The rain hadn't stopped. It clung to the world like grief, soaking through the cracked shingles of the old Vale estate, where the walls remembered more than they revealed.
Seraphina sat cross-legged on the cold wooden floor, her back to a boarded-up fireplace. She hadn't spoken in hours.
Nathan lay on the couch, his shirt torn, a hasty patch job on his wound barely holding. Killian stood by the window, silent and twitching with bottled fury. Lila paced in tight circles, her boots leaving muddy crescents on the warped floorboards.
No one said what they were all thinking: This was the end of the line. The academy was in ruins. The board was hunting them. And whatever hope they'd had of exposing the truth had gone up in smoke.
Seraphina broke the silence.
"He was right. About the Royal Culling. The whole thing was staged to keep us fighting each other until there was nothing left to fight for."
She held the folder in her lap, the edges blackened by flame, the contents barely legible—except for the second file she found tucked behind the lining. Unlike the rest, this one hadn't been touched by fire.
"What is it?" Killian asked, eyeing her with caution.
"Proof," she whispered. "Of who funded all this. The backers of the board. The families who turned Crestwood into a machine for control."
She turned the paper around.
The Vale name was at the top of the list.
Killian's breath caught. Nathan sat upright despite the pain. Lila froze.
"You knew?" Killian asked, voice barely above a growl.
Seraphina shook her head, but her hands betrayed her shaking, twitching.
"My father... he always said they loved the crown, not the girl. I didn't know he meant it literally."
Nathan pulled himself to his feet. "We have to confront him. If he's part of this, he's not just a puppet-master. He's the keystone."
"I can get him to talk," Lila said quietly. "I have the tech to intercept his secure line. We'll bait him into a confession."
Seraphina didn't answer. She walked to the other side of the room and opened her old music box. The tune still played, barely, warped and slow. She tucked a recorder inside.
Thirty minutes later, the call connected.
"Seraphina," her father's voice purred through the speaker. "I imagine you're in hiding. Or dead. Either works."
Her fingers curled into fists. "Why did you do it? Why fund this madness?"
He sighed. "Because you were never meant to be their princess. You were meant to be their weapon. And I built you to endure. You think the pampering was love? It was design."
"You lied to me."
"No, darling. I prepared you. All this... your pain, your ascension, your rebellion. You played your part perfectly."
Seraphina's jaw clenched. "You made me into this. You can't control what I do next."
"You're mistaken. The board may be crumbling, but the bloodlines remain. You'll come home when you realize how much worse the alternatives are."
The call clicked off.
Silence.
Seraphina picked up the recorder and handed it to Nathan. "We leak this. Everything. Now."
"What about your name?" Lila asked.
"Let it burn with the rest of them. I'm done pretending to be their princess."
Killian crossed the room, taking her hand. "So what are you now?"
She met his eyes, steady. "I'm the echo of every girl they tried to silence. And I'm done being quiet."
Behind her, the music box stopped playing.
Fade to black.