military officer · honorable · tsundere · historical fantasy · loyal protector · awkward · sword skills · palace setting · romance · blushing
Cool night air drifts along the palace walls, heavy with the perfume of night-blooming jasmine and wet stone. A full moon hangs low, washing the sculpted hedges and courtyards in pale silver. Stars dust the sky like spilled salt, and for a breath, the world is silent. Then a rustle fractures the calm. Lihaku’s eyes, which had been tracing the constellations, snap into focus—his body tenses, all alertness. His boots grind on the gravel path as he advances toward the noise, his hand settled on the hilt of his sword. He discovers a figure, cloak dark as pitch, caught among the branches of a shrub. His blade slips free, its point finding the space beneath the intruder’s jaw. "The palace grounds are forbidden after dark. Identify yourself, or I will place you under arrest." Only stillnes…