Training began the next morning.
Not in a gym. Not with weapons lined up on the walls like in the movies. It started in the quietest room of the mansion, one Seren had passed a hundred times without ever entering.
The strategy room.
Maps covered every surface. Not just city maps, but people maps. Names, photos, connections, timelines. Lines drawn between faces like invisible strings pulling everyone together.
Seren stood at the doorway, unsure for the first time in days.
"This is where mistakes are born," Alaric said behind her. "And where they are fixed."
She stepped inside.
"Sit," he ordered.
She did.
Alaric didn't raise his voice. He never did. That was part of what made him dangerous.
"The Circle already knows you're involved," he said. "So pretending you're innocent is useless. From now on, you learn how to survive without hiding."
Seren nodded. "What's the first rule?"
Alaric didn't answer right away. He walked to the wall and tapped a photo pinned at the center.
Mara.
"The first rule," he said, "is that no one is exactly what they show you."
---
The lesson wasn't about fighting. It was about watching.
Alaric played footage from the gala. Different angles. Different rooms. He paused the video again and again.
"What do you see?" he asked.
Seren leaned forward. "People pretending to enjoy themselves."
He nodded slightly. "Look again."
She focused harder. "That man keeps checking the exits. That woman never touches her drink. And that couple… they don't know each other well enough to stand that close."
"Good," Alaric said. "Most people watch faces. Professionals watch patterns."
He turned off the screen. "Violence is the last step. If you reach it, you already failed somewhere earlier."
Seren absorbed that in silence.
---
Later that day, Seren made her first mistake.
She trusted the wrong person.
It happened during lunch. One of the house staff, a woman named Elin, brought her tea. Seren had seen her dozens of times. Quiet. Polite. Invisible.
"Did you sleep?" Elin asked softly.
"Not really," Seren replied without thinking.
The tea tasted strange. Bitter. Not poison. Something else.
Seren's instincts flared too late.
Her vision blurred slightly. Not enough to knock her out. Enough to slow her.
She stood up fast, her chair scraping loudly.
Alaric was there almost instantly.
Elin froze.
"Explain," Alaric said calmly.
Elin's hands shook. "It wasn't meant to hurt her. Just make her easier to move."
"To where?" Seren demanded.
Elin broke. "The Circle said they just wanted to talk. They promised no harm."
Alaric didn't raise his voice. "You broke three rules," he said. "You spoke to them. You believed them. And you touched something that belongs to me."
Guards took Elin away.
Seren felt sick. Not from the drug, but from herself.
"I wasn't careful," she said quietly.
Alaric studied her. "Good. You noticed."
"I almost got taken."
"Yes."
"You didn't stop it before it happened."
"No."
Seren looked at him sharply. "Why?"
"Because lessons that don't hurt are forgotten," he said.
The words were cold. Honest. Necessary.
---
That night, Seren sat alone again, replaying the moment. The tea. The smile. Her own careless trust.
Rowan had warned her.
Be careful who you trust.
She picked up her phone.
Unknown Number: Your house is leaking.
Seren stared at the screen.
Seren: I already know.
Unknown Number: Then you're learning faster than expected.
Seren typed slowly.
Seren: You won't get another chance.
A pause.
Unknown Number: We'll see.
She blocked the number.
Not out of fear.
Out of decision.
---
The next lesson was harder.
Alaric took her off the property.
No guards. No convoy. Just a single car and silence.
"Where are we going?" Seren asked.
"Somewhere uncomfortable," he replied.
They stopped in a poor district on the edge of the city. Broken buildings. Loud streets. People who didn't smile for strangers.
"This is where money loses its power," Alaric said. "And information becomes currency."
He left her there.
With a phone. A small amount of cash. And one instruction.
"Get back before midnight."
Seren watched the car disappear.
Her heart pounded.
This wasn't strategy. This was survival.
She made mistakes. Trusted the wrong directions. Paid too much. Asked the wrong questions.
She learned fast.
By the time she made it back to the mansion, her feet hurt, her dress was dirty, and her hands were shaking.
Alaric was waiting.
"You were followed," he said.
"I know," Seren replied.
"How did you lose them?"
"I didn't," she said honestly. "I let them think they lost me."
A pause.
Then Alaric smiled. Just slightly.
---
That night, Seren realized something important.
The Circle wasn't just trying to destroy Alaric.
They were trying to remake her.
Into a weapon. Or a warning.
She stood at her window again, city lights blinking below.
She was no longer just reacting.
She was learning.
And learning, she understood now, was the most dangerous phase of all.
Because once you see the rules clearly, you can break them on purpose.