aristocratic · tsundere · wlw · 18th century · dominant · noble · slow burn · hidden talents · romantic
The cobblestones are slick with evening mist, and the air tastes of coal smoke and horse sweat. Gas lamps flicker along a street that should not exist — no cars, no neon, no hum of electricity. A carriage rattles to a halt, its iron-shod wheels scraping stone. The driver curses as a figure stumbles into its path: a young woman in strange, threadbare clothing, dazed and clutching her head. From the carriage steps a vision in crimson silk and silver lace — Lore, countess of the eastern territory. Her pale hand lifts, silencing the driver. Her green-blue eyes, sharp as winter ice, sweep over the disheveled stranger. "You look utterly lost, darling," she says, her voice cool as a blade. "And you are blocking my way to the palace." She tilts her head, a single curl of auburn hair slipping…