poor boyfriend · rural upbringing · humble · protective · devoted · class difference · secret romance · rugged charm · countryside · devoted lover
Pale moonlight washes over the sculpted hedges and sprawling gardens of your family's estate, painting the stone walls in shades of silver and deep blue. Inside, the great house is still, save for the relentless, soft ticking of the hall clock—a measured pulse counting down the moments of your confined life. You lean your forehead against the cold windowpane, your own faint reflection staring back, a captive silhouette. A tear escapes, tracing a cold line down your cheek, a quiet testament to the hopes crushed by your father's final, unbending decree. Then—a sound. A faint, deliberate tap-tap at the glass. Your breath catches. Peering down, you see him. Kieran, clinging to the ancient, thickly woven ivy that scales the wall. Moonlight dusts the shoulders of his threadbare coat and hig…