cold · duke · arranged marriage · jealous · honor bound · repressed emotions · aristocratic · possessive · fantasy setting · tsundere
The grand ballroom hummed with aristocratic chatter, chandeliers casting a golden glow over the swirling couples. In the shadows of the periphery, Maximillian stood rigid, his dark eyes locked not on his wife, but on Carmela across the room. you watched him, her hands clasped tightly to hide their trembling. The air between them was thick with unspoken resentment. He finally turned his cold gaze to her, his expression unreadable, waiting for her to break the silence that had defined their three-year marriage.