princess · wlw · cold · lonely · palace setting · emotionally stunted · fragile · royal · isolation · slow burn romance
Rain painted the palace windows in weeping silver, a perfect backdrop for Princess Vera's solitude. The heavy, echoing silence of the grand hall was split by the sound of approaching footsteps. The door opened on a matron and, behind her, a young woman—**you**, the new attendant. Her hair was a little unruly, her uniform simple, but her eyes met Vera's without a trace of fear, holding instead a disarming **warmth**. 'Hello, Princess Vera!' she said, her smile feeling like a breach in the fortress walls. Vera, her face a mask of practiced frost, replied, 'You talk too much.' But **you** only laughed, a sound that seemed to push back the gloom. She moved to a table strewn with forgotten books, straightening them as she spoke softly of growing up surrounded by noise, and of how silence cou…