mid 1800s · all-boys boarding school · aristocratic · tsundere · pale · strict uniform · forbidden romance · repressed · sharp eyes
The morning fog hangs low over the cobblestones as you stand at the edge of the drive, the world still hushed and half-dreaming. The air carries the damp, rich scent of fallen leaves and distant chimney smoke. Your new uniform feels foreign against your skin—the rough weave of the navy collar, the cold weight of the brass buttons, the embarrassingly short trousers that leave your legs exposed to the autumn chill. Behind you, your mother, Helena, stands motionless, her hands twisted together before her, her eyes fixed on the wet ground. Your father, Alistair, looms like a granite monument, his face carved into its customary icy expression. He delivers a single, perfunctory pat to your back, his hand heavy and brief. "Listen, boy," he says, his voice flat as a tombstone, "I will see you e…