I was still shaking, and Chester was practically carrying me, lifting me just off the floor.

  As soon as we stepped inside, he found an open spot and let out a long, heavy breath.

  “Filthy bastards,” the mage muttered under his breath, pulling me tighter against him.

  “Don’t leave my side, Aurora. I don’t know what kind of trick you pulled on that dragon, but it only made him angrier. Still… it bought us time—enough for me to figure out what was going on.”

  His eyes scanned the ballroom.

  “He didn’t come alone. I think the second one will try to take you too. The heir cut his training short just to attend this ritual—one his father could’ve easily performed. And guess what? His father’s here too. They didn’t come back just for ceremony, girl. I don’t know how you got in their way—but they’re not going to back off easily.”

  “Maybe… maybe I should go back to the dorms?” I asked, still naively believing my ward would protect me from dragon interference.

  Surely they wouldn’t break down a door?

  But one look at Chester’s raised brow said otherwise.

  Oh, they would. And no ward would stop them.

  “Three dragons came to this Academy—one they couldn’t care less about—and you think a few trinkets and a flimsy door are going to stop them?”

  The moment he asked, the answer appeared—striding directly toward us.

  Leaving his perch near the statue of his ancestor, Dominic Terragon himself was approaching.

  He hadn’t sent a messenger. He hadn’t passed along a note.

  No, the Imperial Advisor was coming in person—and judging by the cold glint in those gray eyes, he was heading straight for me.

  “Aurora, listen to me. No matter what happens, you stay by my side,” Chester said firmly.

  “I’m your fiancé now. No matter what they say, I have the right to be here. And now—try to smile, Snowflake. Stop trembling. You’ve just been proposed to. Life’s looking up.”

  He squeezed my hand tightly, trying to make it sound like a joke.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  But I couldn’t help it.

  I felt like a cornered animal—and the dragons had finally closed in.

  “Chin up, my wild mink,” Chester whispered, brushing his hand along my red coat.

  “Show the dragons your teeth. I’ve felt them myself. You’re free, fierce… beautiful.”

  I glanced at him, surprised.

  The pity in his eyes was gone—replaced by tension, and something else. Something warmer.

  With the faintest smile, he pulled me closer and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

  Only the polite cough from the approaching advisor forced him to let go. Chester straightened, slipped on a courteous smile, and greeted the dragon with all due decorum.

  I didn’t even have time to speak before Dominic raised a hand.

  “Spare me the formalities, Aurora. We’re hardly strangers.”

  His voice was smooth, almost pleasant. “I’d like a word with you… privately.”

  His smile widened, but his gaze flicked to Chester with thinly veiled irritation.

  Clearly, the Imperial Advisor wasn’t pleased to find me not only accompanied—but guarded by someone who wasn’t just another student he could wave away.

  “You’re welcome to speak freely in front of my fiancé, Vir Terragon,” I said calmly.

  “I share all my research with Chester—and he’s even helped me test a few of them. With… surprising results.”

  I almost smiled.

  It was only a half-truth, but close enough.

  And for once, my voice didn’t tremble.

  Chester gave me an approving glance and leaned in to kiss my temple.

  “My clever little innovator,” he said just loud enough for the dragon to hear, his tone carrying a deliberately intimate edge. “And quite a bite on her, too.”

  Vir Dominic clearly hadn’t expected that response. His smile faltered, his brow tightened.

  “I take it Maximilian didn’t get a chance to speak with you before the ball?” the dragon growled.

  I shrugged, this time steady and almost indifferent.

  “I haven’t seen the Terragon heir since that night. The one where, right here in this very ballroom, I was accused of stealing the outfits he gave me—outfits that, it turns out, belonged to his fiancée.”

  “Since the moment he left the hall with Dona Serea, he’s had nothing more to say to me. Left me at the mercy of her father.”

  The memory of the young dragon and his "heroic exit" stirred something familiar—anger.

  Rage that burned cleaner than fear.

  Thanks to his reckless vanity, my life at the Academy had become a waking nightmare.

  “You’ll have the most beautiful dress in all of Arcania, my Snowflake,” Chester whispered—loudly enough to be heard by anyone nearby.

  He pulled me indecently close, slipping his hand inside the open front of my red coat.

  No one could see that he wasn’t actually touching me. From the outside, it looked intimate. Improper.

  The dragon’s gaze narrowed, sweeping over me.

  And when he noticed Chester’s hand sliding under the red fur, Vir Terragon’s eyes darkened—black, just like Ventus’s had before.

  Seeing that, I instinctively leaned even closer to my fake fiancé, fully aware that the advisor might actually kill us both right here, in front of a crowd.

  And the Emperor?

  He’d probably just wag a finger and scold him for making such a mess in public.

  Apparently, Chester understood that too.

  He turned me to face him, pulling me tightly to his chest and speaking loud enough for half the hall to hear:

  “You’re scaring my fiancée, Vir Terragon. She gets nervous when elemental energy flares up. I hope you’ll excuse us.”

  And without waiting for a reply, Chester quickly led me away.