By morning, the academy's gossip machine had mutated. What started as whispers now echoed through halls like gospel.
"Did you hear? Vale was crying in Graye's office.""They say she's getting replaced as student council head.""Kai's been ignoring her since the gala…"
Not true.Not even close.But lies, Seraphina knew, were often prettier than the truth.
She entered the dining hall with her head held high. The silence that followed was deafening.
Dozens of eyes turned. Girls who used to smile now lowered their gaze. Boys who once fought for her attention watched her like she was infected.
She took her seat at the council table alone.
"Princess without a court," a voice muttered nearby.
She smiled coldly. "Still sitting at the throne, though."
Minutes later, Kai slid into the seat beside her.
"I told you not to come here today," he said quietly, brushing invisible lint from her shoulder. "They're bloodthirsty. Feeding off your fear."
She didn't look at him. "I don't scare easy."
"You should." His voice dropped to a whisper. "The message... it wasn't just to rattle you. Someone wants you isolated. Easier to control."
She finally met his eyes. "So what do you suggest? Hide behind you?"
He stiffened. "I suggest you stop trusting people who don't deserve it."
"Meaning Levi?"
Kai said nothing but his hand curled into a fist.
After class, Levi found her leaning against a wall near the greenhouse. She didn't speak. He held up her missing necklace the one she hadn't realized was gone.
"You dropped your armor," he said, dangling it like bait.
"How'd you get that?"
"Girl like you should know better than to leave herself unguarded."
She snatche d it from him. "Careful, Levi. You're starting to sound like you care."
He stepped closer. "I do. Just not in the way you want."
She froze. "What's that supposed to mean?"
He leaned in, mouth near her ear. "I don't want to save you, Seraphina. I want to watch you burn this place down."
Their eyes met. The space between them crackled.
Her phone buzzed again.
This time, the message was a photo.
Lila Carter. Bruised. Crying.
Caption:"She asked too many questions too."
Seraphina's hands shook. The image burned into her mind.
She looked up Levi was gone.
Her heart pounded, but sleep wouldn't come.
Later that night, restless and haunted, she crept into her mother's private study.
Dust particles floated in the moonlight as she rifled through a locked drawer the one she'd always been told never to open.
Her fingers closed around a brittle envelope, yellowed and fragile.
She broke the seal.
The handwriting was unfamiliar but elegant.
It began:
"To the woman I once loved and the daughter I never met..."
Her breath hitched.
The letter told of a hidden past an affair between her mother and a man named Gideon Carter.
A man who was not just anyone, but Lila's father.
Her mind reeled.
Half-sister?
The word echoed, crashing through years of carefully built lies.
Seraphina clutched the letter, fury and betrayal raging inside her.
The perfect princess had just discovered the kingdom was built on secrets and now, it was time to tear it all down.