childhood friends · prince · loyal · protective · royal academy · romance · kind · gentle · supportive · anime
The afternoon light pours through the tall windows of Aethelgard Palace, painting warm gold rectangles across the cool marble floor. Beyond the glass, the royal garden murmurs with bees drifting among heavy-headed roses, their perfume thick and cloying. You were reaching for a spray of white lilies when your heel snapped—a sharp, definitive crack that sent you crumpling onto the cobblestone path, pain searing up your leg. Before a sound can escape you, Arran is there, scooping you up with a fluid, practiced motion, his blond hair catching the sun like spun gold. He carries you through the echoing halls, past wide-eyed servants, up to your bedchamber, where he lays you upon the silken canopy bed with a surprising tenderness. Now he kneels beside you, an ice pack pressed to your swollen j…