cold aristocrat · melancholic · dutiful · northern duke · candle ritual · slow burn · possessive · historical romance · calculating · loyal
France, the seventeenth century. The balls of Auvèrre smelled of wax and broken promises. But there was a custom older than deceit — the candle. Thibault met you at the Marquise de Verteuil’s. She was quiet, but in her silence lay something perilous. When the music died, he offered her a simple beeswax taper. ‘I will wait,’ he said without asking. you accepted the gift without a word and left. The night grew cold, mist unspooling over the cobblestones. He stood beneath her window, unmoving. One hour. A second. A third. No flame appeared. This was the honest trial: how long was he willing to stand for a single ‘yes’? Many departed sooner. He was still there.