The pact glowed on their palms like a brand — a silent reminder that their fates were tied now.
Training began before sunrise.
The academy's inner sanctum — a forbidden wing built beneath the library — echoed with the crackle of ancient magic. Liora lit the torches with a snap of her fingers, their blue flames casting eerie shadows along the stone walls.
"Lesson one," she said firmly. "Your magic doesn't respond to commands — it responds to emotion. To control the power… you must control your heart."
Elara swallowed.That was the problem.
Lucian stayed close beside her, but this time he didn't touch her — afraid of triggering a surge. Damien remained leaning against a pillar, pretending to be bored but watching her with razor-sharp attention.
"Show us the locket," Liora said.
Elara reached into her cloak — the heart-shaped locket glowed before she even touched it. The air around it shimmered like heat, as if the object itself was alive.
Damien stepped forward immediately. "The moment she touches it… the power will increase tenfold."
Lucian clenched his fists. "Then we stop her if it gets dangerous."
"You won't be able to," Damien replied coolly.
That tension again.
Elara took a deep breath — then touched the locket.
A shockwave burst from her hand.
The torches trembled. The stone floor cracked. Books flew off shelves. She staggered, clutching her heart as light spiraled from her chest.
"It's too strong—" Elara gasped.
Damien moved first — pressing his hand against the locket, forcing his own magic into it like a lock. The glow dimmed.
The power settled.
But something else happened.
The moment Damien touched the locket, a shadowy illusion flickered in the air — a memory not shown before.
A dark throne room.A girl in a white dress falling to her knees.A blade through her heart.A voice whispering:
"If the Princess of Hearts lives again… end her before she remembers."
Elara's breath left her body.
"That was… me," she whispered.
Lucian froze. Damien's face darkened.
Liora looked around, confused. "I saw nothing. What did you two see?"
Elara's voice shook as she answered, "The night I died in my past life."
Silence. Lucian stepped closer, eyes burning with horror.
"Elara… someone murdered you."
But Damien looked different — grim, unsettled.
His voice, low:"It wasn't just murder. It was execution."
The words struck like lightning.
"Executed?" Elara choked. "For what?"
Damien hesitated. Then:
"For loving the wrong person."
The room went cold.
Lucian grabbed Damien by the collar instantly. "What do you know? WHO was it?!"
Damien didn't back down. "I saw more than either of you. And I know one thing — the person who killed her… is still alive."
Elara trembled so hard her knees buckled, and Lucian caught her. Damien looked away — his jaw tight.
"But that's not the worst part," Damien added bitterly.
He turned to Elara — not mocking this time, not smirking.
"Before you died… you begged someone to remember you."His voice dropped."And they didn't."
Elara felt the world collapse.
Was Lucian the one who had forgotten?
Was Damien the one who had betrayed her?
Or was there someone else — someone worse — someone watching from the shadows even now?
Before she could speak, a violent burst of magic exploded from the ceiling — shattering stone, sending shockwaves through the chamber.
A voice echoed from the shadows — cold, mocking, familiar:
"The Princess wakes… and the world trembles again."
Dust cleared — revealing a hooded figure floating above them, eyes like molten silver.
Elara's heart froze.
She didn't know the face.
But her soul remembered.
Her killer.
🔥 Last scene — the attack
Lucian summoned his sword. Damien stepped in front of Elara. Liora began chanting a protection spell.
The hooded figure smiled.
"You formed a pact. How touching. But love cannot rewrite destiny."
He raised his hand — and the locket around Elara's neck ignited with blinding light.
"Elara!" Lucian shouted.
She screamed — power erupting uncontrollably.
Books disintegrated. Pillars collapsed. The entire sanctum began to crumble.
The last thing Elara saw before darkness swallowed her:
Lucian reaching for her.Damien shouting her name.Liora crying out in terror.
And the hooded figure whispering:
"You were never meant to love — only to die."
Everything went black.