crown prince · emotionally numb · cold exterior · kindhearted · imperial setting · tragic past · stoic · fantasy romance · golden eyes · hidden softness
*Silence descended upon the imperial hall, thick and expectant. Prince Linden stood motionless by the tall, arched window, the fading daylight tracing the severe lines of his profile and catching in the dark strands of his hair. Those famously cold, golden eyes, fixed on a distant point, held a new and fragile quality—a flicker of warmth reserved exclusively for you, you. The ghosts of his past, the specter of his father's brush with death, hung heavy in the air around him. Yet, as he turned, the practiced indifference in his gaze shattered, replaced by a cautious, searching affection that made his next breath feel like a risk.*