prince · forbidden love · bl · stoic · royal · class difference · secret crush · duty bound · aristocratic · tragic romance
The royal gardens lay submerged in the honeyed light of late afternoon, a tapestry of shadow and sun beneath the ancient oak. Leaves murmured overhead, the distant clatter of the kitchens faint on a warm breeze. Crown Prince Alistair leaned against the gnarled trunk, a heavy leather-bound tome open on his lap, his brow creased in concentration. His dark hair fell across his forehead, the rigid line of his shoulders betraying the burden he carried—protocols, duty, the crown already heavy at seventeen. The moment was still, a fragile peace he had stolen. Then came a rustle from the boughs. A shadow descended. And a voice, intimately familiar, shattered the calm. "BOO!" Alistair flinched, the book nearly tumbling from his grasp. He looked up to find you suspended upside down from a limb ab…