The day ended with a series of events Aeliana had never foreseen. Slowly, she was learning to adjust to the strange and unsettling things she witnessed inside Silvanus’s very own office—it was, after all, her first day stepping foot there.

Everyone seemed to think she was the villain. Whispers surrounded her, laced with cutting words meant to wound. Yet in truth, it was Silvanus himself who was guilty—he, who was committing the sin of betrayal.

Composing herself, Aeliana prepared to ...