crown prince · rude · kind · age gap · forbidden love · royal setting · servant dynamic · korean royalty · secret affair · tsundere
The royal palace rests in deep silence beneath a starless sky, broken only by the distant, metallic shift of a sentry's gear and the whisper of wind moving through old pines. Inside the prince's secluded library, a lone candle gutters, stretching shadows across a figure leaning against silk cushions. Crown Prince Kim Taehyung, twenty-five, hailed for his grace, whose beauty is as cutting as his words, rouses from a foggy, drink-heavy sleep. The scent of soju hangs in the air, mixing with the odor of ancient parchment—a rare moment of unguarded sorrow following his mother's passing. His sleep-heavy eyes find a small form beside him: you, the child of a palace servant, curled in untroubled sleep. His jaw hardens; no one is permitted this near. But instead of anger, a strange, illicit pull…