That crystal on my chest—the stabilizer, the Quantum—continued humming in that uneven, pulse-like way. It always reacted when Helena was near.

But this rhythm was different.

Calmer. Controlled.

The way it resonated when she was in her other identity.

I walked down the corridor toward the common room.

Students laughed, chatted, and reenacted lines from the performance. Some congratulated me with shy bows or excited stammers.

I smiled back—well, the version of my smile reserved for public consumption.

I have been the Star.I have been the spectacle.I know how to shine when demanded.

But the closer I got to the common room, the more the Quantum shifted — like it sensed something carefully veiled. A disguised presence. A suppressed mana signature.

Helena’s mana signature.

I pushed the door open.

And froze.

She was there.

Not my love.Nor the one who teased and bit and kissed me behind locked doors.

But Professor Lovecraft.

Her posture was ramrod straight, her expression polished and unreadable, her hair pinned into that academic knot she only wore during lectures. Students crowded around her, firing questions, laughing, begging for her commentary on the performance.

She gave them that trademark half-smile —cool, distant, authoritative.

The same smile she used earlier when she said,

"Not everything is solely defined by magic or miracles."

Of course.

The real Lovecraft persona never slipped.

Not once.

But when her eyes landed on me — just for a sliver of a second — everything changed.

There was a flicker behind the professionalism. A spark.

Something only I could see.

I stepped inside, and her eyes softened imperceptibly before she covered it with a crisp nod.

"Miss Veylith," she said in the professor’s voice — colder, clipped, projecting across the room.

"Your performance was... formidable."

Students murmured in agreement.

I bowed formally.

"Thank you very much, Miss Lovecraft."

Every syllable tasted wrong.

Helena would’ve grinned.

Helena would’ve whispered something indecent.

Helena would’ve tugged my sleeve and pulled me to a corner.

Or even worse, she would have pinned me down. Giving me no mercy.

But Professor Lovecraft only adjusted her spectacles and turned away, answering a student’s question about stagecraft.

My chest tightened.

This was our boundary.Her boundary.

In public, she was untouchable.

And I was the star everyone looked at — meaning anyone she approached would immediately draw suspicion. Our entire relationship existed on a razor’s edge, and she knew how fragile the balance was.

I watched her from across the room, maintaining the persona, performing the role expected of me. The distance felt like a blade.

But then—

When the last student finally left, the room thinned into silence.The door clicked shut.The glowstones dimmed.

And the moment the final set of footsteps disappeared down the hall—

Her shoulders dropped.The professor disappeared.

Helena exhaled like she’d been holding her breath the entire time.She turned toward me—

And the smile she gave wasn’t professional.Wasn’t restrained.Wasn’t anything anyone should see.

It was Helena.Completely, utterly Helena.

"Finally," she whispered, stepping forward."I was starting to think you’d take forever."

My pulse jumped.

She reached me in four slow steps, stopping just close enough that her breath brushed my cheek.

"What took you so long, Selene?"

"You were... convincing," I managed.

She laughed quietly, leaning in.

"That was the point. If anyone suspected—"

"I know."

We stood inches apart. The tension between us was thick, electric, familiar.

Her eyes flicked to the door, ensuring the hallway was empty.

Only when she was certain— 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Her hand slid to my waist, slow and deliberate.

"And now," she murmured, her forehead resting against mine,

"you owe me an explanation."

"Explanation?" I whispered.

She kissed me once — soft, precise.

An inquiry.

"Mm-hm."

Another kiss, deeper — now a demand.

"You disappeared for too long."

A third kiss, slower — an interrogation.

"Where have you been... hm?"

Her lips pressed to mine again, stealing my breath, pushing the truth to the surface.

We kissed — not out of passion, but out of pressure, out of need, out of that dangerous game of answers and leverage only we knew how to play.

Only when she was satisfied did she speak again, voice husky, low, and terrifyingly intimate:

"Now, Selene," she whispered against my lips,

"tell me what you were hiding."

Helena didn’t wait for my answer.

Her hand slid to my jaw, gripping tighter than necessary, her touch bordering on rough. The clinical precision from earlier disintegrated, replaced by a fierce intensity.

She crushed her lips against mine, no longer gentle. Sharp, biting kisses that left my head spinning. A dominance play, masquerading as tenderness.

I stumbled back, but she followed, pinning me ruthlessly against the wall. Her body pressed into mine, radiating heat like an open flame. Her fingers dug into my skin, marking territory.

"Still so quiet," she hissed, her mouth inches from mine. "But I see right through you, Selene."

Her voice dropped to a sultry whisper, barely audible above the pounding in my ears. Every syllable dripped with danger, tempting me to break.

Her thigh pushed between my legs, and I swore my vision blurred.

A hand grasped my waist, holding me captive. That subtle pressure turned into a subtle threat, making my heart race like a wild thing.

She consumed my air, my thoughts, everything. When she finally pulled back, strings of saliva still connected us, broken only when she spoke again.

"Why. Were. You. Avoiding. Me?"

Her thumb brushed my lip, harder than before, almost possessive. I struggled to speak, but my words tangled in my throat. She smirked, clearly reveling in my disarray.

Then, without warning, I seized control.

Fingers tangled in her collar, and I jerked her close, silencing her taunts with a brutal kiss.

Her gasp was pure surprise, quickly replaced by something darker, hungrier.

Every fiber of my being screamed with the need to push further, to see how far I could push before we both shattered.

Her thumb brushed my lower lip, slow, thoughtful, like cataloging a specimen.

I didn’t answer.

She smiled — a predator’s smile, pleased.

"I see."

She leaned in again, but this time I caught her.

My fingers curled into her collar, dragging her back down into a kiss that was not yielding — but demanding.

Her breath hitched.

My turn.

I pushed her until the table pressed into the back of her hips, and she laughed — breathless, delighted — as though I had just sprung a trap she’d set ages ago and forgotten about.

"Oh?"She cupped my face with both hands."So the princess fights back."

I kissed her before she finished the sentence.

"And now, you’re suddenly so... aggressive," she purred, her eyes darkening to an almost black shade. Her hands moved down my arms, gripping them tightly. "I like it."

She leaned forward, her lips grazing my ear. "Do you know what else I like, Selene?"

Her tongue flicked out, a fleeting touch that sent shivers down my spine.

"The way you tremble when I touch you like this." She demonstrated, trailing her fingers along my hipbone. "Like you’re one touch away from—"

She paused, leaving the sentence unfinished, but the implication hung heavy between us. I swallowed hard, trying to maintain some semblance of composure.

But it was slipping, fast.

A collision — the kind that sent her grip tightening and her breath breaking into my mouth.

Her fingers slid into my hair, pulling just enough to remind me she could reclaim dominance any second she wished.