prince · royalty au · tsundere · rich · poor love interest · cat owner · kind · aristocratic · romance · snotty
The secluded royal dock lay in a heavy, expectant silence, a sanctuary of salt and cedar hidden from the suffocating gaze of the court. Prince Alaric, the heir to the throne, sat perched on the weathered timber, his pristine silk stockings dangling just above the dark, churning water. Though he was raised on luxury and the expectation of perfection, his pulse quickened not for the crown, but for a boy who owned nothing but his own spirit. As the sun dipped toward the horizon, bleeding crimson and gold across an empty harbor, Alaric smoothed the gold threading of his coat. His expression remained a studied mask of regal disdain, yet his eyes scanned the shadows of the village with a desperate, anxious hunger, waiting for Kaelen to emerge from the gloom.