Elysian Prep had always thrived on whispers. But now, the air was thick with them—richer than perfume, sharper than glass.
The fundraiser was being called a triumph, the school papers already hailing it as the social event of the year. Yet behind the glossy photographs and staged smiles lingered the scandal no one could ignore: the kidnapping of Seraphina Valmont.
The story had spread like wildfire. Some claimed she had been taken for ransom. Others swore it was dynasty politics turned bloody. No one knew the truth. And no one dared to ask too loudly.
But when the doors of Elysian Prep opened on Monday morning, all speculation fell silent.
Seraphina Valmont entered first—immaculate in a slate-gray uniform pressed to perfection, her braid sharp as a crown, her gaze cold as cut diamonds. Beside her walked Sebastian Blackwell, his own mask flawless, his cufflinks glinting wolf-silver beneath the sterile school lights.
They did not touch. They did not need to.
The brush of his shoulder near hers, the faint ghost of space between their hands, was louder than a confession.
The school understood.
The queen and the black prince were no longer rivals, no longer scandal in secret. They were something far more dangerous. Together.
Selene Blackwell leaned against her locker, arms folded. Her eyes followed them—half contempt, half something quieter. She did not strike. Not today.
The hierarchy shifted.
The order bent.
The new reign began.
The school bowed, whispered, speculated.
But in her locker, beneath the glitter of notes and schedules, lay an envelope of thick vellum.
No return mark. No signature. Just a seal pressed deep into crimson wax: a black sun, eclipsed in shadow.
Sera's breath caught. The seal was unfamiliar, yet it radiated an authority older than any dynasty crest she knew.
Inside, a single line in elegant ink:
"The Original Sin runs deeper than Hector Blackwell. Look closer."
Seraphina's pulse quickened. Her mask did not crack. She folded the note back into its envelope, slid it into her bag, and closed the locker with diamond calm.
The world thought the war was over.
But the board had only just been set.