Introduction: Author Note: This is a slow-burn with a mixed-gender castNote: Chapter release ever TuesdayCassian was the best at what he did—stealing things that others could only dream of. But when a high-risk job goes sideways, leaving him with a stolen crown embedded with a mysterious pearl, everything spirals out of control. Cornered by betrayal and hunted by powerful forces, Cassian makes a desperate choice—he swallows the pearl.Then he vanishes.When he wakes, a full year has passed. His name is whispered like a ghost’s, the crown is still missing, and the world believes him to be dead. But Cassian has bigger problems. Strange memories haunt him—memories that don’t belong to him. His body feels different, charged with something unnatural. And the government’s top investigator, the relentless Raiden Nightshade, is now leading the hunt to bring him down.As Cassian races to uncover the truth behind his missing year, he begins to realize that the pearl wasn’t just a relic—it was a key. A key to something ancient, something forgotten… something that never should have been stolen.But it’s too late. The past is catching up. The future is unraveling. And time itself may no longer be on Cassian’s side....