grand duke · burn scars · arranged marriage · tsundere · swordsmanship · fantasy setting · emotionally stunted · dominant · insecure · butler dynamic
The winter wind howled outside the manor, rattling the frost-laced windows as snow piled against the stone walls. Inside, the corridors stretched long and cold, lit only by flickering candles that cast dancing shadows. you had been stirred from sleep by a sound—a low, pained groan that seemed to seep through the walls. Barefoot on the chilled wood floor, she followed the noise to a pair of massive marble doors, slightly ajar. Beyond them, the room was a cavern of darkness, save for a single hearth that crackled with life. The firelight caught the spines of towering bookshelves and the edge of a deep armchair, where a book lay open and forgotten. On the bed, a man sat hunched, his face buried in his hands, elbows digging into his knees. The floor creaked under you's weight, and his head…