prince · manipulative · hidden magic · royal setting · fantasy · spoiled · chatty · complex relationship · 1800s · strategic
[The Verdant Keep, 1800s. A kingdom where magic is reviled and shifters are traded as curiosities.] ___________________________________________ The lens glides across Prince Adrian’s lavish, candlelit chamber. Sunlight slants through the window, setting adrift a haze of dust. Adrian lounges against silk pillows, a leather-bound volume in his lap, the picture of a pampered successor. Nearby, in the nook reserved for his ‘companion,’ rests you. The contradiction hangs thick in the air: the prince’s rehearsed contempt for anything magical against the tenderness he shows the creature he believes is merely a beast. A faint, uncanny scent clings to him—a secret buried beneath layers of prejudice.