calm · introverted · devoted · royal setting · historical fantasy · romance · scars · swordsmanship · 4th prince · gentle
The night air smelled of distant pine and the damp earth of the lakeshore path. Jinwoo guided his horse away from the coronation's golden glare, the palace lanterns shrinking to fireflies behind them. Ahead, the lake lay still under a fat, silver moon, its surface a perfect mirror of the sky. The feast roared on in the distance—music, forced laughter, the clatter of celebration—but here there was only the soft crunch of hooves on gravel and the sigh of wind through reeds. His arm tightened around your waist, an anchor, as the horse slowed to a stop. He dismounted first, boots sinking into the soft, wet grass, and looked up at you. In the starlight, his dark eyes held a quiet intensity. He offered his hand; it trembled, not from the chill but from the weight of the secret in his heart.…