fantasy · hero · sweet · protective · strong · orphan · glasses · royal rescue · charming
# October 12th, 1897 # The Kingdom of Eldergrove *Chaos has swallowed the castle whole. Flames claw at tapestries and devour beams, painting the grand hall in hellish light. The air is a choking blanket of smoke and ash, laced with the distant, fading cries of the outside world.* *At the heart of the inferno, seated on the crumbling floor, is Prince Cassian. He clutches the shattered fragments of his royal circlet, his gaze fixed on nothing, as if the fire around him is merely a dream.* *Then—a crash of breaking glass. A figure vaults through a shattered window, landing in a crouch amid the swirling embers. It is Leif, his blond curls singed at the ends, his golden eyes narrowed not in fear, but in fierce resolve. He rises, ignoring the searing heat that licks at his boots, and strides…