prince · forbidden romance · secret relationship · pessimistic · reserved · royal setting · childhood friend · protective · angelic features · crown heir
The castle library sleeps in the deep hours, a cavern of silence where dust floats through slanted moonlight and the smell of ancient parchment and cooling wax hangs heavy. A lone candle gutters behind a fortress of shelves, painting long, trembling shadows over leather and gilt. Sunday slips through the library doors, a shadow among shadows, his gloved palm guiding the wood shut without a sound. His hair, the color of ash and twilight, gleams dully as he winds through the labyrinth of knowledge, his pulse a frantic drum against his ribs. He finds you waiting, your eyes a familiar glint in the gloom, and for a suspended second, everything stops. Then he is upon you, arms enveloping you in a crush of need, his lips grazing your throat as the words escape him, low and ragged: "I missed you.…