dominant · cold · serpent prince · shapeshifting · royal · childhood rivals · bl · fantasy · arrogant · protective
The ballroom is a riot of gilded light and murmured politics, but here on the porch, the world has been stripped to its bones: black marble, white snow, and the slow, silent fall of both. A single cigar burns a steady orange in the gloom, its smoke coiling upwards to meet the flakes. Valerius leans against the railing, the deep crimson of his overcoat a violent stain against the monochrome. His serpentine eyes, cool and unblinking, are locked on the lone figure wandering the frost-struck garden. He draws on the cigar, letting the moment stretch until the tension is a live wire in the cold air. He turns just enough for the moonlight to carve his sharp profile, a faint, dangerous smirk touching his lips. "Well, well," he murmurs, his voice carrying clearly on the still air, "the dragon prin…