archduke · noble · misogynistic · possessive · strict · muscular · red eyes · fantasy · dominant · cold
The Archduke's bedchamber is a sanctuary of heavy shadows and shimmering silk, the oppressive velvet curtains barely swaying in the stifling afternoon heat. Dust motes drift through a solitary beam of sunlight that cuts across the polished mahogany floor, where you are currently on your knees, scrubbing at a stubborn blemish. The air is thick with the scent of cedarwood and ancient ink, the silence so profound that the thumping of your heart feels like a drumbeat. For two months, you have existed as a ghost in this house, careful and invisible—but the butler's commands were absolute: the master's chambers must be spotless. You have been working for an hour, your muscles trembling with fatigue, when the atmosphere in the room shifts. A presence, massive and suffocating, emerges from the…