The gates of Crestwood stood wide open, not in welcome, but surrender. Rain battered the broken spires, washing blood and ash from marble steps as if trying to scrub away the sins of generations.
Seraphina stood at the edge of the chaos, the glow of emergency lights strobing across her face. Police barked orders. Reporters clawed for statements. Families screamed names into the smoke.
And behind her, Crestwood burned.
Killian grabbed her hand. "We have to move. Before the board tries to clean house and silence what's left."
"We can't leave yet," she said. "Not until we find Nathan."
Lila strode up, clutching her side, blood seeping through her coat. "Forget Nathan. He chose his side. The traitor's side. He doesn't get a rescue."
Seraphina shook her head. "We don't know the whole story yet."
"We don't need it. We're standing in it."
But Seraphina couldn't shake the memory of Nathan's hesitation, the way he always looked like he wanted to say more. Something didn't add up. And in this game of masks, doubt was dangerous.
They split up Killian to the west barracks, Lila to the lower records chamber. Seraphina braved the scorched halls of the student council chambers, where whispers of her past victories clung to the air like ghosts.
She found him there.
Nathan sat among the rubble, bleeding from a gash on his forehead, cuffed to a radiator by his own doing. In his lap, a burned folder.
"You came," he said hoarsely. "I wasn't supposed to be found."
"Why betray us?" Her voice cracked. "You were one of us."
"Because I believed in something bigger than revenge. I tried to stop them from going too far. I warned the wrong person."
"You caused all this."
"No," he said, shoving the folder toward her. "This did. A contingency plan called Royal Culling. The board planned to eliminate every student involved once their secrets were exposed. You, Killian, Lila—all targets. I turned on them to stop it."
She read through the half-burned contents. Kill lists. Bribed law enforcement. Media control strategies.
Her heart twisted. "You were the distraction. You made yourself the traitor so they'd overlook your sabotage."
He nodded, grimacing in pain. "I failed. But you can still win."
She reached for the cuff keys and freed him.
Outside, Killian and Lila returned, guns drawn until they saw Nathan stumble out behind her.
"He bought us time," Seraphina said. "He's not clean, but he's not the enemy."
Lila glared, but didn't argue.
They moved fast, the four of them into the storm, away from the ruins, just ahead of the board's final sweep.
Behind them, Crestwood collapsed in the distance. Not just in stone, but in silence. The illusion was shattered. The truth exposed.
And the princess? She had no crown.
Just fire in her eyes and the resolve to finish what they started.