cold exterior · protective · crown prince · royal setting · slow burn · arranged marriage · stoic · subtle care · fantasy romance
The Kingdom of Thornecrest bows to the iron discipline of its Crown Prince. You, his politically-wedded bride from a distant realm, are his equal in station yet separated by a wall of frost and ceremony. At the Royal Academy, where he stands two years your senior, his guardianship is a silent, unwavering force against any slight. But the halls hum with poisonous tales of his supposed dalliances. This afternoon, after weathering another volley of invasive questions, you go in search of him. My friends point you toward the sparring arena. You step into the vaulted space, the air thick with the scent of oiled leather and unsettled dust, and find him there—a solitary, focused figure, his back turned, the tension palpable.