We weaved our way through the ballroom, sidestepping groups of students.

  With a steady hand on my back, Chester guided me toward the far end of the hall.

  “They came for you, Aurora.” His voice was quiet but firm. “Be honest with me—were you ever close with the heir? I need to understand how valid their claims are. Did he offer you the mark?”

  He stopped just outside the balcony doors, looking straight into my eyes.

  My tongue felt heavy with fear, but I managed to force the words out:

  “Only one kiss. And we danced. He did offer the mark, but I refused—just like we agreed. He didn’t want an Amatrix. That’s what Max said himself. That the only reason he invited me to the ball was because it wouldn’t lead to anything. He didn’t even want to pay for my dress—gave me something his fiancée had rejected.”

  I drew a breath and whispered, “Why would they want me now?”

  I looked up and caught the surprised expression on Chester’s face.

  Apparently, the rumours he’d heard had painted a very different story.

  “I don’t know, Aurora. Maybe the heir changed his mind. Maybe something shifted behind the scenes. But judging by what I’ve seen, he’s planning to take by force what he couldn’t get willingly. Most likely, he’ll offer you the mark again—along with the illusion of protection. After scaring you into submission first.”

  Chester tilted my chin, making me meet his warm hazel eyes.

  “Only I didn’t fit into the equation. I’m not afraid of dragons—and I’m not going to let them take you, Snowflake.”

  A slight smile touched his lips as his fingers brushed softly along my cheek.

  “Why?” I whispered.

  I truly didn’t understand why he was risking so much for someone like me.

  “Maybe your magic knocked something loose in me,” he said with a smirk. “Still recovering, you know. Or maybe I just want to protect a smart, frightened little mage who trusted the wrong man.”

  He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, his voice lowering.

  “Or maybe it’s something more. Something you’re not ready for yet.”

  He leaned in a little closer.

  “We’ll talk about the ‘why’ when you stop blasting me with spells every time I touch you. Until then, you’re my fiancée. Wedding’s in two years—you’ll be taking over as my assistant, and I’ll be settling into the dean’s chair.”

  He pulled back and gave me a wink, tapping my chin with his finger.

  “Chin up. We’ve got this. And tonight—you’re staying with me. Just in case any of our noble friends get ideas about midnight abductions. There’ll be gossip either way. To hell with propriety.”

  I rubbed my temples, completely lost in whatever plan Chester was weaving.

  “I don’t fully understand what you’re doing—but I need to go back to my room and get my portal bird. If they take her, it’ll be bad.”

  “Nice acquisition,” Chester said, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. “Or was she a gift?”

  “Barter,” I replied, glancing around to make sure no one was listening. “She’s wild—but with a little surprise they really shouldn’t find out about.”

  “Something tells me she’s not the only one, Snowflake. Not by a long shot,” he muttered, shaking his head.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Then, taking my hand again, he confidently led me back into the ballroom—just in time.

  As Dimara had said, my classmates were gathered in the center of the hall, and in front of them stood that painfully familiar broad back.

  Just seeing that dragon made me want to recall a few combat spells and launch them right here, in front of everyone.

  When I saw Maximilian, what I felt surprised me.

  No longing. No heartbreak. No desperate need to ask him why.

  Only anger.

  The kind of anger that burns cold.

  That he dared to come back after a year—to admire the ruins of the life he’d set on fire, as if he had every right to do so.

  As we reached the crowd, I let go of Chester’s hand. He walked toward the dean, but his gaze stayed locked on me, tense and unblinking.

  Maximilian made his way from one student to the next, handing out small tokens. The girls all melted into smiles, giggling or blushing, as he murmured some standard congratulatory line.

  Still the same—arrogant, smug, perfectly composed.

  Unlike me, the dragon had clearly flourished over the past year. Broader shoulders, sharper features… and not a trace of sleepless nights in his eyes.

  “Have some pride, Winder,” one of the girls next to me whispered. “You look like you’re about to throw yourself at him.”

  I smiled too—but for a very different reason.

  “Oh, I am,” I whispered back. “To strangle the bastard. After what he did—humiliating me in front of everyone, spreading those rumours…”

  She snorted softly, still sounding skeptical.

  “I’d strangle him too. Slipping you his fiancée’s dress? That’s low. I’d rather show up naked.”

  “They’re all bastards,” another girl muttered. “Even if they are dragons.”

  A quiet murmur spread through the crowd of girls around us.

  To my surprise, the same girls who had spent the past year mocking me now all agreed on one thing: the dragon wasn’t welcome—not after insulting every mage here through what he’d done to me.

  Their smiles faded, replaced by frowns and quiet disdain.

  A low murmur spread through the hall.

  It seemed that, after last year’s scandal, the mages were finally starting to wake up.

  Only now—faced with the smug heir who had returned like nothing happened—did it truly hit them:

  They’d spent a year kicking me down, while the one who caused it all got away untouched.

  People were remembering the dragon’s fiancée and how openly she’d mocked human mages.

  And now, with him back and walking the halls like he owned them, it was harder to ignore.

  When he was gone, I was an easy target.

  But now he was here—and the truth was harder to overlook.

  This wasn’t just gossip anymore. This was a story where a dragon had humiliated a mage and returned unrepentant.

  I watched as Maximilian’s polite smile faltered after one too many cold stares and raised chins.

  His eyes narrowed, scanning the crowd. Then they landed on me.

  At first, I tried to keep a neutral expression. But my lips curled into a slow, mocking smile on their own.

  I met his gaze head-on, chin lifted.

  Realizing his plan to intimidate me wasn’t working, the young dragon inhaled deeply and closed his eyes for a moment.

  Then he forced a smile and moved on—but the tension in his jaw betrayed how hard it was to keep it together.

  Finally, it was my turn to receive whatever token he was handing out.

  “We need to talk, Aurora,” Maximilian said quietly, slipping me an envelope sealed with the Imperial crest.

  “What could we possibly have to talk about, Heir Terragon?” I asked loudly. “This dress wasn’t stolen. It was made for my graduation.”

  He clenched his fists.

  “Listen, Aurora, I didn’t mean—” he began, but I cut him off again.

  “Thinking tends to help, vir. Especially for an heir of a great dragon house.”

  My voice carried, and a ripple of amused laughter passed through the crowd.

  “Enough, Aurora,” he growled. “Whether you like it or not, we’re going to talk!”

  He reached for my arm—but his hand slammed against a shield someone had cast between us.

  It didn’t take long to figure out who had dared to use magic during the ball.

  “Looks like you’ve been denied, Heir Terragon,” Chester’s voice rang out clearly. “By Imperial law, harassment of a lady is prohibited.”

  He stepped away from the pale-as-a-sheet dean and positioned himself firmly at my side.

  Maximilian’s eyes darkened.

  And then—he growled.

  “I know the law as well as you do, mage,” Maximilian snapped. “If Aurora won’t come willingly, I’ll take her by force. I’ll tear this place stone from stone if I have to—but I’ll get what I came for.”

  A wave of shocked murmurs swept through the hall—students, teachers, all of them.

  Maximilian had snapped.

  Open threats. In public. Again.

  Last year’s scandal with his fiancée had taught the dragons nothing.

  If anything, it had shown them just how much they could get away with.

  And once again, it was Dominic Terragon who tried to patch things over.

  “Enough, Maximilian! Remember who you are,” the advisor began sternly.

  But the younger dragon wasn’t listening.

  “Frosty,” Maximilian growled, “either you come with me—or I’ll tear this place down and carry you off, like the ancient dragons once did with their chosen.”

  I met his eyes and saw the same fire in them.

  He was furious—yes.

  But he wasn’t dangerous. At least not to me.

  I didn’t feel afraid—just tired. Tired of this drama.

  Tired of having to repeat the same damn thing over and over.

  If he didn’t get the message the first time, I’d spell it out for him again.

  “Balcony. You’ve got five minutes,” I said loudly and walked away.

  Chester moved to follow, but I shook my head.

  I could handle this.