Moonveil Academy: Trapped With The Five Kings

Elara:

My hand itched to slap that smug look right off Reign’s face. Every instinct in me screamed to tell him exactly where he could shove his warning, but I forced myself to breathe and ignored him.

I had already learned enough about Reign to know that arguing with him was like throwing gasoline onto a fire. Instead, my gaze shifted toward the only person standing there whom I’d stupidly believed might actually be on my side.

Lorien.

My lips parted before I could think better of it. ”Lorien...” The moment his name left my mouth, his expression changed.

”It’s Headmaster Moonveil, Miss Argenti.” He corrected.

I froze. It wasn’t the words themselves that stunned me. It was the tone. There was no warmth in it. No trace of the man who had spoken gently to me about my family the evening before. No hint of the man who had asked permission before touching me. Instead just a cold, detached reminder of his position.

My eyes flickered toward Reign instinctively. He had just called Lorien by his name moments ago. Yet somehow, when I did it, I was reminded that he was the Headmaster. The difference hit me harder than it should have.

And then everything clicked.

Lorien was the youngest Regent. He had grown up alongside Reign, Kairo, Esmeray, and Alaric. They weren’t simply his students. They were his closest friends, the people he had known for more than fifteen years. He might have been the Headmaster of this academy, but before that, he was one of them. One of the five uncrowned royals. One of the future rulers of this world.

And if he ever had to choose between a girl he had known for barely a week and the friends he had grown up with, why had I ever convinced myself he would choose me?

My gaze drifted toward Reign and Alaric once again. Their smirks suddenly looked different, sharper and crueler. Almost triumphant.

Reign had warned me. He’d told me I needed them. He had told me I was alone. I’d hated him for saying it. I’d convinced myself he was simply arrogant and trying to frighten me into depending on him.

Yet here I was, standing in the aftermath of an incident I hadn’t caused, watching the Headmaster himself give everyone an explanation that conveniently protected his friends. I felt as though someone had reached into my chest and slapped me across the heart.

How stupid could I have been?

I had been so desperate for even the smallest bit of kindness that I’d mistaken basic decency for loyalty.

Lorien had been kind to me, yes. But kindness didn’t mean he was on my side. Asking permission before touching me wasn’t some extraordinary act of devotion. Telling me where my family had been buried didn’t make him mine. Sending clothes to my dorm didn’t mean he’d choose me over his friends.

I’d simply taken whatever scraps of humanity someone offered and built an entire illusion around them because I was lonely. Because I wanted to believe there was at least one person in this strange world who didn’t see me as an inconvenience, a political pawn, or a problem that needed fixing.

The realization burned worse than any insult Reign had thrown at me. And suddenly, the person I was angriest at wasn’t Reign, or Alaric, or Liliana. It wasn’t even Lorien.

It was me.

For believing. For trusting. For being stupid enough to think that because someone had shown me the bare minimum of compassion, they must somehow be different from everyone else.

I straightened slowly.

Whatever hurt had been threatening to spill out of me disappeared beneath something colder. I looked directly at Lorien, forcing every ounce of emotion out of my expression.

For the briefest moment, I thought I saw something flicker across his face. Something almost like regret. Maybe he had noticed the change in me. But I didn’t care anymore.

”You might not be a good person,” I said quietly, my voice carrying clearly through the corridor, ”but you are an even worse Headmaster.”

The silence that followed was absolute.

If there had been students around us, I was fairly certain the collective gasp would have shaken the entire academy.

Reign’s expression changed instantly. Alaric’s eyebrows shot upward. And Lorien simply stared at me.

I didn’t give him another glance. Instead, I turned toward Reign and Alaric. The two men were still standing there as though they had front-row seats to some entertaining performance. I looked between them, my anger finally sharpening into something almost amusing.

”And you two...” I let my gaze travel slowly over them. ”...are honestly more childish than I thought.”

Reign’s face darkened.

I smiled without warmth. ”Congratulations. You have successfully turned an academy corridor into your personal playground.”

Neither of them had time to answer.

I turned around, walked into my dorm, and slammed the door shut directly in their faces. The sound echoed through the hallway.

For one second, there was silence. Then-

”ARGENTIS!”

Reign’s furious voice thundered from the other side. I leaned my back against the closed door and closed my eyes as I heard the footsteps approached, fast and heavy.

My fingers curled into fists. I had no doubt Reign could break through that door if he truly wanted to. A wooden door wasn’t going to stop him. If he decided to make tonight worse, there was very little I could do about it.

The footsteps stopped directly outside.

”Open this door.” His voice was low and furious.

I didn’t answer. Then suddenly, Lorien’s voice cut through the tension.

”Reign.”

There was something in his tone that made the hallway fall silent.

”Leave it.”

”She just-”

”I said leave it.”

Silence.

For several seconds, nobody moved. Then I heard Alaric mutter something I couldn’t make out. A few moments later, the footsteps began moving away. Reign clearly wasn’t happy about it, but he eventually followed.

I stayed against the door until their voices faded completely. Only then did I finally breathe. My knees felt strangely weak, and I slowly slid down until I was sitting on the floor.

I stared at the closed door.

It was nothing more than wood. Yet tonight, it felt like the only thing standing between me and the people determined to remind me that I was alone.

And for the first time since arriving at Moonveil Academy, I finally understood something I should have realized from the beginning.

I couldn’t afford to trust anyone. Not even the people who smiled at me.