The name didn't belong to me.
It sat in my chest like a borrowed coat —too heavy in the wrong places,too loose where it mattered.No matter how many times I repeated it in my mind,it refused to settle.
Ren Aurelian.
Male.
Seventeen.
Prince.
The carriage slowed as iron gates emerged from the morning fog, dark and unwelcoming. The Royal Millitary Academy rose beyond them—stone walls sharp angles,nothing ornamental. This place wasn't built to inspire loyalty or pride.
It was built to strip people down to what they were worth.
I straightened my posture before the carriage stopped. Shoulders relaxed, chin level ,expression neutral. Months of training narrowed into this single moment—how to walk,how to breathe how to exist in a body the world would read as male.
Princess Lysenne Aurelian had been raised in silks and expectations.
Ren had been trained to dissappear
The door opened.
Prince Ren, the driver, said, already turning away.
Good.
I stepped down,boots hitting stone with measured confidence. Around me,other students arrived—laughing too loudly, competing, before the competition had even begun. Sons of nobles, heirs with polished arrogance,Princes who had never doubted their place in the world .
I blended in by doing nothing at all.
The bell rang.
Low. Heavy. Final .
The gates opened, and we moved inside.
The courtyard was vast and bare,its stone worth smooth by generations of discipline. Instructors lined the edges, hands clasped behind their backs,eyes sharp and assessing.They weren't here to welcome us.
They were here to decide who would break.
We were ordered into formation.I chose the middle without hesitation—not the front, not the back.The safest place to exist was always where attention passed.
That was when the atmosphere shifted.
Not louder.
Quieter.
Four figures cross the courtyard and the space around them seemed to bend instinctively. Conversations faded. Postures straightened.
I recognised them immediately.
Prince Caelan,sharp and decisive, his presence commanding without effort.
Prince Idris, composed to the point of coldness, eyes revealing nothing.
Prince Sorren, tension coiled beneath his calm, like a blade waiting to be drawn.
And Elion.
He was the most unsettling of all.
Not because he looked dangerous—he didn't. His expression was neutral, almost indifferent. But his gaze moved carefully, deliberately, as though he were already measuring everyone around him.
When his eyes passed over me, my pulse skipped once.
I looked away.
Rule one: never invite attention.
The bell rang again.
An instructor stepped forward. "Welcome to the Royal Military Academy," she said. "From this moment on, titles mean nothing. Bloodlines mean nothing. Only performance does."
Her gaze swept across us slowly.
"You will be tested. You will be observed. Some of you will fail."
Weapons were distributed without ceremony.
I accepted my blade, fingers closing around familiar weight. Balanced. Clean. Honest.
Pairs were called.
"Ren Aurelian."
I stepped forward.
"Prince Sorren."
A ripple of interest moved through the watching crowd.
Sorren studied me openly now. Not hostile. Curious. We took our positions.
The signal sounded.
He attacked immediately.
Steel clashed, the sound sharp in the open air. Sorren was skilled—fast, controlled, confident in his strength. I blocked on instinct, then deliberately slowed myself.
Too much skill draws attention.
I yielded ground carefully, movements efficient but restrained. Enough to survive. Not enough to impress.
Sorren adjusted, pressing harder. I parried again—too clean.
I corrected instantly, letting my footing slip just enough.
His blade skimmed my sleeve.
A murmur rose from the instructors.
The signal ended the match.
Sorren frowned, unsatisfied. "You held back."
I shrugged, forcing a lazy edge into my voice. "Didn't think it mattered."
His gaze lingered, sharp with suspicion, before he stepped away.
The assessments continued—endurance drills, reaction tests, formations. I stayed consistent. Competent. Forgettable.
Invisible.
Yet when the final bell rang, I felt it.
Someone watching.
I turned.
Elion stood apart from the others, expression unreadable. He wasn't staring—he was observing.
When our eyes met, he didn't look away.
Something tight coiled in my chest—not fear, not panic.
Recognition.
I broke eye contact first.
By the time we were dismissed to our assigned quarters, whispers followed me down the corridor. Not loud. Not clear.
But present.
I paused outside my room and exhaled slowly.
The name still didn't fit.
But it would have to.
Because in a place designed to expose weakness, someone had already begun to question the shape of mine