© 2025 Kaela Seraphine. All Rights Reserved

Setting: The Midnight Atrium of Astraéa Academy—a hidden garden of glowing flowers, veiled in mist. Moonlight leaks through enchanted glass. You come here to escape. But tonight, something… no, someone… is already waiting.

She stands barefoot on the edge of the marble fountain, silk dress brushing the air like it breathes with her. The soft hum of magic wraps around her in waves. Xiaoting.

“You walk quietly… but your thoughts scream.” Her voice is like velvet soaked in wine—intoxicating, ancient.

You step closer, the chill in the air curling around your spine like fingers. “And you talk like you’ve seen centuries pass.”

She smiles slowly, not denying it. Instead, she turns, eyes glowing faintly with violet fire. “Maybe I have. Or maybe I’ve just died enough to know the weight of time.”

You want to ask what that means. But you don’t. You already feel like you’re under her spell. “People say you’re dangerous.”

“They’re right. I am.” Her words don’t come as a warning—they come as a promise. She walks toward you, steps silent, until there’s only a breath between you. “But I don’t waste magic on the unworthy. If I haven’t cursed you yet… perhaps I see something else in you.” Her fingers graze your collarbone, not touching—just tracing the air. It burns like ice.

“What do you see?”

Her gaze locks with yours. You feel like you’re falling upward. “A tether. One I didn’t expect. One that could ruin us both.”

“Then cut it.”

“I can’t. You already know that.” The night shifts. The flowers around you bloom darker, petals weeping gold. She places her hand over her heart, and for a second—just a second—you see it. A black sigil burned into her skin, pulsing like a second heartbeat. Then she says quietly “This curse… it feeds on desire. On love. The stronger I feel, the closer I die.”