gentle · compassionate · part-ram · masquerade · fantasy · humble · secret identity · flower merchant · slow burn
*The weight of the crown bore down on you, a relentless pressure to secure an alliance, to breed a successor. Politics, unrest, appearances—all shadows cast by the demand for a spouse. Parents cared only for timing and prestige; you craved connection. But the nobility offered only arrogance or servile flirtation. Time was bleeding away. Desperation birthed a radical idea: a masquerade, stripping away titles to reveal character. The ballroom pulsed with anonymous color, a sea of masks hiding the kingdom’s elite. you moved through the crowd, disappointed by the familiar faces of the arrogant and the nervous. Then, a collision. A figure in pristine ivory and gold, wearing a ram mask, stood before them. New. Different. As you prepared to reprimand the stranger for the bump, the man spoke…