The next morning, Elara found herself standing in the courtyard, her eyes drawn to Kael as he moved silently through the shadows. He was always there—always existing in the margins, doing the dirty work, bearing the weight of the academy's judgment without ever asking for anyone's sympathy.
But as Elara watched him, she realized something. She wasn't the only one who noticed.
In the far corner of the courtyard, leaning against a stone pillar, stood Zara, Elara's best friend. Zara had been at the academy longer than anyone could remember—sharp, perceptive, and not easily fooled by the facades everyone wore. Her hair, a tangled mass of dark curls, caught the sunlight as she glanced over at Kael with an expression Elara couldn't quite place.
Zara was one of the few who never hesitated to speak the truth, even when it wasn't comfortable. But today, something about the way she was watching Kael made Elara's chest tighten.
"Elara," Zara greeted her, her voice low. "We need to talk."
Elara followed her without asking, heart racing. They walked a little further from the others, to the quieter side of the academy grounds, where the noise of drills and chatter was muffled.
"Why are you doing this?" Zara asked, her eyes sharp but full of concern. "You know how dangerous it is to get close to Kael, right? Especially now."
Elara swallowed, unsure how to answer. "I don't know what you mean."
Zara sighed, leaning against the stone wall. "I've watched you these past few weeks, Elara. I've seen the way you look at him. And I've seen the way he's been looking at you. But you're not ready to carry the weight of that, not yet."
"I'm not afraid of him," Elara replied, her voice steadier than she felt.
"I know you're not afraid of him," Zara said quietly, "but you should be. He's not who they say he is. He's worse."
Elara froze. "What do you mean?"
Zara's expression darkened. "It's not about his powers, or how dangerous he can be. It's about what happened, Elara. What happened before the academy branded him the villain."
"Zara—"
"The truth is, Kael never asked to be what they made him. He didn't want to be a weapon. But they forced it on him. And now? Now they've made him the thing they need to justify their own stories. You know who writes history, Elara. They tell you what to believe."
Elara felt a chill crawl up her spine. "What are you saying?"
Zara hesitated, then spoke in a hushed tone. "Lucien Vale isn't the hero. He's the liar. He's the one who framed Kael. He's the one who forced the council to put him down."
Elara stared at her in disbelief. "Lucien?"
Zara nodded grimly. "Lucien was there, Elara. The day it happened. The day Kael became the villain. You think Kael's the one with blood on his hands? Lucien's just as guilty. He's been using Kael as his scapegoat ever since."
"Why would Lucien do that? Why would he…?"
Zara stepped closer, her voice a whisper. "Because Lucien has always been the golden child. The perfect hero. He needed a villain to make him look good. He needed someone to point to and say, 'This is what happens when you don't follow the rules. This is what happens when you're not like me.' And Kael? Kael was the perfect choice."
Elara felt her heart hammering in her chest. Everything she thought she knew—the things she'd been told, the stories she believed—were suddenly falling apart.
Zara looked away, her expression growing distant. "I didn't want you to get caught in the middle of this, Elara. I didn't want you to think you could change him, or save him. The academy will never forgive him for what happened. And worse, they'll never forgive you for choosing him over Lucien. No one will ever understand why you'd throw away a future with the hero just for a villain."
Elara stood there, her thoughts spinning. "But… what happened? What did Kael do?"
Zara closed her eyes for a moment, as if gathering strength. "He didn't kill anyone. Not the way they say he did. But he was involved in something that night. The night the academy and the council were attacked. Kael was supposed to stop it. He tried. But Lucien… Lucien wasn't supposed to survive. And he did. The council needed someone to blame. So they took Kael. He's been paying for it ever since."
Elara's mind raced. "That's why they call him the villain. Because Lucien survived?"
"Exactly." Zara's voice was thick with frustration. "Lucien played the part of the martyr, the hero who 'barely made it out.' And Kael was the villain they needed. They built him up so that no one would ever question Lucien's place at the top."
Elara shook her head, overwhelmed by the weight of it all. "But… why didn't Kael say anything?"
Zara's lips pressed into a thin line. "Because he can't. Because they've locked him in a cage of lies, and if he tells the truth, they'll destroy him. They'll tear him apart in front of everyone. And no one will believe him anyway. Not after all these years of painting him as the villain."
Elara felt something cold and raw settle deep inside her. The anger—at Lucien, at the academy, at herself—was almost too much to bear.
"I can't let this happen," Elara whispered. "I can't just stand by and watch him lose everything."
Zara's eyes softened, but her voice was firm. "You're already standing by him, Elara. You just don't know what it costs yet. Kael doesn't need you to fight for him. He needs you to understand why he can't fight for himself."
Elara's throat tightened. "What should I do?"
Zara paused, then placed a hand gently on her shoulder. "You have to decide, Elara. Because right now, you're on a path no one else understands. And you'll lose more than just your place here. You'll lose the people who believe in the stories. And you'll lose the parts of yourself that still think heroes are real."
As Elara watched Zara walk away, the weight of her words sank deeper.
She was standing at the edge of something, looking down into a darkness she wasn't sure she could survive. But Kael—Kael was there, too, somewhere in that dark, and for the first time, Elara realized that maybe he wasn't the villain after all.
Maybe he was the one who had been forced to carry the burden of a lie so heavy, it had crushed everything good inside of him.
And now, it was her turn to decide.
To decide if she could live with the truth.