The Crimson Sky Academy was a place of prestige, power, and poison-laced words.
Rumors were currency.
And this morning, the halls overflowed with them.
> "Did you hear? The empress candidate was nearly assassinated!"
"Again?"
"This time at a dinner with the Eastern envoy."
"They say she didn't even flinch—just stared the poison down."
Elisse Taren clutched her books tighter, walking through the corridor as voices swirled like wind around her.
She knew Evelyne wouldn't fall so easily.
But she also knew—being close to Evelyne meant danger.
And yet… she wasn't afraid of the danger.
She was afraid of being left behind.
---
Elisse's Perspective
Elisse sat beneath the magnolia tree in the academy garden, her sanctuary.
The memory of Evelyne saving her from bullies five years ago still clung to her like a promise.
Back then, Evelyne had been feared, hated—alone.
But she had extended her hand to a common girl and smiled.
Even now, that memory was enough to tighten her chest.
> "Why does it always have to be her?"
She looked up to see Zayne standing nearby, expression hard. He didn't look at her—just stared at the tree.
> "Why does she always have to be the one getting hurt?"
Elisse didn't reply.
They were all thinking the same thing.
They were all scared—for her.
---
The Princess Returns
News came swiftly: Evelyne had returned from House Vernalyn. Alive. Unshaken.
But changed.
She walked with new purpose. Spoke with colder precision. And her eyes—those imperial violet eyes—burned with something unreadable.
Power.
Resolve.
Pain.
And when she passed by Elisse in the palace garden that evening, she paused.
"Still waiting under that tree?"
Elisse stood quickly, flushed. "I… just—"
"I remember," Evelyne said softly. "This is where you cried."
"I'm not crying now."
"I know."
They stood in silence, a soft breeze between them.
"You should stay away from me," Evelyne finally said.
"No."
That one word—Elisse didn't whisper it.
She meant it.
---