Crimson Veil

Chapter 1 —

Lena woke up to the sharp beep of her alarm cutting through the silence of her room.

For a few seconds, she just lay there, staring at the ceiling.

“…Five more minutes,” she muttered, pulling the blanket over her head.

The alarm kept ringing.

With a groan, she finally sat up and glanced at her phone.

Her eyes widened.

“—I’M LATE.”

She shot out of bed, nearly tripping over her blanket.

Within minutes, she rushed into the bathroom, brushing her teeth in a hurry, water splashing everywhere as she tried to fix her hair at the same time.

“This is fine. Totally fine,” she mumbled to herself while half-dressed.

After quickly getting ready, she grabbed her bag and sprinted out of her apartment.

By the time Lena reached the university entrance, she was already out of breath.

She hurried through the campus, heading straight for her classroom.

As she turned down the hallway, she spotted Adrian standing outside the classroom.

He glanced at her.

“You’re always late. Can’t you wake up a bit earlier?”

Lena frowned.

“I’m not that late.”

Adrian tilted his head.

“It’s literally five minutes into class.”

“That’s not late. That’s… fashionably late.”

“Fashionably late?”

“Exactly.”

Adrian stared at her for a moment before sighing.

“You're impossible.”

Lena grinned.

“And yet, you’re still waiting for me.”

“I was waiting because you have the notes from yesterday.”

Her smile disappeared.

“…Oh.”

Adrian raised an eyebrow.

“You forgot them, didn’t you?”

“No.”

“Lena.”

“…Maybe.”

He shook his head.

“Come on. The professor is already inside.”

The two quickly entered the classroom.

Lena quietly slipped into her seat beside Adrian, trying her best not to attract the professor’s attention.

For the next hour, everything seemed completely normal.

Lectures.

Notes.

The occasional whisper between them.

Nothing unusual.

Until the professor mentioned an old story during class.

“According to some old records,” the professor said, “there are several legends about worlds hidden beyond our own.”

Lena looked up from her notebook.

Adrian noticed.

“Interested?”

“Not really.”

“You've been staring at the board for the last five minutes.”

“I was listening.”

“Sure.”

Lena rolled her eyes and went back to writing.

The lecture continued.

By the time class ended, Lena was already exhausted.

She stretched in her chair.

“Finally.”

Adrian packed his things.

“You have another class after this.”

Lena froze.

“…I do?”

He looked at her.

“You forgot?”

She slowly lowered her head onto the desk.

“I want to go home.”

Adrian laughed.

“You say that every day.”

“Because every day I have reasons.”

“What's today's reason?”

“I'm tired.”

“That’s not a reason.”

“It is to me.”

They left the classroom together, continuing their usual teasing as they walked through the university halls.

Rain tapped softly against the university windows as Lena Marry rested her cheek against her desk, staring blankly at the clock above the classroom door.

Ten more minutes.

Or maybe nine.

She sighed dramatically.

“If I die here, delete my search history.”

A quiet snort came from beside her.

“You say that every class,” Adrian muttered without looking up from his notebook.

Lena turned toward him with narrowed eyes.

“One day, I’ll mean it.”

“You’re too lazy to be dramatic.”

“Wow. Your support means everything to me.”

Adrian finally glanced at her, his expression calm as always.

“You forgot your notes again, didn’t you?”

Lena froze.

“…Maybe.”

Without another word, he slid a notebook onto her desk.

She stared at him.

“You already knew?”

“You’re predictable.”

“You’re irritating.”

“And yet, you’d fail without me.”

Lena clicked her tongue and opened the notebook anyway.

Unfortunately, he was right.

By the time classes ended, the rain had gotten heavier.

Students hurried through campus with umbrellas while Lena stood beneath the building entrance, staring at the gray sky with visible disappointment.

“I hate rain.”

“You hate everything before eating lunch,” Adrian replied.

“That’s different.”

“It’s really not.”

Lena ignored him and adjusted the strap of her bag.

She didn’t feel like going home yet. Her apartment would just feel empty anyway.

“I’m going to the library,” she said suddenly.

Adrian looked at her suspiciously.

“Voluntarily?”

“I know. Shocking.”

“You sure you won’t get trapped in a bookshelf?”

“Very funny.”

“It was a serious concern.”

Lena rolled her eyes and walked away before he could continue talking.

Still, she could hear his quiet laugh behind her.

The university library was unusually empty.

Only a few lamps illuminated the long rows of shelves, their golden light barely warming the cold atmosphere. Rain echoed softly against the tall windows while Lena wandered aimlessly between the aisles, pretending she was searching for something important.

Her fingers brushed across old book spines absentmindedly until—

She stopped.

A dark red book rested between two dusty shelves where it clearly didn’t belong.

Lena frowned.

The cover was worn with age, lined with faded golden patterns twisting across the surface like vines.

At the center, written in elegant silver lettering, were two words.

Crimson Veil.

“…Dramatic,” she muttered.

But something about it felt strange.

The moment she touched it, a cold sensation crawled across her fingertips.

Lena immediately pulled her hand back.

“…Okay. That was weird.”

After glancing around to make sure nobody had seen her getting scared by a book, she carefully opened it.

The pages were filled with elegant writing.

Kingdoms.

Noble families.

Veils.

Magic.

Her eyes scanned lazily until a single line caught her attention.

“When the veil breaks, forgotten destinies shall awaken once more.”

For a brief second—

Lena heard whispers.

Soft.

Distant.

Unfamiliar.

And suddenly—

A silver hallway flashed across her vision.

Rain against massive palace windows.

A figure standing alone beneath golden light.

Then it disappeared.

Lena blinked rapidly.

“…What?”

The library was silent again.

Only rain.

Nothing else.

She stared at the page for a long moment before quietly closing the book.

“…I’m definitely sleep-deprived.”

Still—

She checked the book out anyway.

That night, Lena sat cross-legged on her bed with the book open in front of her.

Originally, she had only planned to read a few pages.

That had been three hours ago.

“…Just one more chapter,” she whispered to herself for the fifth time.

The story was strangely addictive.

Especially the Crown Prince.

Arther Sullivan.

Cold.

Elegant.

Distant.

Yet every scene involving him carried an odd loneliness Lena couldn’t explain.

The deeper she read, the more familiar everything started to feel.

As if she had seen this world before.

Eventually, exhaustion pulled at her eyes.

The book slipped slightly from her hands as sleep overtook her.

And then—

She dreamed.

Silver palace corridors stretched endlessly beneath dim golden chandeliers.

Rain struck towering windows.

A figure stood near the balcony.

Slender.

Straight-backed.

Royal.

Ginger hair moved softly in the wind as green eyes reflected the storm outside.

Lonely.

For some reason, Lena’s chest tightened.

Then shadows spread beneath the golden light.

Dark cracks swallowed the floor.

The figure slowly turned—

Lena woke up suddenly.

Her breathing was uneven.

The room was dark except for the weak glow of her bedside lamp.

“…What was that…?”

The book rested beside her silently.

Open.

As if waiting.

---

Over the next few days, things became worse.

Lena kept reading.

During lunch.

Between classes.

Late at night.

Even during lectures when Adrian wasn’t looking.

Actually—

He was looking.

Constantly.

“You’re obsessed,” Adrian said flatly one afternoon.

Lena didn’t glance up from the book.

“I prefer emotionally invested.”

“You nearly walked into a wall today.”

“That wall came out of nowhere.”

“You’ve barely slept.”

“I’m fine.”

“You look haunted.”

She finally looked at him.

“Thanks.”

“I’m serious.”

Something in his expression made her irritation spike unexpectedly.

Maybe because he sounded genuinely worried.

Maybe because she was already frustrated herself.

“The story changed again,” she muttered quietly.

Adrian blinked.

“What?”

“The chapters. They’re different.”

“…Lena.”

“I’m serious.”

“You probably remembered it wrong.”

“No, I didn’t.”

Students moved around them noisily while tension slowly built between them.

Adrian exhaled softly.

“You’re taking this too seriously.”

Lena’s grip tightened around the book.

“You don’t get it.”

“Then explain it to me.”

She opened her mouth—

Then stopped.

Because she couldn’t explain it.

Not the dreams.

Not the whispers.

Not the strange feeling that something inside the story was watching her back.

Frustration twisted in her chest.

“I can’t,” she snapped.

Adrian stared at her for a moment before speaking quietly.

“…You’re scaring me a little.”

Lena looked away immediately.

“Forget it.”

She stood up abruptly and walked off before he could stop her.

That night, rain thundered against Lena’s apartment windows.

The room felt colder than usual.

She sat alone on her bed with Crimson Veil resting open in her lap.

Her chest still felt heavy from the argument earlier.

Idiot.

Why did Adrian always act like he understood everything?

Lena exhaled sharply and looked back down at the page—

Then froze.

The text was different.

Her eyes widened.

Entire paragraphs had changed.

A chapter she clearly remembered was now missing.

“What…?”

Her hands trembled slightly as she flipped through the pages faster.

The story continued changing before her eyes.

Ink shifted.

Words rewrote themselves.

Then suddenly—

A new sentence slowly appeared across the page.

The Veil has begun to open.

The lights flickered.

A freezing wind swept through the room.

And then—

Someone knocked at the door.