Kaelen looks at the shattered mirror. "No," he says, his voice hoarse. "But I don't want to stay the same, either."
He touched the glass.
They walk out of the penthouse together—not as rivals, not as captor and captive, but as two people who have seen the world through the wrong set of eyes and are better for it. Kaelen's hand hovers near Lyra's. She takes it.
When it fades, Kaelen is back. Tweed vest, stubble, broad shoulders. He's kneeling on Lyra's floor, gasping. Kaelen looks at the shattered mirror
Lyra, ever the opportunist, offered a deal: "Model for my new immersive art exhibit, 'Different Perspectives.' You wear the clothes, attend the galas, and let people see you as Almerias's creation. In exchange, I research the reversal spell."
Lyra tries. She fails. Every time she looks at Kaia, she sees the perfect model, the tragic artwork, the "different perspective." Kaia takes the mirror shard herself. She holds it up to Lyra. "Stop looking at me. Look through me."
He touched her cheek. And to Kaia's horror, she did . The mirror shard in Lyra's safe wasn't just changing her body—it was bleeding memories into her mind. Flashes of a past life: dancing on marble floors, the weight of golden collars, the helpless thrill of being desired. They walk out of the penthouse together—not as
"You have to look at Kaia," Caspian tells Lyra, "and see Kaelen. Not the muse. Not the pretty body. The annoying, pedantic, brilliant man who loves footnotes."
Lord Caspian returns. He knows the true spell: to reverse the transformation, someone must see the transformed person not as their new self, but as their original self with perfect clarity.
Kaelen reached for it. "It's a theory. The curse doesn't change what you are, only how you perceive—" When it fades, Kaelen is back
"I see you," Lyra whispers.
Chapter 1: The Shattered Gaze Page 1-34: The Curious Scholar
In the broken shards of Almerias's mirror, a thousand different perspectives glint.
"What have you done?" he— she —breathed.