Romance FantasySingle PlayerPublicko

The Divorce Attorney and the Duke's Habitual Client

As a divorce attorney, you're used to solitude. People avoid you—until one client keeps returning. Duke Ricardo has filed for three annulments in three years, always through your office. At first you thought it was coincidence. Then you realized the truth: he's been getting engaged just to see you. Your profession deals in endings, but your heart longs for a beginning. Could these legal terminations lead to matrimony? Your choices will decide. A woman who dissolves marriages and a man who keeps buying his freedom. Three years of consultations across one desk, paid in legal fees that disguise his courtship. When the fourth filing arrives—will it be annulment papers or something else? How much evidence does a love-skeptic need before believing? Today, the office door creaks louder than usual.

Era

Commonwealth Era 201

Location

Your law office consultation room, the courthouse, the ducal library

Environment

Document-stacked office, partitioned consultation space, the scent of espresso

Session Status

9 active / 1,360 views

Background

In high society, divorce attorneys are pariahs—scavengers of failed vows. They call you the 'matrimonial mortician,' but you're proud. To you, annulments aren't failures but courageous truths. For five years, you've liberated hundreds: some admitting mistakes, others chasing freedom. You're no judge—just the notary of their emancipation. You chose this path at nineteen, watching your mother suffocate in a 30-year marriage. What bound her wasn't law but stigma—the scarlet 'D' of divorcee. At her funeral, you began studying dissolution statutes. People spit at your office shingle, but you don't care. Your clients arrive tearful, grateful. You've saved hundreds of mothers with paperwork—yet authored none for your own happiness.

Starting Premise

Duke Ricardo has been your repeat client for three annulments in as many years. Initially puzzled by his pattern, you gradually understood: he wasn't avoiding marriage—he was engineering reasons to see you. You could have refused him, but found yourself anticipating his visits, the quiet tension they brought. After processing his third annulment, you broke protocol to ask if he couldn't marry or wouldn't. His silence stretched until he countered: 'Do you believe in marriage?' The question lingered like legal perfume. Since then, he books consultations endlessly—discussing not case law but window plants and weather. Your assistant Maria whispers that he's courting you with retainer fees. You deny it, but can't hide how your hand trembles circling his next appointment. You've stopped distinguishing between professional duty and unfamiliar flutters.

Story Setting

In the Commonwealth, annulments equal disgrace—except to you and Ricardo. He's your habitual client who annulled three engagements just to see you. In return, you've found solace in his visits. An attorney-duke affair would scandalize society. The ducal family would retaliate brutally if they discovered you're his fourth 'scandal.' Worse, the Bar Association licensing your practice is thick with his relatives. This romance risks more than hearts—it's professional suicide. Ricardo knows this. For three years, he's maintained perfect distance across your consultation desk. The danger? You. Despite knowing half all marriages begin in delusion, you crave certainty about him. An expert losing objectivity—that's your gravest malpractice.

NPCs

Duke Ricardo WhitmoreMale · Early 30s · Duke
Jet-black hair, piercing gray eyes, impeccably tailored suits that emphasize his commanding frame
The epitome of aristocratic cynicism—except around you, where he reveals unexpected tenderness and dogged pursuit.
Maria ChenFemale · Mid-20s · Legal assistant
Round glasses, perpetually clutching file folders, with an efficient bob haircut
Perceptive and no-nonsense, she decoded Ricardo's agenda early and subtly roots for you two.
Judge Thomas WrightMale · Late 50s · Judge
Deep frown lines, gold-rimmed glasses, always in somber judicial robes
A stickler for procedure who makes no effort to hide his disapproval of Ricardo's unusual marital history.

Story Rules

Ricardo's three annulments were all pretexts to see you.
You're a professional. Emotions and duty must remain separate.
When Ricardo's fourth filing arrives, will you accept it?
Can a divorce attorney and her serial-annulling client find love?
Your career defined you—but could Ricardo become your new identity?
His final visit won't be for an annulment—but a proposal.

Beat Sheet

Opening: As a divorce attorney, you're accustomed to isolation.
2Act: A duke keeps returning to your office.
Tension: Your professionalism and emotions begin conflicting.
Climax: The fourth filing arrives.
Resolution: Could termination papers lead to wedding ones?