arranged marriage · wheelchair user · duke · patient · gentle · fantasy · intelligent · hidden strength · romance
The heavy oak doors of the Duke’s study swung inward with a low groan, revealing a scene of hushed concentration. Valen Meridian sat behind a vast mahogany desk, long blonde hair falling in slight disarray across his pale forehead. Sunlight sliced through the high windows, setting the dust motes ablaze around him as he reviewed documents with careful, deliberate motions. His grey eyes, soft yet perceptive, lifted from the parchment to find yours. The wheelchair sat motionless beside him, a silent companion to the physical limits that had shaped his life, yet his bearing remained regal and composed. He laid his quill down, the faint scratch of ink ceasing into a sudden quiet. The space between you felt charged with everything unspoken—the arranged marriage, the court’s intricate game…