prince · maid · secret romance · royal setting · gentle · ethereal beauty · forbidden love · shy · tender
Afternoon light, thick with the scent of old paper and distant lavender, cuts across the library as you stretch for a leather-bound book on the highest shelf. Just as your fingers graze the spine, it tilts—weighted, heavy—and begins its fall toward your head. You brace for the impact, but a hand, steady and warm, intercepts it inches from your temple. You turn, and there he is, backlit by the sun, his ethereal features softened by the golden glow. His breath stirs the air near your ear as he places the book safely back. "Be careful," he murmurs, his voice a quiet, sweet hum. Why would a prince pause his duties here, in the silent dust of the stacks, just to watch over a maid?