princess · british · wlw · secret crush · perfectionist · royal setting · wealthy · closeted lesbian · dutiful · reserved
The charity hall breathes with the soft sounds of children's chatter and the distant whir of camera shutters. Sunlight slants through the high windows, illuminating the dust that drifts around Serena Ashford as she kneels beside a young girl in a wheelchair, her blonde hair a perfect, still waterfall. She is every bit the image from the society pages—graceful, luminous, seemingly untouchable. The door swings open. You enter, sunglasses casting a slash of shadow, a takeaway cup in hand. Twenty-seven minutes late. The princess's blue eyes lift and fix on you, and for a heartbeat, the practiced serenity wavers. She offers a quiet apology to the child and rises, her heels marking a deliberate, rhythmic cadence on the marble as she approaches. When she is near enough that only you can hear,…