The vault was hidden beneath the oldest wing of Crestwood, behind a false wall in the Headmaster's private wine cellar. Jaxon led them through the dark, silent corridor, every footstep echoing off stone like a warning.
"I broke in here the night I disappeared," he whispered. "What I found… was why I couldn't come back."
Seraphina's hand brushed Levi's as they followed. Neither of them said a word. Too much had already been said. Too much was still hanging unsaid.
Inside, the vault was lined with steel cabinets. Surveillance tapes. Psychological profiles. Unredacted documents stamped with a chilling insignia:
"The Garden Project – Phase IV: Controlled Evolution through Environmental Manipulation."
Her name was everywhere. Subject V. Princess Profile. Emotional Conditioning Notes.
But it wasn't just her.
Mara. Levi. Dozens of students.
Crestwood hadn't nurtured them. It had experimented on them. Trained them like animals in a luxury cage.
Seraphina's throat closed.
"This is what they used to keep me compliant?" she asked, voice jagged.
Levi stepped forward, staring at a screen replaying classroom footage of Seraphina at fifteen smiling, flawless, totally unaware.
"They didn't need chains," he said quietly. "Just your need to be loved."
That hit like a punch.
Jaxon yanked open one last drawer. "Here."
It was a sealed case. Inside: a black drive. "This has everything. Names. Donors. The people who made you into a product."
A metallic click echoed behind them.
Seraphina spun around
Headmaster Rhine stood at the vault door. A gun in his hand.
"I warned them you were too curious," he said softly. "But they insisted on letting the princess play queen."
His gaze flicked to Jaxon. "You should've stayed dead."
Then, to Levi: "And you... You were always a disappointment."
The gun raised.
Then a shot rang out.
But not from Rhine.
Levi fired first.
The headmaster collapsed, blood soaking into the centuries-old stone.
Everything froze.
Seraphina couldn't breathe.
And Levi his hands shaking now lowered the gun.
"I told you I'd protect you," he said. "No matter what it costs."