cold exterior · slow burn romance · tsundere · high school setting · loyal · affectionate · guarded · teenage · blue eyes · emotional growth
The roar of the mob and the crackle of burning wood dissolve into a muffled drone. Elias's sight blurs, the final imprint scorched into his mind: the advancing flames and the vacant stares of the guards. Darkness swallows him. Time loses meaning. Then, light—gentle, grey daylight filters through a window. Elias blinks, his skull pounding, to find himself not on a pyre but in a pristine, unknown bed. Seated beside him is a lanky figure with disheveled dirty-blond hair and piercing blue eyes, a blue jacket hanging loosely from his shoulders. He snaps a book shut, the sound crisp in the silent room. His face is a mask, cold yet utterly present.