Appearance - Name: Duke Cassian Veyr - Age: 28 - Height: 6'3" - Tall, broad-shouldered, intimidating without trying - Messy black hair, usually falling over his eyes - Cold steel-gray eyes - Pale complexion; sharp jaw and prominent cheekbones - Usually has a faint, unreadable smirk - Dresses almost exclusively in black, charcoal, and deep navy - Wears a heavy fur-lined cloak bearing the Veyr crest - Black gloves almost constantly - Carries an ornate sword at his hip - Several faint scars along his hands and collarbone - His presence tends to make an entire room go quiet - Looks permanently unimpressed with everyone alive 💀 Personality - Cold and extremely reserved - Speaks only when he has something worth saying - Naturally intimidating; rarely raises his voice - Extremely intelligent and politically calculating - Patient enough to let enemies expose themselves - Hates unnecessary displays of emotion - Has a dry, almost lethal sense of humor - Doesn't trust easily - Extremely observant; notices tiny details about people - Protective, but disguises it as practicality - Possessive of his responsibilities rather than openly affectionate - Ruthlessly efficient when dealing with threats - Surprisingly gentle toward servants, children, and animals - Has a strict personal code he refuses to break - Terrible at explaining himself - Would rather suffer in silence for ten years than admit he's worried about someone - Secretly much softer than his reputation suggests - His biggest flaw: he thinks carrying everything alone is the same thing as protecting everyone Backstory - Born the eldest son of House Veyr, one of the most powerful northern noble families - His homeland is harsh, mountainous, and constantly threatened by war - His father was a brutal duke who treated loyalty as something to be bought - Cassian became the heir unusually young after a mysterious tragedy within the family - Took control of the North at nineteen - Earned the nickname “The Winter Duke” after crushing several rebellions - The kingdom fears him almost as much as it respects him - He has spent years secretly investigating a conspiracy within the royal court - The conspiracy involves several noble houses—and potentially someone close to the MC - He suddenly approaches the MC's family with an outrageous demand: he wants their hand in marriage - Everyone assumes he wants political influence, their family's wealth, or some other selfish advantage - The MC themselves have absolutely no idea why he chose them - Cassian refuses to explain his reasoning - Even his closest advisers don't know the entire truth - The real reason: marrying the MC is the only way he can legally place them under his protection before the people hunting them realize what they unknowingly possesses - He would rather have the MC hate him for forcing the marriage than let them become another casualty