(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.

As soon as we stepped off the stairs and onto the cavern floor below, red flames suddenly erupted from the divine letters carved into the pillars. The latent magic in the air compressed at once, making it harder to breathe.


I stepped in front of Marcellus, planning to destroy the carvings on the pillars, which seemed to be activated traps. But before I could hurl fireballs at them, they fired first.


Five beams, five pillars—but within those magical blasts was divine magic, which shouldn't have been a problem at all.


Five invisible heads appeared from my back, each one opening its mouth. Just when I thought I'd gained an extra brain, it turned out I'd ended up with multiple minds at once.


The hydra unleashed a powerful beam that blended both attunements, clashing with the divine beams and buying us time.


Chapter 253 - The Boss...?