Chapter 2
Relics of my past with Adrian littered my office: a feather from the first Floating Potion he taught me to brew, a protective charm he'd used to shield me from dark creatures, and even an Enchanted Hourglass he'd gifted me on my graduation.
My hands trembled as I gathered them to toss into the enchanted forge—only for the door to burst open.
He snarled, eyes darkening with crimson rage, "You actually made me believe you had given up."
Dark red rage swirled in his eyes as he pointed the Holy Light Wand at my chest. "You want to get revenge on me? Come at me! Why hurt Selene?"
The Holy Light Wand gleamed in Adrian's grip as he advanced, the sudden motion causing the bundle in my arms to spill.
He spotted the protective charm and sneered.
"Fellow alumni, huh? Still clinging to these worthless trinkets?"
He crushed the protective charm under his boot, the wand's glow searing my skin.
"If I'd arrived a moment later, Selene's magic memories would have been erased—trapping her in the Muggle world forever!"
He accused me of casting the Soul Erosion Curse on Selene out of spite. But I'd done nothing.
"It wasn't me!" I shouted, panic in my voice.
A bolt of magic grazed my shoulder, sending me staggering to the floor, my robes tearing against the stone.
"This is your lesson. I was too lenient before. Now you'll learn the wizarding world's rules," Adrian said, his voice devoid of warmth.
Later, he dragged me to the Abandoned Tower on the Forbidden Forest's edge—a prison for wizards corrupted by dark magic, who delighted in tearing apart their own kind's souls.
"Don't kill her. She's still a Stellarspire instructor, after all," a voice called out.
As the Shadow Miasma seeped into my veins, making my magic sputter, Selene glided toward us.
In her Stellarspire uniform, barefoot across the tower's gravel, she threw herself into Adrian's arms.
"Adrian, the dark energy here scares me," she whimpered, her voice like spun sugar.
She wrapped her arms around his waist, and the usually reserved Adrian patted her back gently, his magic warming around her.
Selene looked at me with feigned sympathy. "Lydia just made a mistake. Don't be too harsh on her."
"You shouldn't be here—it's too dangerous." Adrian frowned. "She's not worth your kindness."
However, the more Selene interceded, the more certain Adrian became of my malice.
"If you possessed even a fraction of Selene's purity, you wouldn't be here," he told me.
"Can't we show mercy, for the sake of our upcoming union?" Selene's voice was honeyed, and with that gentle plea, Adrian yielded at once.
That tenderness—I'd known it once.
In his amnesiac days, Adrian would heal my potion-burned hands with holy magic, asking why they were always so cold, then tucking them into his pocket to warm.
Memories stabbed like knives, twisting in my chest.
Adrian's eyes narrowed. "If you cross us again, I will make sure you never find peace, in this life or the next."
"Adrian, don't frighten her..." Selene playfully covered his lips, but her eyes met mine—and in them, I caught a glint of cold mockery.
*****
I stumbled out of the tower, my magic weak and unsteady, only to be cornered by Selene at the Silvermoon River.
Her voice dripped with venom. "Think someone like you could ever dream of getting close to Adrian?
"Do the smart thing. Volunteer to guard the Shadow Rift and never come back."
I stood frozen, unable to process her words.
This was not the gentle Selene everyone spoke of.
"I never intended to come between you. I wish you..." I said, my voice cold.
"Really?" She smirked, summoning a Shadow Viper from her sleeve, its scales glinting with dark magic. "Dare you bet on who Adrian will save?"
Instantly, the viper lunged for my wrist.
I stumbled backward, accidentally pulling Selene down the stone steps with me, her scream echoing through the trees.
Viper venom raced through my magic veins, burning like liquid fire, while Selene suffered nothing more than a scratch on her forehead.
Adrian arrived moments later, fury swirling around him like a storm.
"Lydia! Selene pleaded for your mercy, and this is how you repay her?" he roared.
He lifted Selene gently, his voice trembling with concern. "The Potions Master said your magic soul is fragile after the Soul Erosion Curse. You can't withstand this!"
The venom numbed my mind, but I stretched out a hand, begging for mercy, "I'm poisoned... help me..."
However, Adrian searched my pockets coldly, pulling out a vial of Spirit Essence Potion—brewed with Elaine's life's work, capable of repairing a damaged magic core.
"Still pretending? Since when are there Shadow Vipers in the Forbidden Forest?
"Lying is all you know—I'm done believing anything that comes out of your mouth!" Adrian scoffed, his eyes hard as stone.
Without a second thought, he fed the potion to Selene. I lunged for it, only to be sent flying by a spell, my body slamming into a tree.
"This is what you owe her. There won't be a next time," he said, his voice like ice.
Selene leaned against his shoulder, flashed me a wicked smile, and mouthed, "Go die! Shadow Viper venom is incurable, and the only thing that could save you is mine now."
I coughed up blood, feeling my magic soul splinter—despair from my previous life merging with present agony.
Why was it that even after getting a second chance, I still couldn't escape this ending?
Adrian, Selene—if there was another life, I'd make them pay in blood for everything they had done!