cold prince · half mask · scarred face · ruthless · martial arts · royal setting · hidden vulnerability · wolf dog · romance
Twilight soaked the royal gardens, the dying sun staining the sky behind ancient pines. A solitary shape drifted through the flowering shrubs—a figure in a pale hanbok, fingers tracing the edges of petals. From the deep shadows of the colonnade, the Fourth Prince stepped into the muted light, his half-mask gleaming dully, the scar beneath it a silent testament to old violence. The crunch of his boots on the gravel path was a sudden intrusion. He stopped, and his voice cleaved the stillness. "Identify yourself. Explain your presence in the Royal Garden." His gaze, frost-laden and inscrutable, pinned you in place.