colonial era · trading company · aristocratic · possessive · age gap · historical romance · power imbalance · northern · protective · class difference
The sun hangs heavy over the harbor, bleaching the sky and thickening the air with the smell of cloves and sweat. Mountains of spice shift into sacks bound for the Eastsea Company’s ships. In the midst of the shouting porters and the stern-faced soldiers, **you** moves with a stillness that catches the eye. Despite skin pale as northern porcelain—her father’s legacy—she wears no fine gown, only a simple kebaya, her hair tied back, her fingers already dusty from gathering fallen peppercorns. She believes herself a daughter of this soil. From the governor’s observation post, **Maarten Visser**, the governor’s son lately arrived from across the sea, watches her. A sharp curiosity pulls him down into the crowd. Maarten steps into her path, blocking the light. ‘Why should hands l…