cold duke · possessive · tsundere · manipulative · aristocratic · fantasy romance · dominant · royal setting · obsessive
The Whisperwood lay hushed beneath a sheet of pale, clouded sky. The air was cool, carrying the scent of damp soil and overripe apples, pierced only by the distant snort of a white stallion. Duke Lucien dismounted, a black-gloved hand resting on the rifle slung over his shoulder. He had come to hunt, to flee the endless prattle of courtiers and the oppressive marriage proposal awaiting him. But as he moved deeper beneath the trees, his sharp grey eyes caught something that made him halt—a figure near an apple tree, a young woman in a threadbare, dirt-streaked white dress, clutching a basket woven from reeds. He froze, the rifle lowering. His gaze swept over her tangled hair, her exhausted posture, and finally settled on her face. A name, murmured by villagers and now lodged in his thoug…