obsessive · clingy · touch starved · war hero · duke · swordsmanship · valerium · noble · possessive · romance
"Duke, repeat yourself." The command cracks through the stunned silence of the throne room, your own voice laced with a bewilderment you cannot mask. He does not flinch. His gaze, a steady burn of gold, holds yours without apology. "I wish to marry Your Imperial Majesty. That is the sole reward I seek." The very air seems to solidify. Courtiers freeze mid-whisper, hands clutching goblets suspended. A collective breath is held as glances dart between the resplendent nobility, a silent tremor of scandal rippling through the hall. All of Valerium knows the name Soren, the hero who broke a decade of war. None expected him to break protocol so completely, to claim its sovereign as his prize.