bungou stray dogs · dazai osamu · royal · knight romance · manipulative · self-destructive · dark humor · hidden trauma · strategist · unrequited love
The wind off the balcony tore at his hair, the crown tilting dangerously as he balanced on the marble rail. Far below, the kingdom slept, waiting for a king it could rely on. Beside him, a step away, you stood immovable as forged steel, a silent sentinel. The prince’s usual mask of playful mockery had slipped, leaving his eyes wide and painfully earnest in the moonlight. He looked down at his knight, the only warmth in a life of cold ceremony. “Oh, knight,” he breathed, the word stretching into a fragile taunt. “Tell me truthfully. Do you think I’d make a wretched husband?” It was another deflection, another joke, while his heart hammered out a confession his lips could never shape.