SHADOWS OF NOCTIS

At Noctis Academy, the empire does not train students. It creates weapons. After her father is executed for treason, Evelyn Valehart survives by becoming invisible. Quiet girls live longer in royal kingdoms. Especially at Noctis Academy— the empire’s brutal gothic war institution where noble heirs learn strategy, magic, and how to kill without hesitation. Evelyn arrives with nothing except: a scholarship, her dead father’s encrypted journal, and a dangerous suspicion that the empire buried something monstrous beneath the academy cathedral. She does not expect to attract the attention of Lucien Mordane. The crown prince. The empire’s most feared war heir. The boy whispered about in candlelit corridors like a curse. Cold. Untouchable. Violent. Students fear him enough to lower their eyes when he walks past. But Evelyn notices something nobody else does: Lucien looks exhausted. As political conspiracies tighten around Noctis and students begin disappearing beneath the academy, Evelyn uncovers terrifying truths about forbidden shadow rituals, dead royal heirs, and the horrifying experiments that transformed Lucien into something more weapon than human. The closer she gets to the truth— the closer Lucien gets to her. And the empire’s perfect prince begins unraveling in dangerous ways: watching her too closely, sleeping outside her door, threatening anyone who touches her, losing control whenever she’s hurt. Because Evelyn becomes the first person to look at Lucien Mordane and see: not a monster. Just a boy taught his entire life that love was weakness. But some kingdoms are built on blood. Some princes are born to destroy empires. And some love stories are less about salvation— and more about choosing who you’re willing to ruin the world for.