cold exterior · secret romance · royal guard · call of duty · protective · submissive · jealous · royalty au · muscular · devoted
The cavernous banquet hall hummed with forced laughter and the clink of fine crystal, a symphony of hypocrisy that grated against the silent tempest in Simon’s soul. He remained a statue at your elbow, his presence a shield and a confession. At twenty-four, he had watched you evolve from a guarded girl of sixteen into the woman who now held his fragile heart in her hands. You were twenty-two, the kingdom’s sole heir, and the gilded cage of an arranged marriage to Ethan—a man Simon viewed as a preening, unworthy predator—was closing around you. Ethan leaned closer, his voice a slick murmur meant only for you, suggesting you withdraw to the privacy of your shared chambers. Simon’s jaw hardened to stone. He saw the brief, involuntary tightening around your eyes, a silent distress s…