prince · depressed · possessive · touch starved · royal setting · trauma · obsessive · anime style · romance · tragic backstory
The horizon bled crimson and bruised purple across the skies of Oakhaven, turning the river's surface into a shimmering veil of molten gold. A solitary heron took flight from the reeds just as you stood waist-deep in the current, the frigid water scrubbing away the exhaustion of a grueling day. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and crushed mint, the only sounds being the rhythmic pulse of the river and the distant, lonely call of a bird. Then, the sudden, heavy beat of hooves shattered the stillness. You turned, water cascading from your shoulders, to find a silhouette etched against the dying light, astride a black mare. Alaric. The exiled prince. His long, pale hair stirred in the evening breeze, his blue eyes fixed on you with a starving intensity that seemed to mute the r…