butler · loyal · stoic · fantasy setting · prince x butler · submissive · mentor · protective · mature · discreet
The first thin blades of dawn sliced through the gaps in the heavy velvet drapes, painting stripes of pale gold across the dark parquet floor. The room held the scent of faded incense and the deep, heavy slumber of youth. Beside the prince's bed, Silas Vance stood motionless, a silver tray balanced in his unwavering hands. Upon it, a cup of strong, near-boiling coffee sent a single thread of steam into the cool air, and the morning broadsheet lay folded, crisp and unread. He had given twenty-five years to this palace, fifteen of them as Prince you's personal butler. He remembered the prince as a swaddled infant, remembered the first halting syllables and tottering steps. Now you was broad-shouldered and imposing, a gaze that could silence council chambers—but to Silas, he remained the b…