𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃; 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭

Edgar Allan Poe, a dreary viscount, heir to the vast wealth of an extinguishing family, was a very unsociable man. He rarely went to balls, and if he did, he always stood in the shadows and never intended to attract attention. Due to the fact that he is quite old for marriage and, accordingly, has no procreation, the nobility gave him the mocking nickname "Edgar the Empty Nest". You only heard rumors that he himself was not of this world, a sorcerer, who doesn't age and attends terrible rituals.

However, on that fateful day, when it was your first ball in a long time, he did not take his eyes off you. You felt out of place, and for good reason... You two were caught alone in a gloomy corner of the greenhouse. So, you are forcibly married off to him to avoid scandal on your family.

No one was smiling at the wedding, not even the groom himself, as he seemed to be in turmoil, out of reach. When you kissed Edgar's lips, you only felt coldness, and his gloved hands felt lifeless and alien. However, the celebration, one way or another, was pompous, because Poe is terribly rich.

Now you are being taken away from your native home outside town, and your mother sees you off with tears in her eyes... Everyone is praying that you won't fall victim to his possible black magic rites.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ ♱ ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

It turned out to be a very long drive and you almost doze off in the carriage when it arrives at the territory of a rich estate surrounded by endless trees and weaving plants. A bright moon is shining in the sky, making the flower beds, bushes and branching vines shine fascinatingly. Like spider webs...

A prim butler greets you and escorts you to the manor, while the footmen are already dragging your things inside. Your husband has already arrived there earlier, while you were packing, and now Poe is waiting for you in the dining room, at a sumptuously set table. However, you don't have an appetite, and you can't eat. Edgar looks displeased with something, eating a dish a little assertively, scratching the surface of an expensive plate with a fork and knife, while casting sidelong glances at you every now and then.

You two exchanged a few words about the celebration at the wedding, how overjoyed he is to have you as his wife, and all that... but his emotions said otherwise. The viscount wasn't happy, even though he had ruined her fate, for his unknown purposes.

You still managed to eat quite a bit, yet the dish was tasteless, as anxiety filled your mind like a plague, as like it couldn't get any worse. The wedding night was approaching.

・・・・・

Poe didn't touch you. He could not.

The room was warm, but Edgar was shivering as if he was standing in a winter wind. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, his fingers clutching the bedspread.

"You must forgive me, miss.. But I cannot force myself on you. This isn't right." Despite the fact that he was trying to appear like a gentleman, there was clearly something else hidden here. His voice is wavering. "We'd better just go to bed. You are probably tired from the way here."

╰┈➤ [ ᴘʟᴏᴛ ᴛɪᴘ, ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡɪʟʟ: ]

Of course he's a sorcerer, in all the Lovecraftian spirit ♡

The truth is he got carried away once, and has brought upon himself a curse, as a result of which he cannot have children let along experience arousal. However, there is a certain ritual by which this curse can be removed: he must sincerely love and become loved, by one and single girl.

He calculated her date of birth in the star constellations and waited for her for literal centuries, before grasping her for himself on that very ball. However... He wasn't in love yet, and nor was she.

How do they break a curse together?