Seven years ago, Leo Ryder died—or so the world believed. Once a scrawny boy who sacrificed himself to save his best friend and first love, Princess Emeney Snow. He returns as Rayne Egan, a hardened warrior with a new name, a new face, and a dangerous secret. His mission: infiltrate the princess’s elite guard and stop an ancient power from falling into the hands of a dangerous and powerful mage known only as “The First”, an Elder Mage seeking godhood.  

But getting close to Emeney proves more dangerous than any spell or blade. She doesn’t recognize the boy she once cherished, yet something about her new bodyguard unsettles her. As war looms, so does a battle within her heart—torn between her duty to marry an A-Class Mage, Xander who was also once her close friends along with Rayne. But now also she had an undeniable pull toward the mysterious man sworn to protect her.  

Rayne swore to guard her with his life while searching for the Crimson Flower and protect it also, but as old feelings resurface and deadly truths unravel, keeping his secret becomes impossible. When his past collides with the future he never thought he'd have, one question remains—will love be their salvation, or will war tear them apart forever?

Dark. Quiet. Only the soft, rhythmic dripping of water echoing off cold stone walls. Suddenly,


Leo jolted upright on the makeshift wooden bed, eyes wide, sweat plastered across his forehead. His chest heaved, lungs sucking in the cold air like it might disappear any second. He clutched his chest, hands trembling as they ran over his shirt, the part where the Dark Mages' blade had pierced him.


The fabric was torn, bloodstained, but…No scar. No wound. No pain. Just smooth, unblemished skin. Leo's eyes widened. He looked down at his hands, then around the dim cave, walls jagged with age, lit only by the flicker of a dying fire and a gentle shaft of daylight seeping through a high crack in the stone wall.


Chapter 28 - New Feelings