(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.

I watched Evelina run laps around the yard, her form improving with every circuit. She really was a genius; in just a short time, she had completely changed the way she moved.


I don't think it'll even take another hour for her to reach perfection.


Even I'm flabbergasted. Was it because she was using me as a reference, or was she just that good at understanding her own body?


But there's something else that's been creeping me out ever since I arrived here.


I couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching me.


I snapped my gaze downward and saw a demonic jaw open beneath me, a rotten hand reaching out to grab my leg.


I focused my power into the tips of my shoes and pressed down on the portal, unleashing a powerful torrent that forced it shut.


Evelina asked as she passed me on her thirteenth lap.


Chapter 171 - Minor Complications...?