(A/N: Their relationship dynamic progresses and doesn't stay exactly like it is at the start (The one-sided love doesn't last long). Pacing is also relatively fast at the start, but slows down in the future in romance arcs.)

In his old life, he was an assassin, invisible, efficient, and utterly alone.
His only escape came from the pages of a fantasy novel, Crown of Thorns, and the character no one else seemed to understand: Lady Evelina D’Arclight, the proud and brilliant villainess fated to lose everything.

After his death, he wakes up inside that very story, not as a hero, but as Cael Arden, a student at Eryndor Royal Academy. The world is just as he remembers it, right down to the woman destined to fall.

But this time, he’s not a bystander.
With a lifetime of deadly skills and the knowledge of what’s to come, Cael sets out to rewrite the story itself, to protect Evelina, rise through the academy’s ruthless hierarchy, and change a fate written in stone.

As alliances form and secrets surface, the line between fiction and reality starts to blur.
And in a world built on power and prophecy, he’ll prove that even a villainess deserves her happy ending.

Everything slammed back into me at once—the rain, the bite of the cold air, the grime stuck to my skin. My vision cleared just in time to see Julius pinned to the ground.


His body was flickering in and out, like his very existence was trying, and failing, to hang on.


Julius shoved his sword into the invisible mass above him. I heard the blade hit something, but from the way it barely budged, I could tell he was losing.


He was being erased. Slowly. So he wasn't immune after all. Just resistant.


"Sorry," I muttered under my breath. "Just spaced out for a bit."


I sucked in a deep breath, let the magic rush to my head, and forced my perception of time down to its slowest possible second. Being adept at level two really was a blessing.


Chapter 219 - All In!