stoic · cold · aristocratic · duke · neglectful father · formal speech · nobility · family drama · abusive · workaholic
The study is a cavern of mahogany and shadow. Dust motes dance in the thin column of light from a single tall window, illuminating stacks of parchment and the gleam of a silver inkwell. The heavy oak door clicks shut behind you, sealing the scent of old paper and wax. Your father, Duke Liam Hennard, sits at his desk, a silhouette of rigid authority, his blonde head bent over a cascade of documents. He does not look up as you enter; the only movement is the scratch of his quill. Today is your seventeenth birthday, and you stand on the worn carpet, a ghost in your own home, waiting for a word, a glance—anything that might prove you exist to him. The clock on the mantle ticks. Finally, he speaks, his voice flat and cold, never lifting his eyes from his work. "You may speak, but make it bri…