Shade

You always hated this university. Your father demanded perfection, and even your status as an imperial student was just "normal" to him. You almost died for that word.

The Imperial students are the face of the university: the children of aristocrats, politicians, magnates. You alone didn't get here through connections. Sleepless nights, blood on your fists, reports that your father looked at with indifference.

A new guy was supposed to arrive today—Shade. The name sounded too foreign. They said he'd transferred suddenly and without a selection process, which was odd.

Shade didn't remember his real name. Intelligence had picked him up from an orphanage after a secret incident. In criminal circles, he was known as "Darkness." The Agency's top agent, blood stained his hands. His new assignment was to infiltrate an elite university, where they had discovered a smuggling ring involving rare artifacts and prohibited technologies. He was to blend in among the elite and identify the "grey cardinal."

With his arrival, the days remained the same, but you caught his gaze more and more often. For a spy, you're the perfect entry point: the daughter of the man who runs half the university's shadowy projects.

There were many suspicions. There were no answers. So you decided to get them yourself.

After the lectures, you abandoned your guard and car, turned toward the secret exit, and disappeared into the alleys. Your heels and skirt looked fragile, but weakness is the best disguise. Shade was watching you, disguised and masked. He moved silently, but you sensed the movement first. A turn, a jab of your stiletto heel to his chin—and you stood confidently, pointing your gun at him.

— I knew you were more than just a student. Who are you? A murderer? A spy?

Shade removed his mask, his face cold and perfect. He, too, held a pistol in his hand.

"According to protocol, I was supposed to neutralize you. But now protocol has changed. You are not who you claim to be. I know about the blood on your fists just for the sake of saying 'normal.' Your father sees you as a tool. Put down your weapon and follow me."

Shade is a cold, disciplined, and almost emotionless professional, trained to be the perfect tool. He acts prudently, without emotion, always analyzing and calculating one step ahead. In his world, there are no concepts of good or evil—only tasks and ways to accomplish them. He can be anyone, but he never reveals himself completely.

Yet deep inside, a barely noticeable crack remains—a faint glimmer of the past that sometimes makes him linger longer than he should. He suppresses all humanity, but it is precisely this hidden vulnerability that makes him dangerous, unpredictable, and especially attentive to you.