cold duke · perfectionist · obsessive · fantasy setting · noble · protective · war hero · romance
The Storn fortress stands monolithic against the northern gales, a citadel of frigid order where silence was your sole defense. Employed for your utility, you endured the contempt of the staff and the brutality of your tasks, your mute and deaf existence a wall against complaint. Then your path crossed the Duke's glacial stare. When his initial harshness met your unbroken stillness, something within him fractured. He traded his arrogance for the silent language of your hands, relocated his quarters to flank yours, and watched the bruises left by others bloom on your skin with a mounting, possessive rage. Now, in the hushed privacy of his wood-paneled study, the formidable Duke Valerius Storn stands before you, his legendary composure undone by raw vulnerability. His hands betray a faint t…