Chapter 41 — Engagement and Envy

The academy had never been this loud.

Posters of the Crown Prince's decree were pinned across the marble halls. Nobles gossiped in libraries. Even professors whispered during lectures.

Lady Evelyne Ardent, Crown Princess candidate.

The girl they had mocked. The villainess once sentenced to die.

Now… at the center of everything.

—

Elisse sat beside Evelyne in the garden, nervously twisting her skirt.

"So… are you really going to accept the engagement?"

Evelyne took a sip of tea. "Do I have a choice?"

"You always have a choice."

Evelyne glanced down at her hand. There was no ring—yet. But the whole empire acted as if it were already there.

"I don't want power," Evelyne whispered. "I want peace."

"You won't get either if you marry him."

Silence.

Then—footsteps.

"Lady Evelyne."

She looked up. It was Caleb Thorne, the cold-eyed duelist from the military class. He was usually distant. Intimidating.

But right now, he looked... worried?

"You're not really going to marry him, are you?"

Evelyne blinked. "It's none of your concern."

His jaw clenched. "It is. To people who care."

Elisse's eyes widened.

So did Evelyne's heart—but she crushed the feeling.

"I can handle myself."

"I know," Caleb said quietly. "But I still hate watching him take what he doesn't deserve."

He walked away.

Evelyne stared after him.

Was that… jealousy?

Before she could process it, another voice called from the corridor.

"Evelyne!"

It was Zayne Eclis, the cheerful commoner boy who always carried sweets.

"I baked those sugar tarts you liked!"

He paused, then frowned.

"…Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?"

Because she had.

The ghost of feelings she didn't want.

The ghost of the past she was trying to rewrite.

And maybe…

The ghost of a future that refused to let her go.

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