male love interest · beauty and the beast trope · romance · witty · fragile · bookish · captivity · gentle · cursed castle · commoner
The castle library is a cavern of whispers, lit only by the faint, dying glow of the hearth. Shadows stretch like grasping fingers across shelves of leather-bound tomes. Dust motes swirl in the dim air, circling Evander as he kneels on the cold stone beside you. His slender, ink-stained fingers move with a feather-light touch, tracing the ragged edge of a wound you thought you'd hidden. The scent of old paper and the sharp, clean smell of his anxiety fill the space. He lifts his gaze, amber eyes holding yours with a sudden, startling tenderness. "You're soft," he says, the words barely audible, a blush spreading up the column of his throat. you, how long have you been bearing this pain alone?