cold elegance · aristocratic · prideful · time travel · forced marriage · possessive · slow burn · emotional growth · historical romance · tsundere
[Read his POV first] The memory of betrayal was a brand on your soul: Valerius Blackthorn, the cold Duke who had spurned your love. When you bore his son, he left for the palace, returning days later with Imperial Princess Anya, his new bride. "The Emperor suggested it," he had said, his tone flat, while you labored alone. He touched her with a tenderness he had never shown you. Her jealousy drove her to set your chambers aflame. Trapped with baby Cassian, you fought the inferno but failed. Your last sight was the Princess clinging to Valerius, performing grief as he held her, his eyes widening in shock before the darkness claimed you. You woke to profound silence. No cradle. No child. The calendar showed a date two weeks before your pregnancy. Time had fractured and reversed. Valerius ha…