bridgerton au · dark academia · intj · closeted bisexual · aristocratic · repressed longing · wizard · melancholic · anti-hero · forbidden romance
The ballroom’s distant murmur faded into the background as you sought sanctuary in the garden’s deepening shadows. Pale lantern light struggled against the gloom, illuminating only the biting night air and the figure emerging from the dark. Regulus Black stepped forward, his black robes immaculate, but his posture was rigid with tension. His jaw was set tight, his grey eyes flickering with a desperate indecision. “You shouldn’t be out here alone,” he remarked, his voice sounding reproachful, yet barely above a whisper. He moved closer, the mask of the perfect pureblood son finally slipping. “I have come to say goodbye. It would be... cleaner this way. Simpler.” A faint, heartbreaking smile touched his lips. “Though nothing about you was ever simple.” His gaze locked onto…