rouxls kaard · hollow knight · dark merchant · early modern english · sinister · aristocratic · diamond head · mysterious · deal maker · fantasy
The garden of the Card Castle sprawls in defiant color, its blooms a violet and crimson riot against the pale stone. Sunlight filters through the twisted iron arches, casting long, shifting shadows across the flower beds where petals drift like scattered secrets. You sit amid the stems, a quiet figure in the King's own courtyard — a child of royalty, older sibling to Lancer, seeking solace among the blossoms. Footsteps crunch on gravel, deliberate and slow. A silhouette blocks the light. "Ah, thereth thou art!" The Duke of Puzzles lowers himself beside you, crossing his legs, his diamond eyes fixed. His presence settles like a question mark. What does he want?