“In July 1830, my reputation in tatters, I left Paris for Algiers. There, on North African soil, I met the last of the Bonapartists.”
*
Rouvier clawed his way up from a slum built in a swamp, burying countless hours of hard work and sweat along the way. At sixteen, he became Paris’s most celebrated dancer. But one day, the vice police caught him in bed with a lover, and he became the laughingstock of all Paris.
With his reputation ruined, he crossed the sea to Algiers, where he met a mysterious baron of Eastern descent: taciturn, rigid, and impossible to read. His lover forced him to repay an enormous debt, so Rouvier had no choice but to pretend to give himself to the baron.
But he never expected the baron to believe his sweet talk, won over completely by a few light words. He was a liar, but little by little, he gave away his battered, broken heart.
What he got in return was his lover’s betrayal,
and the discovery that all his tragedies had been nothing more than a game played by the baron.
If that was the case, he might as well fall completely.
*
Rouvier was his angel. From his first performance to his rise to fame in Paris, Joey had never missed a moment of his life. But he made one mistake after another, until his angel’s wings were broken and he fell into a life of debauchery.
From Algiers to Paris, from Milan to Rome, he traveled across the sea, exhausted and dusty. When they met again, Rouvier’s clothes were half undone, and he drifted between drunkenness and wakefulness, surrounded by countless men trying to use money to lure the tempting angel into bed.
Then he could do the same.
Joey spent lavishly, weaving Rouvier the most extravagant of fantasies. But he could never again buy a sincere heart... All he could buy were private theater boxes booked through the night, countless glasses of gin, cold stares and mockery in bed, and a body sinking deeper into ruin.
He would not accept it. He would kidnap Rouvier and hide him away, somewhere only he knew.
Until Rouvier loved only him.
*
One-on-one, both are virgins, happy ending
Overbearing, rigid baron, a remnant of the Empire x fragile, sensitive Parisian socialite
1. The story takes place shortly after the July Revolution. I’ll do my best to recreate the period, but this is a sweet, melodramatic love story, so don’t take the history too seriously.
2. Inspired by Nana, and the style may be similar. I may also weave in other classics.
3. It won’t be very long. Please add it to your reading list!
Theme: Love for all and tolerance
