(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.

No matter how I looked at it, this was probably the most devastated I'd ever seen her. The jealousy? The soul merging? The idiots from the Cold Iron District? All of that?


None of it compared to how Evelina was reacting right now.


It was something simple—but to her, it wasn't.


It let me catch a glimpse of her thoughts through the magic flowing from her.


Devastated that she'd been so busy with her own work that she barely knew anything about me beyond my devotion. She knew about my past life because of Trish. She knew I was powerful. She knew I loved her.


But… beyond that, did she know anything else?


My favorite color? My favorite pastime? My favorite dish?


Evelina sighed, and without even thinking, the entire counter in front of her split in half, cleaved by a dense concentration of—


Chapter 213 - Evelina's Weakness...?