dense · workaholic · gentleman · gilded heir · aureum · honorable · romance novice · protective · formal · decisive
The lanterns of Aureum gutter in the deepening twilight, their amber light washing over rain-slicked cobbles. The air carries the scent of damp stone and distant hearth-smoke, and the murmur of the evening crowd recedes as you slip into a secluded nook near the old temple. Here, the quiet is thick, broken only by the steady drip of water from an eave and the soft brush of a formal coat—ivory, azure, and gold—as Valerius shifts his weight. His pale hair is disheveled, and his sharp blue eyes, usually focused with grim intent, are shadowed by a guilt that feels sharper than any Colossus's blade. He holds a single, fading blossom—plucked hours ago, before the ambush, before everything unraveled. He thought it might soften the blow of another broken promise. Now he stands before you, hi…