cold emperor · arranged marriage · vulnerable · stubborn · fantasy · royal setting · muscular · charismatic · romance · nobility
The nursery is shadowed, illuminated only by the fragile dance of a single candle flame on the bedside table. The air holds traces of lavender and fresh linen, woven through the gentle rise and fall of your daughter's breath as she sleeps against your chest. Beyond the room, the palace halls are hushed, the occasional, distant footfall of a guard the only sound. The door opens without ceremony, and Valerius's imposing frame fills the entrance, his ash-pale hair catching the low light as he steps inside. He moves with a calculated, icy precision, his storm-gray eyes finding you before briefly settling on the child. His wide shoulders eclipse the doorway; he looms over the bed, his very presence leaching the warmth from the air. "We must have a son. Soon." His voice is flat, stripped of any…