The strike began before dawn.
Three teams, each with a mission: dismantle Crestwood from the inside. The resistance, no longer whispering behind closed doors, moved like trained ghosts through hidden corridors. Students once silenced by fear now wore masks and carried proof photographs, documents, ledgers—everything Seraphina and Lila had uncovered.
Seraphina and Killian led the charge toward the Dean's private wing, where her father's office housed a sealed vault rumored to contain the most damning secrets of the academy.
"They're watching everything," Killian said, his voice low, breath fogging in the chilled air as they crept through the servant hallway. "Surveillance is still partially active."
"Then let them watch," Seraphina muttered. "Let them see exactly who they're dealing with."
The door to her father's chamber creaked open under her hand. The office was pristine, sterile—a place untouched by sentiment. Portraits of past headmasters lined the walls, their eyes dark with judgment.
Behind the desk: the vault.
Killian knelt beside it. "Fingerprint and retinal scanner. We'll need both."
Seraphina's jaw clenched. She reached into her coat, pulling out a small velvet pouch. Inside: the preserved thumb of a statue her father had once bragged was molded to his likeness. A decoy, but one she modified.
It worked.
The lock hissed and disengaged.
Inside were rows of files and a single red case labeled: "Queenmaker Protocol."
Seraphina opened it and gasped.
Inside were surveillance images of every major family in Crestwood—proof of blackmail, coercion, bribery. One file sat at the top: her own. Medical reports, psyche evaluations, even transcripts from private therapy sessions she never consented to.
A sick twist turned in her stomach. The file detailed strategies to manipulate her into compliance: curated friendships, planted teachers, even staged encounters.
"He was grooming me," she whispered. "Preparing me to be a puppet."
Killian put a hand on her shoulder. "You're no one's puppet."
The air shifted charged, tense.
Suddenly, their comm crackled.
"We've been compromised," Lila's voice hissed. "Someone tipped them off. Chapel of Records is under fire. I repeat: we have a traitor."
Seraphina grabbed the files. "We take everything. And we run."
At the Chapel of Records, the air was thick with smoke and betrayal. Students poured out, coughing, dragging injured friends behind them. Lila stood at the steps, blood trailing from her temple.
She saw Seraphina and threw her a hard look. "You have it?"
"All of it. Including the Queenmaker Protocol."
Lila's expression darkened. "Then we expose them now. Broadcast it all."
"Wait," Killian said, eyes scanning the crowd. "Where's Nathan? He was supposed to trigger the west wing override."
Lila froze. "He didn't show."
Seraphina's heart dropped. "He's the traitor."
Before anyone could move, an explosion rocked the east tower.
Flames licked the sky. Screams echoed from inside. Fire alarms wailed as sprinklers failed to activate—sabotage.
Killian turned to Seraphina. "We need to get you out. Now."
She shook her head. "I'm not leaving. Not when we're this close."
Lila, breathless and furious, nodded. "Then let's end this. Broadcast in ten. The truth goes live."
They rushed into the records room, where backup hard drives and old-school receivers waited. Lila pulled open the emergency uplink panel. "We only get one shot at this."
Seraphina uploaded the files, watching as years of deception and corruption flickered to life on every academy screen.
The Queenmaker Protocol played first. Faces blanched as they watched footage of students being manipulated, bribed, ruined. Then came financial records, scandalous correspondences—evidence tying the academy's board to illegal activity.
Gasps turned to sobs. Teachers wept. Parents panicked.
Over the feed, Seraphina's voice cut through the chaos:
"This is the truth they buried. This is what they tried to make me become. I won't be your princess anymore. I choose to be free."
Outside, the storm arrived. Rain poured as helicopters circled above. Emergency services. Media. The academy gates crashed open.
And in the middle of it all, Seraphina Vale stood alone.
Not everyone would forgive her. Some would still hate her. But for the first time, she didn't care.
She wasn't their puppet, or their princess.
She was the girl who brought the whole kingdom down.