Lile was speechless at Adrianna's behavior. She went after her, but Adrianna had gone far ahead. She had turned into an alley where Lile wasn't allowed. Lile went out to stand on the edge of the alley that opened in the academy garden. Other than the noise of the flags flapping in the near gale, there was hardly any other sound. She looked above at the sky, as she sighed. Her heart beat a little faster thinking about how traitorous Adrianna was. She asked for help one time and Adrianna refused instantly. Was she her friend, even once? Her inner peace was shattered and she felt she had to settle the score. The bell rang for the next class and the day continued. Lile didn't know where else to go other than those three boys that were with her in the potion class.

Since there was no potion class, Adrianna was called by Ziu. He had a lot of tasks for her. There were many spells that she had to learn, and he wanted to complete them all in a day. It was getting difficult for Adrianna, as her mind was preoccupied. She wanted to talk to Dmitri urgently. There was no one else who knew of her predicament. Isidorus had already made his stance clear. As the day was ending, Adrianna was getting all the more nervous.

​​

Ziu had noticed her. He wanted to comfort her but at the same time, he wanted to punish her. He was in a dilemma about what to do with his own feelings. He left her on her own for some time on the pretext of meeting people in order to clear his mind.

Adrianna walked out of the room. She missed Liam's presence who had been called by Dmitri to help him around. Adrianna knew that Liam was better off in the werewolf kingdom than over here. She crossed her arms across her chest as the cold breeze passed. Her slender fingers pressed into the skin of her forearms almost to the point of pain. She was scared of the future that loomed before her. She feared what loomed before her.

Ziu came back from his room where he had sat down in his chair for some time. He was in the most awkward situation. He couldn't stop his feelings towards Adrianna and she was marked by Dmitri. They were soul mates – only death could part them and then also the other one lived a life of misery. He shook his head as to what had he gotten him into. He needed a break from all that was happening around him… He walked out of his room and went back to Adrianna. She was standing outside the room. He called her and said, "Adrianna, let's continue."

Adrianna was deep in her thoughts when he called from behind. Startled, she looked at him and nodded.

When the class ended, Ziu said, "Adrianna, if I am not wrong you are thinking about tomorrow?"

For a moment she thought he knew of her secret. She waited for him to speak further.

"If you feel that you are not able to sustain the hardship even for a day, you can send us that signal and we will take you back. Okay?"

She breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Okay."

"Be here tomorrow morning on time. We have already made the list of students as to who will enter through which portal."

"Yes," came a monotonous reply.

"I am sure you can make it Adrianna, don't take yourself so seriously."

Adrianna looked down at her robe.

Seeing that she was unwilling to speak much, Ziu left. There was nothing he could add further. He couldn't show favoritism to her nor could he help her. He could only encourage her.

Adrianna went to the Royal Palace. She walked around the garden to distract herself but she went back to thinking the same. She decided to visit Dmitri and called Fleur to create the portal. She wondered why was Ziu so secretive about her portal and thought of asking about it to Isidorus the next time they met.

Adrianna walked through the portal in the bedroom only to find it empty but she felt home. She went and lied in bed. She felt so peaceful that she dozed off. She woke up an hour later and went downstairs to eat dinner. To her surprise Dmitri was already there, eating his dinner. She rushed down the stairs, "Dmitri!" she shouted excitedly from behind and ran to him. Dmitri looked in her direction and gave her a huge smile. She went and hugged him from behind. She kissed him. "Where were you hubby? I missed you so much."

Dmitri pulled her in his lap and kissed her lips as she circled her arms around his neck.

"Afraid for tomorrow?" he asked as he read her mind.

"Yes…"

Dmitri started eating again and fed her from his plate. "Eat first and then we will talk."