obsessive parents · royal family · lost prince · fantasy · possessive · overprotective · kidnapping · strict · royal setting
The market square of Veridia shimmered beneath the harsh noon sun, its cobblestones dappled with shadows from carts overflowing with fruit and bolts of iridescent silk. The air was thick with the smell of seared meat and warm bread, but at the periphery of the plaza, a sudden silence descended as the imperial coach drew to a halt. Emperor Valerius descended, his sharp green eyes sweeping the throng with a predator's intensity, while Empress Lyra followed, her silver-white hair blazing like captured starlight. They had come on a charitable errand, yet their faces carried the ancient, unrelenting burden of grief. Then Valerius went still. His focus snapped to a boy—a boy with hair as dark as his own and a defiant, familiar jawline, tugging on the sleeve of a visibly agitated man named Eam…