Two moons lit the sky above Aetheria Academy.One was silver.The other glowed a pale purple.
Night had fallen, and the Academy was buried in deep silence.
The male dormitory occupied the entire southern tower.Eray's room was at the very bottom, at the end of a damp, narrow corridor.
His room was no different from a cell.
Stone walls.A small window with iron bars.A hard bed with a thin mattress.
When he closed the door, he did not feel peace.He felt isolated.
He had removed his armor.He wore only the Academy's rough gray linen tunic.
His ribs still ached.The place where Aeliana had slammed him into the wall during the journey was now a dark bruise on his chest.
He sat by the window and looked at the strange forest outside.
One question filled his mind.
Why?
Why had the Princess protected him from that arrogant student, Kaelen?
"Only I am allowed to punish you," she had said.
That was not protection.It was a claim of ownership.
"They are using me for relations with the Raiders," he muttered."They hurt me, and at the same time, they want to use me as a tool."
He clenched his teeth in anger—
Just then, a piece of paper slid under the door.
Eray flinched.
He stood up and picked it up.
There was a single sentence written in elegant, sharp handwriting:
"Midnight. Library Tower. Top floor.If you are late, I will break one of your legs."
No signature.
But that familiar, cool violet scent had soaked into the paper.
Eray checked the time.
There was little time left until midnight.
He knew he had to go.But he did not want to.
Who knew what kind of madness waited for him?Or maybe just another session of humiliation.
Yet that strange, indescribable pull slowly tightened around his chest.
It dragged his feet toward the tower.
This was not just survival instinct.
It was the curiosity of someone who knows fire will burn…and still wants to touch it.
He moved through the corridors like a shadow.
To avoid the guards, he used the silent steps he had learned since childhood.
The Library Tower rose into the night like a giant, glowing spear.
He pushed the heavy oak door.
Inside were books collected over thousands of years.Parchments.Ink.
Magical candles floated in the air, dancing between the shelves.
And she was there.
Princess Aeliana stood on the wide, glass-lined balcony at the top of the tower.
She was not wearing her harsh battle clothes.
She wore a midnight-blue silk dress.The fabric flowed over her body like water.
Her silver-blonde hair was loose.It shone like metal under the moonlight.
Eray held his breath.
The contrast between the cruel commander he had seen during the dayand the delicate figure before him nowshattered his thoughts.
"You came," Aeliana said.
She did not turn around.
Her voice echoed through the library like a soft melody.
"I thought you wouldn't.Human pride often outweighs survival instinct."
Inside his head, Eray thought:She thought I wouldn't come? As if she didn't threaten to break my leg.
"Following orders is the first rule of a soldier," Eray said aloud, keeping his distance."Especially when disobedience costs you your legs."
Aeliana laughed softly.
She turned slowly.
An old, leather-bound book was in her hand.
She placed it aside and walked toward him.
There was no disgust on her face now.
Something more dangerous had replaced it.
Interest.
"Come closer," she said.
Eray hesitated, then took a few steps.
Aeliana closed the remaining distance.
She was so close that Eray could feel the cool energy radiating from her skin.
She slowly raised her hand.
Eray tensed, expecting another blow.
But she did not strike.
Her fingertips touched his bruised chest through the tunic.
"Does it hurt?" she whispered.
Eray swallowed.
His heart pounded wildly under her palm.
"Yes," he answered honestly.
Aeliana's eyes locked onto his.
In that moment, she was not a Princess.
She was a child who felt sorry for breaking a toy…yet enjoyed breaking it.
"It should hurt," she said.
A soft, warm green light spread from her hand.
Healing magic.
The body she had crushed in public during the daywas now being healed at midnight,in a tower where no one could see.
The pain faded, replaced by a numb, tingling warmth.
"Why?" Eray asked, his voice shaking."Why do you torture me during the day and heal me at night?Is this a game?"
Aeliana did not pull her hand away.
Instead, her fingers slid upward, from his chest to his neck.
She stopped where his pulse beat.
With the tip of her nail, she lightly traced his artery.
Was it a threat… or a caress?
Eray could not tell.
"Because you are raw material, Eray," Aeliana said.Her voice was hypnotic.
"Iron does not become steel without being hammered.It does not take shape without fire.
"During the day, I must break you.I must see your limits.I must tear out your weaknesses."
She leaned closer.
Her lips were near his ear.
"But at night…"
Her breath brushed his neck.
"…I do not want my creation to be destroyed.
"You belong to me, 'refugee boy.'Not to my father.Not to the Academy.
"To me.
"And I do not allow what is mine to be damaged."
Every instinct in Eray screamed run.
This woman was poison.This bond was sick.
Yet his body was drawn to her cold touch like a magnet.
He wanted to raise his hand.To touch that silk hair.
But he didn't.
An invisible wall stood between them.Status.Race.Hatred.
"Never forget that you belong to me," Aeliana said suddenly, stepping back.
The spell broke.
The warmth vanished.The cold distance returned.
She grabbed the book from the table and threw it at him.
Eray caught it midair.
"Shadow Theory and Light Refraction," Aeliana said, her voice returning to command."Memorize the first three chapters by tomorrow.
"You are trying to use shadow like a weapon.But it is a limb.
"You must feel it.
"And if Kaelen humiliates you again tomorrow…"
Her eyes sharpened.
"…this time, I will not save you."
Eray looked at the book, then at her.
"Is that all?"
Aeliana turned away and walked back to the balcony, into the moonlight.
"Go, Eray," she said."Study and get some sleep.
"Tomorrow morning, I will knock you to the ground again on the training field.
"And this time,you will need more strength to stand back up."
Eray headed for the door.
Just as he was about to leave, Aeliana's voice stopped him.
"And Eray…"
He looked back over his shoulder.
She was not looking at him.
But her reflection in the glass was smiling.
That arrogant, sharp, yet strangely inviting smile.
"Don't cut your hair," she said."It suits you."
When Eray left the library, his heart was still pounding.
He should have hated her.He should have hated the woman who humiliated himand treated him like property.
But as he walked down the cold stone corridor,he touched his neck where Aeliana had placed her fingers.
The cool burning sensation was still there.
And to his horror, Eray realized something.
He was looking forward to tomorrow's beating.
Just so those eyes would look at him.Only him.
This was not training.
This was addiction.
And Eray had begun to drink the poison willingly.