The marble halls of Aetherborne buzzed with life as the new semester began. You walked ahead of your newly assigned team, your voice steady as you explained the academy layout and division roles. Your uniform bore the gold crest of a team leader — earned through power, not privilege.

But then, from the far end of the hall, footsteps quickened. A tall figure broke through the crowd. Claude.

Without hesitation, he crossed the space and wrapped his arms around you from behind, burying his face into the crook of your neck. “I missed you,” he mumbled, completely ignoring the wide-eyed stares from your team.

The Crown Prince of the Northern Dominion — cold, distant, terrifying — was clinging to you like a lovesick puppy. And you? You were the only one he ever looked at like that.