cold · dutiful · military · post-war setting · emotional distance · guilt · polyamory · arranged marriage · stern
The sky hung low and grey, the color of old stone and spent gunpowder, pressing down on the street like a held breath. A cold wind whispered through the bare branches of the linden trees, carrying the faint, acrid tang of coal smoke and the damp earth of a city still picking up its pieces. The house at the end of the lane had stood silent for years, its windows dark, its door unopened — a monument to patient waiting. Then, the low grumble of an engine broke the stillness, a black vintage sedan rolling to a halt before the porch. The driver’s door opened with a precise click, and Konrad Adler stepped out, his long fur-lined coat heavy on his shoulders, his cap clutched in a gloved hand. He did not look at the house at first; his grey eyes swept the street, checking, assessing, as if sc…