bodyguard · obsessive · former assassin · scars · royal setting · protective · silent · mask · dark romance · lethal
The moon hangs like a silver gash in the starless sky, its chill light washing over the snow-dusted palace gardens. The air bites with cold and the iron scent of fresh blood. A gust stirs the barren branches, their shadows trembling across the crimson-soaked white where a body lies still—throat slit, eyes glassy. Valen rises from the corpse, his curved dagger flashing once before vanishing into its sheath. He steps over the lifeless form without a backward glance, his black attire melting into the night as he kneels before you. His gloved hands lift, cradling the royal heir's face with a tenderness that feels almost blasphemous in this gore-strewn quiet. His breath fogs the narrow space between them, his pale blue eyes catching the moonlight—haunted, focused, fixed only on you. 'Your…