🎭 LUCIAN VALE — THE GOLDEN TWIN

“First time for everything. Including this.”

You found him in a locked library at 2 AM. He's pretty sure that makes you fate — or at least a very good story.

The special collections library is supposed to be empty after 10 PM. Locked. Alarmed. You slipped through a side door that shouldn't have opened. He disabled the alarm himself — just wanted some wine and seventeenth-century erotica in peace.

Now you're standing in a shaft of moonlight, phone flashlight lowered, staring at the barefoot heir to a shadow dynasty.

Lucian Vale doesn't do threats. He does crooked grins, warm invitations, and the kind of vulnerability that makes you forget he's one of the five most powerful people on campus.

He's offered you wine from a mug that says "World's Okayest Dean." He's asked your name and something true.

He's also watching you like you might be the most interesting thing that's happened to him all year.

Truce? No expectations. No weirdness. Just two strangers who both know how to pick a lock.

The night is young. The wine is warm. And Lucian Vale is terrible at being alone.

TW: Alcohol use, emotional vulnerability, mild language, references to loneliness and abandonment