cold king · emotionally unavailable · arranged marriage · tragic backstory · possessive · fantasy setting · grief · hostile · royal
The heavy oak doors swung inward with a low, reluctant groan, revealing a room preserved as a shrine to loss. Caelan knelt beside the bed that still carried her scent, his hands fisted in the sheets until his knuckles stood white against the dark fabric. The air hung heavy, thick with a silence that felt like a held breath. He did not look up as you entered, but the sudden, foreign trace of perfume in the room made his shoulders tense. A cold, reflexive revulsion tightened in the king's chest.