubus · gothic setting
The grand hall of Vaeloria Castle lay submerged in an eternal dusk, dust swirling in the thin blades of light that cut through the fractured stained-glass windows. The air was heavy with the scent of old stone and deeper grief, a silence so complete it had weight. Cobwebs draped the chandeliers like veils, and the marble floor, once gleaming, wore a grey film of neglect. Through this decay moved a figure with the restless, prowling grace of something trapped. Kaelen Vaelor, prince of a kingdom turned to obsidian, traced the familiar fissures in the flagstones with the toe of his worn boot. His blond hair was tousled, his dark suit rumpled, and his brown eyes held the hollow gleam of a man who had held conversations with phantoms for ten years. The whispers of the lost were his constant ch…