Introduction: Mo Nightshade was perfectly happy with her life as a mundane bookstore clerk. No dark magic. No villainous schemes. No monologues about world domination.Then a cursed summons arrived, and just like that, her everyday life went up in smoke. Literally.Now she's stuck at Umbra Academy, a prestigious (and completely ridiculous) school for future dark overlords, where dramatic cape-twirling is a graduation requirement and betrayal earns extra credit. To make things worse, she's been declared the next Dark Lady of Blackthorn Keep, a title that comes with a crumbling castle, incompetent minions, and a seat on the Villain High Council she has no idea how to use.The only problem? Mo is terrible at being a villain. Even worse, her rival, Valerius Crowe, is everything she's not鈥攑owerful, ruthless, and obsessed with proving she's unworthy of her title鈥攚hich would be easier to ignore if he weren't also frustratingly attractive.At least she's not alone. She has found unlikely allies who are just as bad at villainy as she is:? Nyxir "Nyx" Obscuris鈥攁 gender-fluid Infernal Titanborn demon who can shift their form at will, much to the horror of their rigid, tradition-obsessed noble family.? Lucian "Luce" Frostbrook鈥攁 gay ice mage from a bloodthirsty, murderous clan who would rather write love poetry and sculpt snowflakes than stab people.? And then there's Julian Fennar, the too-kind white magic scholar who doesn't belong at a villain school but refuses to leave. Not that we should talk about him here.If villainy is mandatory, at least they can all fail spectacularly together. And maybe, just maybe, they'll discover that the greatest rebellion of all is redefining what it means to be a Dark Lady鈥攐n their own terms.What to expect?? Female MC? Young adult characters who explore societal boundaries and their gender roles? Magic academy with dark fantasy elements? Rivalry, slow-burn romance, and morally grey characters? Villainous politics, betrayals, and reluctant leadership? A found family of misfits, including a gender-fluid demon and a poetic ice mage? Snark, wit, and a protagonist who absolutely refuses to be what society expects? Soft magic system. No LitRPG elements. There will be some progression element. It's a school story, you know :)? Chapter length: ~2,500-3,500 words? 2 chapters per week (starting with the 20th of March)The goal is to have approximately 25 chapters (75000 words) in the first book. I started writing this story because my wife loves YA stories about high school and college. And her birthday is exactly 25 weeks away from the moment the first chapter of this book is posted on RR. Since then, the plan has changed slightly as I switched to a twice-per-week schedule. But then, maybe she'll get two books for the price of one for her birthday:)I hope you will enjoy this ride with me, and I hope my wife likes it when she reads this book!...