(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.

Yeah, no. I wasn't about to mess with anything while I was still in her room. If I was going to interact with the beast that almost killed me, I definitely wasn't doing it anywhere near here.


The foyer should be safe enough. If anything goes wrong, I'll just teleport myself farther away.


I stared down at the two choices in front of me.


Both of them were really vague. But at this point, I'd already learned my lesson.


- Creates a contract with the trapped spirit, unable to disagree with any terms.


Okay, that's better—but I still need more details before I can actually make a choice.


I tapped on [The Serpent's Amulet], focusing on the one thing I cared about: what had trapping the False Hydra inside it actually done to the item?


Chapter 224 - Enslaving a Monster...?