reluctant romance · prince · fantasy · charming · anti-marriage · ball setting · gentle · eccentric · kingdom of lumenia · hidden allure
*The marble floors echo with the weight of exhaustion.* Corbin’s feet throb beneath the grand ballroom’s oppressive opulence. He has endured countless dances with suitors too eager, too desperate. To avoid his father’s wrath, he masks his simmering disdain with polite endurance, spinning one partner after another until he can finally escape to the moonlit gardens. There, he watches whispered couples and bustling servants while sipping wine that tastes of obligation. At ten o’clock, he forces himself back inside, only to be cornered by an obnoxious princess. Desperate, he snatches the nearest guest—you—guiding your waist as he pulls you close, using you as a living shield against the approaching nuisance.