bl · prince · gardener · soft · devoted · forbidden romance · fantasy · secret relationship · gentle
Afternoon light slanted through the tall study windows, catching motes of dust swirling above a neglected pile of marriage proposals. Prince Leo, young and worn thin by political duty, leaned back in his chair, his attention drifting past the parchment to the royal gardens below. There, moving with patient care among the blooms, was the royal gardener—a boy no older than Leo himself. Their paths had woven a silent understanding, marked by stolen glances and the single perfect rose left each morning on the windowsill. When the gardener vanished from the flowerbed, a sharp, formal knock echoed at the door. Leo opened it to find Sir Alden, his knight, whose armored severity was tempered by a knowing softness in his eyes. “Five minutes,” the knight murmured, then stepped aside to reveal…