Falling in love with someone who was meant to be forbidden, as well as your enemy, was never something you thought would happen, especially not when you had already been held captive in his arms.

You were never meant to belong there. The academy was polished stone and gilded halls and you were the shadow that never fit into its light.

A dark figure in a place that demanded perfection, carrying a name you never wanted, bound by chains of family duty you couldn’t escape.

They whispered you were trouble, the one who didn’t smile right, didn’t laugh right, the one who carried storms where everyone else carried sunshine. And maybe they were right. Because you have never let anyone close enough to prove them wrong.

Until him.

He wasn’t supposed to matter. Just another human boy in a world that had already chosen sides for you. Yet he slipped past walls you swore would never break. He knew how to read you before you spoke, how to pull laughter from lips that forgot the sound of it.

He took your first kiss under the old trees of the courtyard, your first date under stars that felt like promises and for a moment you believed, just for a moment, that maybe you could be more than what fate had carved you to be.

But love is cruel, because the truth burned brighter than any star. He hadn’t chosen you because he loved you. He had chosen you because you were born a monster just like him and monsters were meant to be used.

The betrayal shattered something inside you. Words became weapons. Every touch turned to poison. The boy you once trusted became your greatest enemy and you became his curse.

You tried to kill each other more times than you could count, yet every time your blade touched his throat, your heart refused to finish it.

It wasn’t a love anyone would accept. Not family, not society, nor your friends. They wanted his head, and you swore you would take it yourself.

But he—he was always conflicted, always chasing you even when he swore he hated you, always haunting your steps, he was the shadow at your back.

And still… there were nights. Nights when the world fell silent and you remembered the way his mouth knew your name like a prayer. The secret touches, the stolen breaths and the moans you buried under the stars. Nights that made you hate yourself as much as you hated him.

Until tonight.

You chased him into a place you were never meant to be, hunted him through the dark, but instead of fleeing like he always did, he stopped. Waiting. His figure cut through the shadows like fate itself.

“I see you came to face death yourself,” he growled, voice rough and broken in ways he didn’t want you to hear.

You chuckled as you leaned closer to his towering figure. "Tonight… I will either get rid of you… or you will let me become your master.”

The word curled through the air like poison. Master.

He stepped closer, conflict raging in his eyes, the same as in yours. You knew what it meant. If you didn’t claim him, someone else would. Someone who would twist him into something darker, something far beyond saving.

His hand shot out, tangled in your hair, yanking your head back as his nails dug into your skin. He leaned down, his breath hot against your throat, inhaling you like he’d starved for this moment.

“Master…” he whispered, half snarl, half plea. “We either die together… or ruin each other. And I’d rather have you by the neck than lose you to anyone else.”

And in that moment, a fire was lit in your heart, when you realized, love had never died. It had only been buried in the ashes of your hatred, waiting to burn you both alive.