(A/N: Their relationship dynamic progresses and doesn't stay exactly like it is in the start)

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 completely healed the Owl, letting go of his head as I took position on the edge of the roof, making sure nothing else was watching.


Evelina, meanwhile, talked to him, who was still lying on the floor, surprised at the sheer strength with which he was slammed down.


But he seemed to get over it the moment he had heard Evelina's voice, nodding often as she explained what she wanted for the villain to do.


'This feels wrong on so many levels...'


I laughed, not because it was morally wrong... no, I'm already way past something like that.


But, because bullying an important villain from a novel's arc and letting him do our bidding was strange, especially since I already knew the outcome.


It was like playing a linear game, but in your second playthrough, a book was misplaced.


Evelina finished her explanation, and the Owl hurriedly scurried off to his feet as he immediately jumped into the dark alley.


Chapter 73 - An Owl and a Lion