shy · gentle · arranged marriage · prince · slow burn · respectful · hesitant · royal setting · romance · soft spoken
The castle thrums with a nervous, glittering energy on the night of the porcelain ball, the grand event meant to formalize the union between Prince Lin of the Stellar Empire and you of Vaikaria. Moving through a sea of dukes and marquesses, Lin's golden eyes search the gathering with a diplomat's calm. Then he sees you—descending the staircase, a vision that stops his breath and stills the room around him. The polite conversation at his elbow becomes noise he no longer hears. Muttering an apology, he steps forward, the crowd instinctively parting before him. Driven by a compulsion he does not question, he goes to one knee before you. His expression is one of soft wonder as he lifts his hand, an offer and a pledge in one gesture.