Chapter 316: I’m In Love With The Villainess!

The morning light through the academy windows felt different now.

It was just... ordinary. The same kind of light that had been pouring into lecture halls and dormitories for centuries, untouched by anything that had happened in the Holy City.

I leaned against the stone windowsill and watched first-year students hurry across the courtyard below. Their robes were still crisp, their faces still bright with that particular nervousness of people who hadn’t yet learned how little their examinations would matter in the end, compared to simple, overwhelming magical power.

"Daydreaming again?"

Evelina’s voice came from behind me, accompanied by the soft, rhythmic shuffle of papers being stacked and restacked.

"Observing," I said, without turning.

"There’s really not that much of a difference."

I glanced back at her.

She sat at the desk we’d claimed as ours years ago, the one near the back of the lecture hall where no professor ever bothered to look too closely. Her white hair was pulled into a loose tail, and instead of the fine dresses she preferred, she wore the simple grey robes of a senior student.

The ring still glinted on her finger.

She had never taken it off. Not once, in all the years since.

"The reports from the territory came in this morning," she said, sliding a stack of parchment across the desk. "The harvest was good. The new irrigation system you designed is working. And no one has tried to start a rebellion in at least six months."

"That’s a new record."

"I thought so too."

I crossed the room and sat beside her, letting my eyes pass over the reports without really taking them in. After a while, the words blurred together: harvest yields, tax receipts, population figures.

It had been years since the Holy City. Years since the grey tide. Years since we had stood on that blood-soaked roof and watched a woman die.

The academy had taken us back without a word of protest. The special program had continued, though its purpose had shifted, less about shaping future rulers, more about giving us room to breathe, to recover. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Informally, of course. Only Azrael would ever admit to such a change. Only he knew we’d been involved in the sudden mass slaughter inside the Holy Pantheon Church.

Our assigned territory had flourished. The people there had learned to trust us, to depend on us, to see Evelina’s cold efficiency and my shadows as a shield rather than a threat.

"Is brooding really that fun?" Evelina asked.

"It’s good enough."

"Brooding while thinking then." She leaned into my shoulder, her weight familiar and warm. "Hard to believe it’s been years already. The territory is fine. The church is... managed."

"Jayden’s church."

"Jayden’s church," she agreed. "He’s done well with it. Better than anyone expected."

I set the reports aside and turned so I could really look at her. Time had been kind to Evelina, or maybe she had just grown into what she was always meant to be.

The sharpness that had once defined her had softened, though her crimson eyes still held that same cool, calculating light.

"The ball is next week," I said.

"The imperial ball. Yes."

"You still want to go?"

She smiled, slow and warm, the kind of smile she only ever let out when no one else was there to see it.

"I want to show you off," she said. "I’ve been waiting years for this. The right moment. The right dress. The right audience."

"The audience is the entire imperial court."

"Exactly."

I laughed despite myself and pulled her closer until her forehead rested against my chest. Her arms slid around my waist, and for a moment the lecture hall, the academy, the territory, everything, faded into a soft, distant blur.

"There’s something else," she murmured against my collar. "Something I’ve been meaning to tell you."

"Oh?"

She drew back just enough to meet my eyes. There was a brightness there, almost nervous, an expression I hadn’t seen since the early days of our strange, knotted partnership.

"You remember that night," she said quietly. "After the library. After the archmage. When I didn’t use the prevention spell?"

My heart stumbled.

"I remember."

"I’ve been keeping track. Waiting for the right time." She pressed her palm flat against my chest, right over my heart. "My doctors confirmed it this morning."

"Confirmed what?"

Evelina’s smile widened, and for a heartbeat she looked almost shy.

"You’re going to be a father, Cael."

The lecture hall seemed to fall silent around us.

I stared at her, at the gentle curve of her mouth, at the way her hand stayed over my heart, warm even through the cloth of my robes.

"You’re serious."

"When am I not serious?"

"Evelina—"

"I’m not joking. I wouldn’t joke about this." She pulled back a little more, her crimson eyes searching my face. "Unless you don’t want—"

I kissed her.

Not the way I kissed her in quiet moments, slow and careful. This kiss was rougher, edged with something desperate, the kind that comes after years of wanting something and never quite believing it would be real.

Like the first time I had dominated her in bed.

She made a small sound against my mouth, her fingers fisting in my robes, and when I finally broke away her cheeks were flushed.

"I’ll take that as a good sign," she murmured.

"Years." My voice came out rougher than I meant it to. "You’ve been waiting years to tell me this?"

"I’ve been waiting for the right time. For things to calm down. For the territory to be secure. For a stretch of quiet." She traced the line of my jaw with her fingertips. "And for you to stop looking at me with guilt."

"I never—"

"You did," she said gently. "Every time I shifted between faces. Every time Trish came forward. You’d get this look, like you were waiting for me to disappear."

I caught her hand and held it against my cheek.

"I’m sorry."

"Don’t be. I understand." Her smile turned soft and unguarded. "But I’m not going anywhere, Cael. None of me is. And now..."

She glanced down at her stomach, though there was nothing to see yet. "Now there’s going to be another one of us."

"What brought this on?" I asked quietly. "What about your dreams of ruling the entire empire?"

"Don’t misunderstand, that dream is still there." Her eyes glinted. "But I decided that... maybe I can live quietly for a while and work toward it at my own pace. Besides, we already have Berian. That’s a start."