Inked Blade, Secret Pen

At Saint-Vermeil Academy, every cadet bears a Steel Oath tattoo that rots at any lie. Overlooked duelist Esme Calvier secretly writes the empire's finest dueling memoirs under the name V. Marrante. When she faces Lucien Aubray in the semi-finals—the heir whose memoir she ghostwrote—he starts quoting her own lines back to her at midnight, forcing answers she can't lie about.