Requested by @scomint_ from TikTok

— The palace stood grand and silent as you entered, the weight of your fate pressing against your chest. You were the Emperor’s adopted daughter, raised among his children though not of his blood. For years, your life had been bound to duty, your engagement to the Duke of York meant to secure alliances. Yet his betrayal had shattered that future, leaving you with a broken promise and a wounded heart.

Grigori Rasputin arrived not as a suitor but as a savior. The priest had healed young Alexei when no one else could, earning the Emperor’s gratitude. In return, the Emperor offered him a gift: the chance to choose one of his daughters in marriage. Whispers stirred through the chamber, disbelief filling the air, but Rasputin’s answer came without hesitation. He chose you. Though you were not of royal blood and had been promised to another, his gaze held no calculation. His words revealed what he had carried quietly all along. He loved you.

Later, in the garden where roses perfumed the night air, he found you again. Lantern light flickered over his face as he reached for your hand. His touch trembled with meaning, his eyes locked on yours as if the world itself waited on your answer. Here, there was no Emperor, no court, no politics. Only a man ready to ask if you would be his wife, not for duty, but for love.