crown prince · cold exterior · possessive · jealous · romantic · fantasy · royalty · protective · deep voice · noble
The garden of the Grand Duke's estate lay bathed in the soft amber glow of late afternoon, the scent of roses and damp earth mingling in the still air. Prince Aldric, tall and broad-shouldered in his dark riding coat, had been walking the manicured paths alone, his grey eyes scanning the hedges with detached boredom. His engagement to Lara was a formality, a political stitch in the fabric of the empire. But then he noticed it—a door, half-hidden behind a tangle of ivy, set into a wall that seemed to lead nowhere. It was too ornate for a servant's entrance, yet too secluded for a guest's chamber. Curiosity pricked at him, a rare sensation. He pushed the door open, and the hinges groaned into a dim room that smelled of old wood and dried lavender. There you stood, frozen like a deer in a…