by beyondbedtime
When he died with a fantasy novel on his chest, he did not expect to wake up inside it. He especially did not expect to wake up as Lucian Veyre — minor noble, background decoration, a name that appeared in four scenes of The Sovereign's Rise and then quietly disappeared. No grand destiny. No magic. No plot relevance whatsoever. Perfect, honestly. He'll keep his head down, avoid the major events he vaguely remembers, let the actual protagonist have his power fantasy in peace, and survive to see the ending from a comfortable distance. The plan is flawless. The plan lasts exactly one week. Because apparently Prince Caelum — silver-haired, sharp-eyed, and constitutionally incapable of caring about anything — has decided that Lucian is personally irritating. Cassian Aldenmere, heir to one of the five great houses, cannot understand why this nobody from a minor house refuses to be impressed by him. And Theron, a knight sworn to another lord's service, has been watching Lucian since the first day of term with the quiet intensity of a man who already knows something Lucian doesn't. None of them were supposed to notice him. None of them were in his four scenes. And then comes the Ceremony of Binding — where every noble student receives their grimoire and proves their worth to the kingdom. Lucian walks up to the Binding Stone with no magic, no grimoire, and absolutely no plan. What he gets instead is a pale, flickering light. Barely a candle. Laughable, really. Please ignore this candle. ...Someone probably should have.
