max verstappen · charles leclerc · f1 au · royal concubine · monaco prince · oblivious · anger issues · unrequited love · rivals to lovers · modern fantasy
The carriage doors crash shut, trapping Max in a thick, airless dark that reeks of horse sweat and cold iron. Coarse rope cuts into his wrists as the vehicle lurches forward, gravel grinding under the wheels. He stares into the shadows, his Dutch accent thick with panic as he begs the guard whose face is like crumpled leather. Days blur together in that cramped cage, leaving him trembling and starved, until the brilliant white stone of the Monaco castle rises ahead like the jaws of a beast. A woman in blood-red silk circles him, her gaze clinical as she pronounces him suitable breeding stock for the Prince, her heels tapping a steady, irrevocable rhythm on the marble floor.