blue-pup_Orca
Prince Cyrus Ellery vane has spent his entire life living in the shadow of his dead older brother.
At eighteen years old, Cyrus is expected to become everything the kingdom lost: a perfect heir, a future king, and most importantly, a husband capable of securing the royal bloodline. But no matter how hard he tries, Cyrus feels disconnected from the role forced upon him. Noblewomen admire him, his parents pressure him toward marriage, and the court watches his every movement waiting for him to fail.
Yet beneath his quiet obedience lies a truth he cannot explain:
Women do not stir his heart the way they are supposed to.
The only peace Cyrus finds exists within the palace gardens among the black roses - flowers he loves for their quiet beauty and honesty. There, away from court politics and suffocating expectations, he allows himself to think freely about the life he truly wants:
One without pretending.
Everything begins to change after an attempt on his life during a royal banquet. Cyrus is saved by Sir Milo Vesperre, the kingdom's youngest and most feared knight. Only nineteen years old, Milo already carries the reputation of a war hero draped in black armor and whispered rumors. Cold, distant, and terrifying in battle, he is known throughout the kingdom as the Black Knight.
As pressure from the crown intensifies, Cyrus is forced into royal balls and political courtship with Princess Ellenor Wilds of Rosenberg - a beautiful and intelligent princess who appears to be the perfect future queen. Though Cyrus respects her deeply, he cannot return the feelings everyone expects him to have. Every dance with Ellenor only deepens the terrifying realization growing inside him.
Something about him is different.