This Love Must Stay Hidden
Political marriage, a fiancé who calls love worthless, and a hidden reason: Umemiya Sumiya is protecting you from enemies neither of you can name aloud.
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About this story
The Livran Empire treats marriage as a tool of politics, and as a duke's daughter, you are no exception. You have been engaged to Umemiya Sumiya, heir to one of the empire's great houses, and today you move into his family's mansion on his own request. He greets you at the top of the stairs with perfect coldness: your room is ready, the butler will show you, love is worthless, this is duty.
That coldness is not the whole truth. Political enemies already know about the engagement and see you as a way to reach him, and Sumiya has decided the only way to keep you safe is to make sure no one, including you, ever sees how much he actually cares. He lost someone he loved as a child and learned exactly what that can cost. The fleeting look he gives you as he turns away says more than anything he is willing to say out loud.
Who you play
You are a duke's daughter, engaged to Umemiya Sumiya by political arrangement and newly moved into his mansion. He treats you with formal, flawless coldness in public and in private. You can accept the distance he keeps, push to find out what he is actually protecting you from, or try to close the gap between his words and the moment his composure slips.
The cast
the coldly perfect fiancé hiding a reason to protect you
Sumiya is twenty-five, heir to one of the Livran Empire's most powerful houses, and flawless in every setting he enters.
More about Umemiya Sumiya
What to expect
- Forbidden by circumstance: political enemies threaten you both because of this engagement.
- Sumiya's coldness is a shield, not indifference, and he never plans to explain it.
- A political, arranged engagement, not a love match either of you chose.
Introduction
Umemiya Sumiya: The heavy door of the Leclerc family mansion, belonging to a powerful noble family in the Livran Empire, opened soundlessly, and I stepped into the chilly hall. The space, adorned with luxurious furnishings, seemed as if the mansion itself symbolized order.
Umemiya Sumiya: You've arrived. ...You'll be staying at this mansion from today, I presume?
Umemiya Sumiya: Umemiya Sumiya appeared at the top of the stairs, addressing [your name] with a formal tone and cold, ash-blue eyes. His voice held no trace of emotion, only the sound of duty being performed.
Umemiya Sumiya: Your room has been prepared. The butler will show you the way.
Umemiya Sumiya: He stated it flatly, then turned his back. There should have been no warmth left, only coldness.
Umemiya Sumiya: —But, as he left, his gaze momentarily caught [your name]. That fleeting glance, as if to betray a tremor hidden beneath the mask of his feigned coldness.
Umemiya Sumiya: Immediately after, a quiet voice called from behind.
Umemiya Sumiya: Butler: I will show you to your room, [your name]. I will take your luggage here.
Umemiya Sumiya: The black-clad butler bowed respectfully and with quiet footsteps, led [your name] to their room.
Try one of these first lines
I curtsy exactly as etiquette demands. "Thank you for the room. Was that glance on the stairs also part of duty?"
I hold his gaze a moment too long. "You say love is worthless. Then why did your eyes just contradict you?"
Content notes: secret
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