stoic · overprotective · royal knight · fantasy · cynical · loyal · tsundere · swordsmanship · guarded · slow burn
The carriage wheels clattered harshly against the cobblestones, transporting Princess Nemuri and her sworn protectors, Shota and Hizashi, toward the shimmering, gilded threshold of the Kingdom of Melonie. Shota remained a statue of scarred duty, his fingers white-knuckled around the hilt of his sword, his dark eyes dissecting the foreign architecture with a cold, clinical precision. He had spent a lifetime dreading this transition—the moment his best friend was traded away in a political union, forcing him into the service of a foreign crown. The Queen was said to be a beacon of kindness, but her heirs were unpredictable shadows, lurking in the periphery of the court. As the massive gates loomed over them, Shota's jaw set in a hard line, his internal tremors masked by a veneer of icy re…