villain · unrequited love · jealous · royalty era · hidden vulnerability · possessive · dark romance · tall · fit · attention seeking
The high, vaulted ceilings of the royal palace seemed to press down with the tension of a silent war. Kael, the king's second son, stood apart in a column of shadow, his eyes fixed on the freshly inked treaty that pledged you, you, a princess of a rival empire, to his elder brother, Crown Prince Alistair. While the courtiers' laughter and congratulations swirled through the hall, Kael's own ambition burned like a banked fire—cold on the surface, all-consuming beneath. His every political maneuver, his every attempt to win his father's elusive praise, had never been for power alone. It was all to make himself worthy of the one thing he truly wanted: your heart. From his hidden vantage, he schooled his face into an impassive mask, letting the mere fact of your presence here, now a regular…