The antique wall clock in the corner of the room chimed twelve times, signaling the turn of the day.
Outside the window of this dormitory room, the full moon hung high in the night sky of the Royal Celestia Academy. Its silvery light streamed through the cracks in the curtains, illuminating my messy room—a sight most unbecoming of a Duke's daughter.
Goose down pillows were scattered on the floor. The silk blanket was crumpled and misshapen.
And in the midst of the chaos, I, Seraphina Vox Winters, was rolling around on the bed.
"Ugh! Annoying! Annoying! Annoying!"
I buried my face in the pillow, screaming as loud as I could to muffle my voice. My feet kicked the air in frustration.
Several days had passed since the fight in front of the administration building.
Everyone was talking about it. How Leon Gray fought with—Principal Silene Ju Flora. People praised his courage, admired his strength. But that wasn't what was bothering me.
What bothered me was the look in that woman's eyes.
I saw it from a distance that time. The way Rector Silene looked at Leon, it wasn't the look of an educator toward a student. It was the gaze of a predator who had found an interesting prey. And the way Leon smiled at her, it was a thin, confident smile that he rarely showed me.
Not to mention the rumors that were circulating.
"They say Leon is Hilda's student."
"No wonder he's close to the principal, his taste in women is apparently the 'older sister' type."
I stopped rolling around and lay on my back, staring at the ceiling. My breathing was slightly labored. The strap of my thin nightgown slipped off my left shoulder, exposing my skin to the cold night air.
My eyes glanced at the dark corner of the room.
There, sitting on a wooden chair with perfect posture, was my personal maid, Nia. She was embroidering a handkerchief with frightening calm.
"Nia," I called out hoarsely.
"Yes, Lady?" she replied without looking up from her embroidery.
"Does Father know about a woman named Hilda?"
Nia stopped embroidering for a moment. Her silver needle glinted in the moonlight. "The Duke knows everything, Lady. Hilda is a former mercenary commander who is quite famous in the underworld. She is brutal, efficient, and... very mature."
That last word struck me. Very mature.
I snorted harshly, hugging my pillow tightly again.
"So that's his type? An older woman?" I muttered to myself.
I imagined Rector Silene. She was twenty-seven years old. Her body was perfectly mature, with a sexy aura of authority. Her clothes were revealing in places... Ugh! What a shameless woman!
Then I looked down at my own body.
I wasn't bad. Not at all. My skin was as smooth as porcelain, my hair was shiny silver, and my face was recognized as the most beautiful in the kingdom of Nus. But I was still sixteen. In Leon's eyes, did I just look like a spoiled little sister?
"How rude," I hissed. "After he danced with me, after he held my waist on the balcony, after I... I leaned on him when I was drunk..."
My face flushed fiercely as I remembered what happened on the balcony.
"Lady, if you keep frowning like that, you'll get wrinkles before you graduate," Nia commented flatly.
"Shut up, Nia."
I sat up, hugging my knees. "The problem isn't just those old women, Nia. There's one more."
"Lady Lyra Belmont?" guessed Nia.
I threw a small pillow at her. Nia caught it with one hand without looking.
"Exactly! That girl!" I exclaimed passionately. "Why is she so close to Leon? They laugh together. They have lunch together. Leon never even laughed with me after that!"
"Maybe because they're in the same class, Lady," Nia replied logically. "And Lady Lyra has a 'normal' personality. Maybe that's something Mr. Leon misses?"
"You mean I'm not normal?!" I retorted.
"Lady is special. It's different."
I snorted. A dark possessiveness began to creep into my heart. I didn't like seeing Leon smile at other people. It should only be me. I should be the only center of his world.
"Should I change majors?" I asked suddenly.
"You can't, Lady. Mr. Duke will be furious if you waste your talent."
"Then..."
I jumped out of bed. My bare feet touched the thick fur carpet. I paced back and forth in front of Nia with quick steps.
I stopped right in front of Nia.
"Hey, Nia."
"I have a bad feeling about this," Nia muttered.
"In the Winters family library. There's a recipe book about soul-capturing potions, right?"
Nia sighed deeply. She put her embroidery on the table.
"Love Potion, Lady?"
"Not a love potion! That's too vulgar!" I quickly protested, my face reddening. "Just call it a potion that can make Leon only look at me. Only think about me. And forget all the other women on this earth."
I imagined it. Leon drinking the tea I made. Then his eyes would mist over, and he would swear eternal loyalty.
"I can mix it in the lab tomorrow," I said enthusiastically.
"I don't think that's necessary, Lady," Nia interrupted firmly but respectfully.
"Why not? It's the most efficient solution!"
"First," Nia raised one finger. "Using love potions on fellow students is a violation of the academy's code of ethics. You could be expelled."
"I'm sure my father can take care of all that," I replied casually.
"Second," Nia raised a second finger, her gaze becoming more serious. "Do you think Mr. Leon is an ordinary student?"
I was silent for a moment. "What do you mean?"
"We know that Mr. Duke secretly asked someone named Hilda for help in finding security. I'm sure Leon is actually someone Mr. Duke secretly hired. Even though Mr. Duke didn't tell Lady," Nia replied with a serious face.
"Is that true?"
"I've been observing Mr. Leon since he arrived," Nia explained slowly. "The way he walks without making a sound, his reflexes when fighting Principal Silene, and his unnatural calmness. He's clearly not an ordinary person from the border. He's hiding his identity."
Nia looked straight at me.
"Mr. Duke is a paranoid person, Lady. He wouldn't carelessly entrust his daughter's life to a stranger unless that person had above-average abilities. I suspect that Mr. Leon has undergone 'special' training that we don't know about."
Nia narrowed her eyes slightly, as if piecing together a puzzle in her head.
"A man with sharp instincts like him. I'm sure he probably has resistance to poisons or drugs. He'll smell your potion. And if he finds out, the trust that has been built will be destroyed in an instant."
Nia's words sent a chill down my spine. Leon was indeed mysterious. That was what made him attractive, but also frightening.
"And the third," Nia continued, her voice softening. "Does Lady really want an artificial heart?"
The question stunned me.
"An artificial heart?"
"If Mr. Leon loves you because of the potion, it's just magic. Fake. An illusion," Nia said softly. "I'm not sure Lady would be satisfied with fake love. You want him to kneel because he wants to, not because he has to, right?"
Nia's words struck me right in the heart.
She was right. Damn it, my maid was always right.
I didn't want a Leon who was like a puppet. I wanted a Leon who was sarcastic, who dared to argue with me, who protected me behind his back.
I sighed deeply, my shoulders slumping limply.
"You're annoying, Nia. You ruined my plan."
"That's my job, Lady. Keeping you sane."
I walked back to the bed and threw myself on it, pulling the blanket up to cover half my face.
"But what if he really falls in love with someone else?" I whispered.
Nia stood up, walked over to the bed, and turned off the light.
"Mr. Leon has seen you drunk, crying, and angry," Nia said in the darkness. "And until this very moment, I'm sure he hasn't asked Mr. Duke to cancel the contract. He's still here. I'm sure that if the contract is canceled, he'll disappear from the academy immediately."
My heart fluttered at those words. A small, warm hope flickered in my chest.
"You think so?"
"Yes. Now go to sleep, Lady."
Nia disappeared into the shadows.
Now I was alone in the silence. I closed my eyes, imagining Leon's face.
"Watch out, Leon Gray," I muttered before consciousness began to leave me. "You can't run away. You're mine."
And without realizing it, I finally fell asleep.
*****
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