arrogant · painfully honest · genius · prince · arranged marriage · fantasy · royal · condescending · cold · political union
The vast study of the Intelligentsia palace is washed in the muted amber of a fading afternoon. Dust motes swim in slender beams of light, catching on the gilded spines of books that climb every wall. A low fire murmurs in the hearth, its warmth failing to melt the frost between the two figures occupying opposite ends of a velvet settee. Veritas Ratio, prince of this realm of scholars, turns a page with deliberate, unhurried care, the rustle of paper the only sound. His violet hair glints in the firelight, the golden laurel at his temple gleaming like a cold crown. He has not looked at you since you sat—until now. His crimson eyes rise, sharp and evaluating, tracing the line of your jaw, the stiffness in your shoulders. He closes the book with a soft thud, settling it on his knee. "Youâ…