The chamber cleared slowly, whispers trailing behind each member as they exited. Only Alexander and Evelyn remained behind with the Headmaster, the echo of ancient words still hanging in the air.
"I should have told you sooner," the Headmaster murmured, his voice tired. "But you were a child. Your mother made me promise to keep you safe, not make you a symbol."
Evelyn's hands were still wrapped around the folded parchment, the inked sigil burning into her mind.
"And now?" she asked. "Now you want me to be that symbol?"
"No." Alexander's voice cut through. "But they'll force it on you if you don't choose it first."
Evelyn looked at him.
This wasn't the man who teased her with biting remarks or guarded silence. This was the protector. The one who, despite everything, had never left her side.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.
He didn't look away. "Because if I told you who you were too soon, I would've stolen your chance to decide who you want to be."
The words hung between them, heavy and real.
It wasn't a declaration of love, but it was something dangerously close.
"I don't want a crown," she said.
"You won't get one," the Headmaster replied. "Just responsibility, and power no one will let you forget."
Evelyn stepped away from the table, toward the ancient tapestry hanging along the stone wall. Her fingers brushed the edge of it—an old depiction of the boundary, and the sealed gate said to lead to another realm.
Her mother had always told her bedtime stories about those gates.
She never believed they were real.
"I want to train," she said. "Not to defend myself—but to break the cycle. I don't want to just survive this. I want to win."
Alexander's breath caught softly. "Then we start now."
Before she could reply, the chamber doors creaked open.
Caelan.
He stepped inside with his usual calm confidence, but something in his expression had shifted. "I heard there was a closed-door meeting," he said,his eyes flicking briefly to the Headmaster, then resting on Evelyn."I didn't know we were keeping secrets."
She blinked. "Caelan—"
"I'm not here to interrupt," he said with a half-smile. "Just to remind you… you don't have to walk this alone."
Alexander's gaze darkened.
Alexander moved subtly, not aggressively—but protectively. The kind of quiet movement that placed him between Evelyn and anything uncertain.
Evelyn stepped forward before either could speak. "It's alright. He deserves to know."
Caelan looked between them both, reading the tension like an open book. "Looks like things are changing fast around here."
"They are," Evelyn said. "But I'm not running."
His gaze softened. "I never thought you would."
The Headmaster gave a resigned nod. "I'll leave you three to speak. But time is short. Choose wisely, Evelyn."
He left with the heavy shuffle of a man who'd carried too many secrets. The doors shut behind him with a hollow thud.
Caelan raised an eyebrow. "Should I be concerned?"
Evelyn gave him a small, tired smile. "Only if you plan on standing in my way."
"Never," he said immediately, but his gaze narrowed on Alexander. "Though I get the sense he might."
Alexander's expression didn't shift. "She doesn't need protection from you."
"But she has yours?" Caelan's tone wasn't mocking. It was layered. Knowing. Something unspoken passed between the two men.
Evelyn stepped between them. "Enough. This isn't about either of you. Not right now."
Caelan studied her then, truly looking at her—not as the girl he'd met at school, but as something sharper, heavier, more dangerous. "They're going to come for you now," he said. "You made a choice. Or maybe… you finally showed them who you are."
"I don't regret it," she said simply.
He gave her a look—gentle, admiring, maybe even wistful. "Then I'll stand with you, Evelyn. No matter what."
Alexander's jaw clenched slightly, but he said nothing.
Evelyn looked between them and felt the weight settle differently on her shoulders. Not just power or destiny or bloodlines—but hearts. Two men. Two loyalties.
One flame.
And from the shadows behind her, that ancient tapestry stirred—not from wind, but from something deeper.
Change was coming.
And Evelyn was no longer afraid of it.Except now, it carried a new weight.
A promise.
A threat.
And a question neither of them dared answer yet.
As he left, the silence between her and Alexander returned.
Evelyn watched Caelan's retreating figure, the door closing softly behind him. The weight of his words lingered, but it was Alexander's presence that grounded her.
"He's right about one thing," she said, turning to face Alexander. "I can't walk this path alone."
Alexander stepped closer, his gaze intense. "You won't have to. I'm with you, every step of the way."
She nodded, drawing strength from his words. "Then let's begin."