I wasn't supposed to be here.
That thought echoed in my head for the hundredth time as I stood at the towering iron gates of Westbridge Royal Academy, clutching the strap of my worn backpack like it might disappear if I loosened my grip.
Luxury cars rolled past me one after another—sleek, shiny, expensive enough to probably buy my entire street back home. Students stepped out in designer shoes, tailored uniforms, and the kind of confidence you only get when you've never had to check the price tag on anything.
Then there was me.
Secondhand blazer. Scuffed shoes. Scholarship badge stitched onto my pocket like a quiet reminder: You're only here because they allowed it.
"Move, please."
I quickly stepped aside as another car glided through the gates. The guard barely glanced at me, but he scanned the golden crests on the car doors like they actually mattered more than people.
I took a slow breath and walked forward, handing him my ID with slightly shaking fingers.
"Scholarship student?" he asked, not unkindly, but not impressed either.
"Yes, sir."
A beep. The gates opened.
Just like that, I stepped into a world I had only ever seen on screens.
Westbridge Royal Academy didn't look like a school. It looked like a palace pretending to be one. Marble walkways. Crystal-clear fountains. Buildings that looked older than my entire family tree.
I tried not to stare, but it was impossible.
Students gathered in little groups, laughing loudly, already looking like lifelong friends. I walked past them quietly, feeling invisible and too visible at the same time.
"Hey, watch it!"
I bumped into someone and almost fell, but a hand grabbed my arm, steadying me.
"Sorry!" I blurted, looking up.
The girl in front of me looked perfectly put together—long glossy hair, flawless makeup, a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
She glanced at my badge. Scholarship.
Her grip loosened instantly.
"Be careful," she said, her voice cooling by several degrees before she walked off with her friends, already whispering.
I swallowed and kept moving.
Three years, I reminded myself.
Three years of keeping my head down.
Three years of grades, work, and silence.
Then I'd be gone.
That was the plan.
It started falling apart before lunch.
I found the library during orientation break, hiding from the noise and the stares. It was huge, quiet, and smelled like polished wood and old books. My kind of place.
I slipped into a seat by the tall windows and opened my notebook, pretending to read while my heart slowly stopped racing.
Peace. Finally.
"You're in my seat."
The voice was calm. Deep. Close.
I looked up—and forgot how to breathe.
The boy standing beside the table didn't just look rich. He looked… unreal. Dark hair falling slightly over sharp eyes, sleeves rolled up like the uniform had personally offended him. There was something effortlessly powerful about the way he stood, like the room adjusted itself around him.
"I—I'm sorry," I stammered, quickly gathering my things. "I didn't know."
Most people would've just walked away.
He didn't.
Instead, he studied me, his gaze flicking briefly to my scholarship badge, then back to my face. I braced myself for the look I'd seen all morning.
Pity.
Judgment.
Dismissal.
None of it came.
"You can stay," he said.
I blinked. "What?"
He pulled out the chair across from me and sat down. "I said you can stay. I don't actually own it."
"Oh." I sat back slowly, confused. "Then why did you say it like that?"
One corner of his mouth lifted. "Because people usually move."
I almost laughed before I could stop myself. "Well, I'm not people. I'm tired."
That earned me a quiet huff of amusement.
We sat in silence for a moment, the comfortable kind. I tried to focus on my book, but I could feel his presence like static in the air.
"You're new," he said after a while.
"Is it that obvious?"
"You're not pretending not to be impressed."
I glanced around the library's gold-trimmed shelves. "Should I pretend to be bored by all this?"
"Most people here do."
"Well, most people here probably grew up with chandeliers."
He looked at me again, this time with real interest. "Where did you grow up?"
"Somewhere without chandeliers," I said, then winced. "Sorry. That sounded rude."
"It sounded honest."
Before I could reply, the library doors suddenly opened and two girls rushed in, whispering urgently.
"He's here already?" one of them hissed.
"I told you he likes this place."
They stopped when they saw us.
Or rather, when they saw him.
Their posture changed instantly—shoulders straight, smiles perfect.
"Your High—" one started, then caught herself. "Adrian."
My brain snagged on that word.
High.
I looked at him slowly. "Your… what?"
He didn't look at me. He looked tired.
"Don't," he muttered to the girls.
Too late.
Because my heart had already dropped straight into my stomach.
I knew that face. Everyone did.
I had seen it on news articles, billboards during national holidays, and once on a giant screen in a store window.
Prince Adrian Cole.
Heir to the throne.
Future king.
And I had just told him I was tired and made chandelier jokes.
I shot to my feet so fast my chair scraped loudly against the floor. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know, I wouldn't have sat here if I—"
"If you knew, you would've what?" he asked quietly.
"I… I don't know. Bowed? Left? Said something less stupid?"
Something flickered in his eyes. Not anger. Something sadder.
"Exactly," he said.
The girls were staring at me like I'd committed a crime.
"I should go," I mumbled, stuffing my notebook into my bag.
"Lara."
I froze.
"I never told you my name," I said slowly.
"You wrote it on your notebook," he replied.
Right. Of course he noticed that.
I turned back.
"Yes… Your Highness?"
His jaw tightened slightly at the title. "It's Adrian."
"I don't think I'm allowed to call you that."
A pause.
"Then don't call me anything," he said. "Just… talk to me like you did five minutes ago."
Like he was normal.
Like he wasn't going to rule a country one day.
Like my life wouldn't be turned upside down just by sitting at the same table as him.
That was the moment I should've walked away.
Instead, I sat back down.
And without realizing it…
I stepped straight into a story that would change my life forever