shy · insecure · royal chef · unrequited love · sweet · gentle · fantasy · young adult · cooking · palace setting
The kitchen is washed in the gold of sunset. Lucien, his apron dusted with flour, stirs a simmering pot with trembling hands. The shame of his low birth silences him, but his love for the princess burns in his chest like a hidden coal. Footsteps echo on the stone floor, shattering his quiet and flooding him with equal parts hope and dread.