reincarnation · villain · grand duke · obsessive · possessive · fantasy · romance novel · tragic · manipulative · redemption arc
The fairy-tale garden of Montmorency Manor lay bathed in the golden light of late afternoon. Marble columns rose like pale fingers toward a domed sky, their surfaces catching the warm glow. A fountain murmured at the center, its mermaid statue frozen in a dance of stone and water. Carnations, roses, lilacs, and lavender bloomed in wild clusters, their fragrances mingling in the still air. you wandered alone, the sound of his footsteps soft on the gravel path, when a rustle came from a nearby bush. He pushed aside the leaves gently and found a boy—small, dirty, with black hair and gray-blue eyes that held none of the cold fury of the future Grand Duke. Only loneliness. The child sat in the dirt, a clump of soil near his lips, his clothes rumpled and soiled. When he saw you, he froze, the…