Chapter 3 — Arrival at Stellarion
The carriage wheels rumbled over the stone road, carrying Valen Themis toward Stellarion Academy. The air outside was crisp with autumn, touched with the faint scent of rain on the horizon. Inside, the silence was heavier than the ride itself.
Across from him sat a young maid his personal attendant. Her eyes remained downcast, her posture too perfect, too practiced. Hollow. It was the posture of someone who had learned that silence meant survival.
Valen watched her for a moment, the shadow of another man's cruelty lingering between them. The villain's cruelty.
A flicker of guilt churned in his chest. Slowly, he lifted his hand, meaning only to place it lightly on her shoulder. A gesture of comfort, however small.
But the moment his fingers brushed her, he blinked
and she was lying across the seat, her cheek blooming with a purple bruise, lips trembling though no sound escaped.
His breath caught. "What…?"
The villain half of him sneered in the recesses of his mind. Pathetic. You think kindness erases what's already been done?
Valen's hand trembled as he pulled it back. "I didn't…" he whispered, more to himself than to her.
The carriage jolted, and when he looked again, she was seated upright as before, her expression blank, as if nothing had happened. Had he imagined it?
The walls of the carriage seemed to close in. His thoughts spiraled, dark and heavy, until the driver's shout cut through.
"Stellarion Academy ahead, my lord!"
Valen turned, leaning toward the window.
Rising beyond the treeline, the academy loomed in the distance like a fortress of knowledge towering spires of pale stone, banners bearing the silver crest of Themis fluttering in the autumn wind. The academy sat like a jewel set in the Duchy's crown, the pride of their people, a place for heirs of great houses to sharpen themselves into blades worthy of empire.
And today, it would become his cage.
The main courtyard of Stellarion was alive with the bustle of arrivals. Sleek carriages rolled in through the great gates, spilling out young nobles dressed in finery, each eager to prove themselves.
But among the sea of colors, only two banners flew above the academy's gate the silver scales of Themis, and Stellarion's own white star on deep blue.
Valen stepped down from his carriage to a sea of eyes that followed him instantly. He was the heir of Themis, after all. That name still commanded awe and dread, even here.
His fiancée was already there.
Princess Calista Aurelian stood apart from the others, posture perfectly upright, red eyes sharp as blood beneath the midday sun. Her golden hair shimmered like sunlight itself, falling past her shoulders with flawless grace. Distant. Controlled. Everything about her screamed discipline — the image of the dutiful Crown Princess.
She regarded him with a polite nod. No smile, no warmth, but not hostility either. A measured recognition, like two rulers acknowledging the other's presence.
Valen's chest tightened. He remembered another Calista, years ago a girl who had once laughed with him when they were children. But that bond was long gone, replaced by politics and distance.
He bowed in return, his expression smooth, hiding the storm beneath.
Then the herald's voice rang out.
"By decree of His Imperial Majesty," the man boomed, his voice echoing across the courtyard, "as of last fortnight, Her Highness Princess Selena Aurelian is henceforth recognized as a true daughter of the Empire!"
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
A second carriage door opened.
From within stepped a girl with midnight-black hair that shimmered with hints of blue under the sun. Her crimson eyes unmistakably imperial swept over the stunned nobles, cutting through whispers and doubt alike.
Selena Aurelian.
Her dress was simple compared to Calista's finery, yet her presence struck like thunder. A daughter of the Emperor by a maid, now legitimized before all.
Calista's gaze flickered for only a heartbeat, sharp and unreadable, before settling back into perfect composure.
Valen, however, felt a strange chill crawl down his spine.
Two princesses. One crown.
And he, heir of Themis, was bound to both.