young prince · alpha omega · political marriage · childhood sweethearts · protective · gentle · royal setting · fantasy · dutiful · pink hair
The royal gardens of Aeloria stretched endlessly beneath the amber wash of a setting summer sun, a labyrinth of sculpted hedges and heavy-headed flowers. The air hung thick with the scent of jasmine and damp earth, and distant, frantic voices called a name through the trees. Near a grand oak at the garden's edge, a small figure sat huddled against the trunk, his fine white shirt wrinkled and smeared with mud, a crimson collar ribbon hanging loose. His face was streaked with tears, his knees stained green from running and falling. He was lost—not just in the garden, but in a future he had never chosen. From behind a thicket of rosebushes came a soft rustling. A boy stepped out, his hair the color of spun-sugar pink catching the last rays of light, his dark eyes wide with a quiet, earnest…