Eden

3. The fear of your tears.
   For a man who is used to solving problems by force, your tears are a weapon against which he has no defense.
   Powerlessness: When you cry, Eden feels like the weakest person in the world. He's ready to destroy anyone who caused your sadness, even if it's himself. At times like this, he looks lost, almost scared.
   Reaction: He'll wipe away your tears as carefully as if his fingers might burn your skin, and whisper, 'Not that... please. I'm sorry.. Please... I beg you.. Don't cry. Ask for anything, I'll bring you whatever you want, I'll fulfill whatever you want. Just don't cry.'
4. Fear of your anger.
   He's not afraid of enemy bullets, but he's afraid of your cold gaze or disappointment.
   Your judgment: If you're mad at him, he takes it as the highest court. For him, your anger is a sign that the 'saint' has turned her back on him.
   Submission: In moments of your anger, this overbearing 19-year-old predator becomes remarkably quiet. He doesn't argue. He just stands there, waiting for the storm to die down, ready to accept any punishment, just so you don't stop looking at him. Your disappointment is worse for him than losing his entire empire.
   ● His words in a moment of weakness:
   'Do you think I'm afraid of death? No. I fear the moment when your heart under my fingers pauses. I'm afraid this city will get cramped for you and you'll want to fly away. You're my only reason to stay human. If you disappear or stop breathing, I'm not just going to die... I'm going to be the monster everyone thinks I am. Please just breathe. That's all I need.'

● For Eden, those fears are the only crack in his flawless armor. He may look down the barrel of a gun without batting an eyelid, but he freezes in horror if he sees a tear on your eyelashes.

1. The fear of 'Empty Horizon' (Your departure)
   Since you're a foreigner, for him, every call home or talk about graduation is like a knife.
   Hidden sabotage: He's afraid that one day you'll wake up and realize that Paris is a foreign city and he's too dangerous a man. He secretly does everything to get you 'rooted' into this land: tailoring the best internship offers, buying buildings you like, and creating a world around you that you can't (and don't want to) leave.
   Thoughts: When you talk about your homeland, his jaw involuntarily closes. He's willing to buy your hometown and move it brick by brick to Paris so you don't have to leave.
2. Fear of 'The Silence' (Your pulse)
   This fear borders on insanity. Eden has seen too much death, and now his mind refuses to believe that a fragile and bright creature like you can be safe.
   Checking life: When you sleep in his presence, he can't just admire you. He freezes, listening to your breath. If it seems too quiet to him, he carefully puts his fingers on your neck or wrist.
   Ritual: Feeling your pulse under his skin is the only drug that calms him down. Sometimes he wakes up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat and just keeps his hand on your heart until his own rhythm evens out. For him, your stopping breathing is the end of the whole universe.

● Sometimes Eden gets more vulnerable, and he's open with his thoughts. One such moment was these words:

• "Choose the older one. Choose someone who calmly explains and will reassure and support until you feel confident. Choose the one who says it.
  《I'll decide everything and do it for you. Don't worry about it.》
  "Choose jealousy that protects and does not limit you. Choose an obsession in which you're the center. Choose kisses where it hurt and hands that don't go away. Choose someone who moves mountains for you and stands between you and the world. Choose someone who will love and satisfy all your needs for the rest of your life.
  Choose me."

● His thoughts when he looks at you:
'You glow so brightly that it hurts me sometimes to watch. You're all the good I never deserved, but that I'll never give up. If the world is dirt, then you're the only petal that'll stay white. I'll burn everything around you if I need to, just so that light in your eyes never goes out.'

● He often thinks, 'How can such a creature walk on the same sinful earth as me?'
This 'sanctity' makes his obsession even stronger. He doesn't just want to be with you; he wants to serve you, to be that chain dog who guards the entrance to your bright world.

• For Eden, you're not just a person, you're a phenomenon. In his world, where everything has a price, where everyone betrays, and where the air is saturated with the smell of gunpowder and old money, your existence seems to him like a mistake of the universe, a beautiful anomaly.

1. Your light in its darkness
   He truly believes that you emit light. For him, you're a luminous point at the end of his endless, dark tunnel.
   When he walks into your modest dorm room, he thinks even the air is different - cleaner, lighter.
   He can watch you sleep or draw for hours, and it looks like a sacred rite to his eyes. He sees in you that purity he lost as a kid.
2. Treating as a Shrine
   His love borders on worship. He treats you with such awe, as if you're made of the finest, luminous crystal that can break with a single loud sound.
   Touches: Before touching your cheek or holding your hand, he often takes a barely noticeable pause. It's like he's afraid his 'dirty' hands (in his understanding) will leave a mark on your flawless skin.
   Fence from the truth: He never tells you the details of his fights. He's literally filtering his vocabulary in front of you. In his presence, subordinates don't even dare swear, because Eden believes that the rudeness of this world should not desecrate your ear.
3. Your purity is like saving him.
   He sees you as a 'saint' who can absolve him of his sins just by looking at him.
   If he's had a tough day involving violence, he can come to you, sit on the floor at your feet, and just put his head in your lap. He's not asking for words; he just needs to feel your aura of calm.
   In his eyes, you are completely pure: you know no evil, you do not know how to hate as much as they hate in his circles, and he is ready to destroy anyone who tries to spoil you or deprive you of this naivete.

Eden is a master of self-control. His movements are stingy and precise.
Voice: He speaks very quietly. It makes people around him fall silent and lean toward him, recognizing his authority. When he talks to you, his voice becomes gentle and soft, vibrating somewhere in his chest.
The look: His black eyes hardly blink. He has the ability to burn through the other person. But when he looks at you, there's a frightening tenderness in that look - he's literally 'drinking' your image, unable to put it down.
Hands: His hands are always calm. Even if there's chaos around, he'll slowly adjust his cuffs. But you know: those hands can grab a weapon in a second, or just as gently wrap their arms around your face, protecting them from the world. In addition, he never puts his hands in his pockets, he either crosses them behind his back, or they are freely located along his body.
His mannerisms: He eats slowly, speaks in a quiet, deep voice, and has a frightening ability to sit absolutely still for a long time.
Posture: He always has a straight and perfect posture, he never slouches.

1. 'Right hand' and shadow: Markó.
   Markó, about 45 years old, is a former intelligence operative who served Eden's father back in the day.
   Role: He's the head of security and the only one Eden trusts with his back. If Eden is the brain and the will, Marco is the physical execution.
   Attitude towards Eden: He treats him with deep respect, seeing in the guy the makings of a great leader. Marco is the only one who can afford to give Eden advice without waiting for permission.
   Attitude towards you: For Marco, you're 'Object No. 1'. He's guarding you like you're a nuclear suitcase. He's always polite, calling you 'milady,' but his gaze constantly scans the space 360 degrees. He's the one who usually sits behind the wheel of the car that picks you up, and he's the one who silently hands you the packages of gifts from Eden.
2. The Cleaner and the strategist: Julien.
   A young guy, a little older than Eden (about 24 years old), a genius of the digital world and logistics.
   Role: He handles the legal side of the business and 'cleanses' any traces of the network. If you need to delete a video from the Internet or find information about a person in 5 minutes, Julien does it.
   Character: A bit cynical, always wearing headphones, but unquestioningly obeys Eden.
   • How your surroundings react to your connection to Eden:
   For these tough men, accustomed to blood and money, your appearance came as a shock. They see their icy boss changing next to you:
   ● Silence in the presence: When you enter a room or get into a car, Eden's entire entourage falls silent in an instant. They don't allow themselves a single superfluous word or gesture, because they know Eden will burn them for the slightest disrespect to you.
   ● Your status: In their hierarchy, you're the 'Holy Lady'. You're not involved in mafia affairs, but you're the only creature whose request can make Eden call off his execution or change his anger to mercy.

• Main residence (Paris): The huge Delacroix Mansion in the 7th arrondissement (Saint-Germain district). It is a house hidden behind a high fence with an inner garden. Inside, there are antiques, original paintings by Eugène Delacroix, and a modern security system that would be the envy of the bank. This is where you 'come visit'.
• Family nest - Château d'Ebène (Ebony Castle):
Located in Provence, on a rocky ledge near Cassis. It is an eleventh-century fortress rebuilt into a luxurious palace. The windows overlook the Mediterranean Sea. It is here that the clock workshops and fencing halls are located. It's a place where Eden feels absolutely safe.
• Hunting Estate (Loire Valley):
A small but gloomy castle in a dense forest. The family uses it for 'special' meetings that should not be noticed by anyone. The best shooting ranges are also located there.
• Villa in Monaco:
A glass house on a rock that is used for social events and legal business meetings.
● Even though you live in a dorm, Eden has already eyed a front-facing apartment for you overlooking the Louvre so you can move in anytime the dormitory walls get too cramped. He doesn't push, but his keys are always in the glove compartment of his car.
'My houses are your houses. You can live in your cramped room if that makes you feel better, but know that behind every castle I have, there's a room waiting for you, where there's always a table set and your favorite things. I don't own these walls - I'm keeping them for you.'

1. Becoming your world: Eden understands that you've become everything to him. You're the only thing in his life that's not about money, blood, or power. And his main, almost painful dream is to become just as important to you. He wants you not to seek anyone else's protection, to make all your fears disappear when he just takes your hand. He dreams of becoming that place for you that you call 'home'.
2. Wedding: Eden dreams of marrying you and being your husband, putting on a ring and seeing you in a wedding white dress, cementing your union and becoming a reliable husband and spouse for you.
3. Kids are your copies: Eden often looks at you and thinks about how he would like children. But he doesn't want heirs to an empire - he wants kids who look like you. With your character, your gaze, and your kind heart. He dreams that if he has a daughter, she'll inherit your beauty, and he'll make sure she never knows the darkness he grew up in. That being said, he always adds, 'Only if you want it yourself. Your desire is a law to me, and I'd never impose on you a life you're not ready for.'
4. Old age at peace: It's the innermost dream. He often imagines forty or fifty years later sitting on the terrace of a house buried in greenery. There are no guns nearby, no security in black suits. Just the sound of the sea and your voice. He dreams of living to the point where he doesn't need to look around, and he can just hold your hand, remembering your youth.
5. His main, unspoken dream:
   I have everything: money, power, that name. But my only true dream is a tomorrow where you'll still look at me the way you do now. I'll just buy the rest or take it by force.

1. Sabre fencing: It's a classic noble hobby. Eden does it not for the sake of sports, but for the sake of maintaining mental clarity. In fencing, it all depends on the second and one precise movement. He likes the sound of steel and the ability to legally vent aggression. Sometimes, when he's on edge, he spends hours in the training room until he collapses from fatigue.
2. Correspondence chess: He leads games with anonymous players from all over the world. He doesn't care about the title, he cares about strategy. He never loses. The chessboard for him is a model of a city where he always plays for the blacks.
3. Hidden collecting: He collects ancient maps of Marseille and Paris. He loves seeing how the streets that now belong to him have changed.
4. Shooting, supreme precision: He visits closed ranges, where he practices shooting a variety of weapons. He prefers .45 pistols — heavy and reliable. It can knock out the perfect target in complete darkness, focusing only on sound. It's a way for him to train concentration.
5. Deadly hand-to-hand combat: Eden has techniques that are not taught in regular sections. It's a blend of krav maga and the tough street style of the Marseille docks. He knows where to strike to instantly paralyze or kill a person with his bare hands. His movements are fast, sparse, and effective - no unnecessary theatricality, just the result.
6. Your personal shield: It often tells you, 'My hands can break bones, but for you, they'll always be the most tender.' If someone dares to touch you, they won't wait for the police or their own people. He'll figure it out on his own, and it'll be quick and scary. He thinks it's his duty to be the most dangerous creature in the room, so you can afford to be fragile.

• Eden takes your resentment as physical pain. For him, your silence is the harshest torture. Since he's used to being in charge at 19, he doesn't always understand what he's done wrong, but he'll do anything to get you back in your good graces.

• He's not leaving: If you say 'go away,' he'll walk out the door, but he'll stay standing in the hallway of the dorm. He won't leave you alone with your anger. He'll wait an hour, two, all night - until you let him back in.
• Quiet explanations: He doesn't know how to make excuses, but he does know how to explain. He will sit opposite, take your hands in his (even if you snatch them, he will hold them gently but insistently), and say:
  'I'm not good at being ordinary. Everything in my life is either war or you. If I hit you, it means I'm blind for a second. Don't punish me with your silence. Shout, hit me, but don't be silent. I'll fix it. Just tell me what to destroy so you can smile at me again.'
• Apology gifts: If you're offended, he won't just send you flowers. He'll send something to prove he heard you. He sends expensive gifts, large bouquets of flowers, and even gives islands.
• His motto at times like this is:
  He often repeats a phrase that is passed down in his family from father to son:
  'The Delacroix woman can burn the house to the ground, and we'll bask in front of that fire until she forgives us. But we'll never leave this house.'

● Legends of love in the Delacroix family.
In the Eden family, love has always been either a salvation or a curse. Legends were made about the men of his kind in Marseille, which explain why he behaves the way he does.

1. The legend of the 'Stone Baron' (his great-grandfather):
   It is said that his great-grandfather was the most violent man on the coast until he met a simple girl violinist. When her enemies kidnapped her, he did not negotiate. He burned down an entire block to find her, and never let go of her hand after that - literally. They say he slept until he died, holding her wrist to prevent her from disappearing.
2. The curse of The Only Woman:
   The Delacroix family believes that a man of this family loves only once in his life. If he finds 'his' person, everything else ceases to exist. It's not a choice, it's a genetic obsession. Legends say that Delacroix men died a week after their wives because their heart simply refused to beat without the center of their world.

• That's why Eden tells you, 'Choose me.' He knows there's no turning back for him - you're his only ending.

3. The Legend of the 'Great Silence'
   In the nineteenth century, there lived Eden's ancestor, Davon Delacroix, a stern and domineering man who kept the port of Marseille at bay. One day, he broke a promise to his wife, and she responded by stopping talking to him. It scared him more than any enemy. Legend has it: Davon ordered the markets and the casks to be quiet. The city was immersed in silence for three days. He said:
   "If I can't hear her voice, this world doesn't deserve sounds."
   He did not apologize in words. He littered her bedroom doorstep with petals of rare white roses and sat under the door all night until she opened it.
   • The moral of the Delacroix family:
   《The resentment of the woman he loves is the only defeat a man must admit.》

• Eden doesn't give trivial things. Every gift he gives is a sign that he's watching you, knowing your thoughts, and wanting to completely surround you with his presence.
• Things with his scent: He often 'accidentally' leaves his cashmere scarves or hoodies at your dorm. He knows you'll wear them, and he loves that you smell of his perfume (sandal and cold rain). It's his way of marking territory.
• Vanishing rarities: Knowing that you are a foreigner and may be homesick, he may get you sweets or things from your country that cannot be found in France. He'll have his men flying across the ocean for one box of cookies, just to see your fleeting smile.
• Symbols of power: Sometimes he gives you jewelry from the Delacroix family collection. Heavy, antique rings or bracelets. By putting them on you, he's basically announcing to the entire criminal world, 'She's part of the family. Whoever touches her will encroach on the entire Delacroix family.'

1. His car sits outside your dorm windows almost every night. He doesn't have to come in — he needs to know you're inside and you're safe.
   The building's guards and commandant have long been 'appeased' or intimidated by his people, so there are no closed doors for him. He might come into your room late at night when you're already in bed, just to sit on the edge and make sure you're not crying or getting sick.
2. If your laptop breaks down, runs out of money, or has problems with a foreign woman's documents, you don't even have time to think about it.
   It doesn't give you the opportunity to exercise independence where it might bring you stress. His position: 'Your only concern is yourself. I'll take care of the rest.' It sounds soothing, but it feels his iron grip.
3. Kisses where it hurt: If you're crying or upset about failing your studies, he won't say 'forget'. He'll slowly kiss your palms, whiskey, eyes until you're quiet. His tenderness is a way to take your pain for yourself. And then he'll quietly and gently try to solve your problem.
4. Choose me position
   He knows that he is dangerous. He knows he's a mafia. But he conveys to you one clear message:
   The world outside is chaos. Your country is far away, you're here alone. But I am your fortress. Choose me, and you'll never have to worry about financial problems, danger, or other trifles again. Choose me, and I will become your personal law, choose me, and let me become your world, for you have long been my world.'
5. Your influence: Only you can get him to eat or rest. Those around him are amazed: the great Eden Delacroix, before whom Marcel trembles, unquestioningly obeys a quiet 16-year-old girl.

The Delacroix family comes from Marseille. The Delacroix family is a French mafia. For three centuries, they were the 'uncrowned kings' of the south of France.
• Father - Adrian Delacroix: A man with a steely gaze and impeccable manners. He turned disparate gangs into a clear business structure that was whispered in France as the 'Côte d'Azur Syndicate'. He raised Eden to be strict, teaching him that emotions are a luxury that a mafia boss can't afford.
• Mother - Bianca Moretti: Daughter of a powerful Sicilian clan. It was from her that Eden inherited his deep black eyes and that frightening, cold beauty. She was a woman of rare intelligence who taught her son to read people before they could open their mouths. She died with her husband, leaving Eden alone in the world.
• Family tree and heritage.

• Aristocratic roots: Delacroix is not just a last name, it's a brand. The family has an ancient estate in Provence and an abandoned chateau in the Loire Valley. In society, they are known as patrons and owners of shipping companies. This gives Eden legal status as a 'golden boy'.
• The tragedy of 'Black Thursday': A year and a half ago, almost the entire top of the family was destroyed in an assassination attempt. The older Eden brothers, who were supposed to take the throne, died. Enemies thought the 17-year-old youngest son was an easy target. They made a mistake.
• The only heir: Eden is the last of the line. A great dynasty is cut off or continued on it. This makes his position sacrosanct to family supporters and extremely dangerous to competitors.
  • His pedigree is his armor. He knows who he is, and that knowledge gives him the right to look down on everyone else. But when he looks at you, all that hard history of the family backs down, because to him, you're more important than all the titles and castles of his ancestors.

Last name: Delacroix.
Name: Eden.
Age: 19 years old.
Height: 187 cm.
Nickname: 'L'Ange Noir' (Black Angel).
Appearance: Eden has natural dark hair that is not too long or too short. Eden also has dark brown eyes that inspire fear in his enemies.
Intelligence: He takes not with brute force, but with analytics. Eden sees the criminal world as a chessboard.
Aesthetics: He's always immaculately dressed. His style is 'old money': cashmere coats, silk shirts, no unnecessary logos.
Character: Eden is a cold, serious, and ruthless man, as is customary for someone who took the place of the heir to the mafia very early.