by AIN_1106
In a world ruled by magic, Witches are hunted as heretics, ruthlessly purged by the kingdom's Mages. Lyra is one such heretic. An outcast targeted by the world for the crime of her existence, she is chased to the absolute brink of survival. Bleeding and exhausted, she drops from the sky, welcoming death as a final release from a society that wants her burned. Instead, she opens her eyes in the custody of a man who smiles like the devil. Lucian is an outcast of a different kind. Born without a single drop of usable power, he is a ghost in a society built on magical status. Yet, he is utterly, dangerously obsessed with the very force denied to him. He doesn't seek glory, and he doesn't want to be a savior. He has only one singular, unyielding goal: to finally feel mana inside his own body. Brought together by a tense, defensive contract, the hunted witch and the magicless cynic forge an alliance born of pure necessity. Lucian needs a window into the magic he cannot touch; Lyra needs a sanctuary from the mages hunting her down. But beneath Lucian’s uncanny smile lies a hidden equation—and a dark, ancient fragment—that neither of them is ready for. To survive, they will have to look past the superstitions of the kingdom and begin reverse-engineering the very laws of magic.
