The corridor outside the greenhouse still smelled of ash when Evelyn found Isabella alone.
She sat on a bench, pale hands folded neatly in her lap, her expression serene—as if smoke didn't still stain the air.
Evelyn didn't waste time. "You dropped something."
Isabella looked up slowly, her lashes fluttering. "Excuse me?"
Evelyn pulled the charm token from her pocket and let it drop onto the bench between them.
The delicate silver disk spun once before settling—tainted, slightly warped by fire.
For the first time, Isabella's eyes lost their innocence.
"I imagine your room was just too far to walk this morning?" Evelyn asked, voice quiet but sharp. "Or did you want me to find it?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"No?" Evelyn stepped closer. "Then maybe you can explain why a charm only you carry was found in the middle of a fire meant to expose the entire alchemical wing. Or why every time something threatens the Academy—it somehow circles back to you."
Isabella's lips parted, then pressed back together, her perfect composure cracking like porcelain.
"You've always had a flair for drama," she said at last. "Maybe you should ask yourself why everyone's looking at you, Evelyn. Why the accidents started when you arrived."
Evelyn didn't flinch. "The difference is—I never hid."
Their eyes locked.
And then Isabella smiled—a slow, poisonous curve of her lips. "You're not the only one with secrets. You think Alexander knows all of yours? You think Caelan's just a friend?"
Evelyn's breath caught.
Before she could ask more, footsteps echoed behind them.
Caelan.
He didn't say a word as he approached, but Isabella rose to her feet, smoothing her skirt as though nothing had happened.
"Don't worry," she whispered. "Your fairytale isn't over yet. But don't be surprised when the prince turns his back."
She brushed past Caelan, her perfume trailing in her wake like poison in silk.
Evelyn didn't move. Her fingers closed around the token again—still warm, still real.
"I need to know the truth," she whispered.
Caelan looked at her then—his eyes strangely conflicted.
"You will," he said. "But when you do, you'll have to decide who to trust. And who you're willing to lose."