Del please! Without the people she trusts around her right now, not even your handsome features would be enough to lessen her anxiety levels! Try to take it slow will ya? You have a year to win her over! Don't act so desperate and possessive! You'll only be pushing her away further!
I knew that this wasn't romantic at all yet, and I'm still surprised at how abusive that was. I guess it's more shocking if it's through indirect means
i wouldn't go so far as to call it isolation, but damn is it getting pretty close... this duke needs to step up and open the communication lines if he wants her to look at him with any sort of emotion that isn't absolute terror and fear it's ridiculous of him to be so domineering and secretive, i feel kinda bad for our MC
red flags, my dude. yikes. she's pretty open about telling him off tho even if she regrets it afterwards safdljkdlj but he's pretty indulgent... she's pretty effective on his senses, after all. i wonder, is she that "star" he was looking for before? like, what is it about her?