(A/N: Their relationship dynamic progresses and doesn't stay exactly like it is at the start (The one-sided love doesn't last long). Pacing is also relatively fast at the start, but slows down in the future in romance arcs.)

In his old life, he was an assassin, invisible, efficient, and utterly alone.
His only escape came from the pages of a fantasy novel, Crown of Thorns, and the character no one else seemed to understand: Lady Evelina D’Arclight, the proud and brilliant villainess fated to lose everything.

After his death, he wakes up inside that very story, not as a hero, but as Cael Arden, a student at Eryndor Royal Academy. The world is just as he remembers it, right down to the woman destined to fall.

But this time, he’s not a bystander.
With a lifetime of deadly skills and the knowledge of what’s to come, Cael sets out to rewrite the story itself, to protect Evelina, rise through the academy’s ruthless hierarchy, and change a fate written in stone.

As alliances form and secrets surface, the line between fiction and reality starts to blur.
And in a world built on power and prophecy, he’ll prove that even a villainess deserves her happy ending.

Six inquisitors leapt from the rooftop at once, falling in a tight ring around Kevin. Blades of light spun into existence midair, spears of condensed magic all angling toward him like he'd stepped into the middle of a firing squad.


He only really processed what was happening when their boots slammed into the ground, circling him.


The first strike came without warning. A blade flashed toward his neck—


The [Penumbral Serpent] moved before he did, lunging on its own. Its fangs caught the blade mid-swing, the impact ringing out like steel on steel. Violet energy crackled where they met, snarling and spitting in the air.


"—!" The inquisitor's eyes widened behind his mask. "It blocked—!?"


Chapter 245 - A Trap Within a Trap