Elara's POV
I don't know what you're talking about.
My voice comes out steadier than I feel. Caspian stands in the shadows of my room, and I'm trapped against my headboard with nowhere to run.
Don't lie to me. He steps closer, and moonlight illuminates his face. He doesn't look angry he looks curious, like I'm a puzzle he's trying to solve. You said those exact words. 'The villain who kills me in two weeks.' Explain.
My mind races. Think, Elara. Think!
I was startled, I say quickly. I bumped into you and panicked. I've heard the rumors about you being dangerous, and I just... blurted out nonsense. I'm sorry.
He studies me for a long moment. Too long. Then, surprisingly, he nods.
Stay away from me, Elara Ashwood, he says quietly. For your own safety.
He turns and leaves as silently as he came, closing the door behind him.
I sit in the darkness, shaking. That was too close. Way too close.
From now on, I'm keeping my mouth completely shut around him.
One Week Later
Seven days pass, and I don't see Caspian once. I start to relax. Maybe he believed my excuse. Maybe he's forgotten about me entirely.
I've fallen into a comfortable routine. Classes in the morning, lunch with Iris, studying in the afternoon, dinner, sleep. It's almost normal. Almost like I belong here.
During the week, I spot Prince Adrian visiting the Academy tall and handsome with golden hair, exactly like the book described. He smiles at students and talks about honor and duty. The perfect hero.
I also see Seraphina practicing in the courtyard, her light magic making her glow like an actual angel. Students gather to watch her, whispering about how she's destined to save the kingdom.
Everything is following the book perfectly. And that's good. That means I know what to expect.
But I have a problem that won't go away: I need to get home. Back to my real world, my real body, my real life.
There has to be a way. Magic exists here. Maybe there's a spell that can send me back.
That's why I'm currently sneaking through dark hallways toward the library's restricted section.
The Academy library is huge, with regular sections available to all students. But in the back, behind a locked door and magical barriers, is the restricted section filled with dangerous books about forbidden magic.
I wait until after dinner when most students are in their dorms. The librarian leaves at eight o'clock sharp. I watched her routine all week.
The locked door is easy I memorized the spell I saw a professor use. The magical barrier is harder, but Elara's body seems to have natural magic abilities that help me slip through.
Inside, the restricted section is creepy. Dim lights barely illuminate tall shelves packed with ancient books. The air feels heavy, like the magic itself is watching me.
I run my fingers along dusty spines, reading titles. Dark Summoning Rituals. Blood Magic: A Complete Guide. The Art of Soul Binding.
Nothing about traveling between worlds.
I move deeper into the stacks, searching. There has to be something. Anything.
Finally, on a high shelf in the very back, I spot it: Dimensional Magic and Crossings Between Realms.
Perfect.
I pull it down carefully and flip it open. The pages are old and yellowed, covered in tiny handwriting. I'm scanning a chapter about world barriers when I hear it.
A crash. Loud. From somewhere deeper in the restricted section.
I freeze, the book clutched to my chest. Someone else is here.
I should leave. Right now. Sneak back out before anyone catches me.
But what if someone's hurt? What if they need help?
Against my better judgment, I move toward the sound. The restricted section goes back farther than I thought, twisting through narrow aisles between towering shelves.
Another sound. Quieter this time. Like someone gasping for breath.
I turn a corner and stop dead.
A man lies collapsed on the floor between two shelves. Blood pools beneath him, dark and spreading. Black veins crawl up his neck from a wound in his side, pulsing like living things.
Poison.
Even in the dim light, I recognize the dark hair. The sharp features. The expensive jacket with the Noctis family crest embroidered on the shoulder.
Caspian Noctis is dying on the library floor.
My first instinct is to run. This is the villain. The man who's supposed to kill me in one week. Let him die and the problem solves itself.
But I can't move. Because his eyes flutter open, unfocused and desperate, and they find mine.
Help, he whispers, so quietly I barely hear it. Please.
The poison spreads faster, black veins reaching toward his heart. He's got minutes, maybe less.
This isn't in the book. This scene never happened. Caspian isn't supposed to get poisoned in the library. He's supposed to be fine until the festival when he goes crazy and kills everyone.
But the blood is real. The pain in his eyes is real.
I drop to my knees beside him, my hands hovering uselessly over his wound. What happened? Who did this?
Can't... trust healers... His hand catches my wrist with surprising strength for someone dying. Please. Don't... leave me.
My heart pounds. This is insane. I should run. Get help. Let the teachers handle this.
But those black veins are spreading so fast. He'll be dead before I reach the door.
I make a decision I'll probably regret.
I have basic healing magic, I say, pressing my hands over his wound. I'll try.
Magic flows from my palms Elara's magic, not mine. The wound starts closing, but the poison fights back, burning through my healing as fast as I can work.
It's not enough. I need something stronger.
I grab books from nearby shelves, scanning desperately for anything useful. There a purification spell. Advanced, way beyond my skill level, but it's his only chance.
I focus everything I have into the spell. Energy drains from me so fast the world tilts. But the black veins start to fade.
Stay with me, I whisper, even though I'm not sure why I care. Don't you dare die.
His eyes lock onto mine, and for a second, I see something that makes my breath catch. Not coldness. Not danger.
Fear. Vulnerability. Trust.
Then his eyes close and his body goes limp, and I don't know if I saved him or if I'm kneeling beside a corpse.