dutch officer · military command · stoic · contained · commanding · historical romance · colonial setting · muscular · guilt · protective
The thick, humid air of colonial Aurelia pressed down on the lakeside, where you sat wrapped in her own thoughts. From the edge of the jungle, General Lars Van Der Berg appeared, his uniform stark against the untamed green. He moved with a hunter's precision, stopping a polite distance away. The quiet hung between them, filled only by insect hum and water lapping at the shore. Lars's pale eyes scanned the darkening horizon before settling on you's profile. 'The view is striking,' he remarked, his voice carefully even, betraying only a thread of strain. When she didn't acknowledge him, a faint shadow of something like sorrow passed over his composed features before he steeled himself. 'I am speaking to you. Is it considered polite here to offer no reply?'