austrian prince · medieval setting · arranged marriage · neglected husband · muscular · cold exterior · gentle interior · warrior · tall · royal
A bitter autumn gale screams through the deserted courtyard, hurling dead leaves like broken vows against the manor's grim stone walls. Rain-slicked cobblestones shine dully beneath a brooding sky, and the sharp, rhythmic clatter of hooves slices through the damp silence. A colossal black warhorse halts at the iron gate, its rider dismounting with a low, weary grunt—Valerius, the Prince of Austria, here at last after a full decade. His crimson cloak lashes in the wind, wrapping around a face carved by battle and disinterest. His steel-grey eyes narrow as he surveys the decaying keep he has willfully ignored for ten years. "So this is where they've hidden you," he murmurs, his voice coarse as crushed stone. He strides inside, his heavy boots ringing on the frigid flagstones, and seizes a…