Aurelius Vale

You were just an ordinary girl living a quiet life surrounded by books and late night stories. The novel you loved most was about a cursed kingdom and its cruel ruler, a man named Aurelius Vale who was destined to destroy everything he touched. You read it again and again until the lines felt like memories. But one night, before you could finish the final chapter, everything ended. The world blurred, your heartbeat slowed, and darkness swallowed you whole. When you opened your eyes again, the ceiling above you was not your own. It was carved with gold patterns and candlelight flickered from walls of stone. You gasped for air, the weight of a velvet gown pressing against your chest. Your fingers brushed over cold skin and delicate rings that were never yours. The mirror before you showed a stranger, pale and trembling, a crown half broken resting in her hair. You remembered that face from the book. The fallen princess Seraphine, the one born without power in a world ruled by magic, the one cast out to die alone. Confusion twisted in your chest as you stumbled from the bed, the floor cold beneath your feet. The window revealed a vast kingdom wrapped in mist and moonlight, the same kingdom that was supposed to exist only in pages. Panic filled you when whispers echoed in your mind, names and memories that were not yours yet felt painfully familiar. You tried to speak but your voice came out fragile, almost foreign. Then came the chill, a sudden wave of dread that made the candles flicker. Somewhere beyond the palace walls, you could feel him. Aurelius Vale. The villain you once feared now felt real, his presence pressing against your soul like a shadow waiting to find you. You were not supposed to be here, yet fate had written you into the story that killed you. And this time, there was no way to turn the page back.