1. Ophelia

Ophelia arrives at Sorrowsong University despite a deathbed promise to her father never to attend. On the fog-shrouded road leading to the castle, she is nearly hit by a luxury Rolls-Royce driven by a charming but unsettling man named Alex, who offers her a ride and learns nothing about her true identity or purpose.

Ophelia stands at the gates of Sorrowsong University, wrestling with the weight of her promise to her dead father and her complete lack of choice in her circumstances. She is nearly struck by a black Rolls-Royce Phantom driven by a man named Alex—well-dressed but tattooed, exuding old money and danger. After a tense confrontation where he holds her duffel bag hostage, she reluctantly accepts a ride into the castle grounds. During the short drive, they engage in sharp banter tinged with an unsettling chemistry; Alex makes cryptic jokes about being a kidnapper and draws, and hints at darker knowledge through double meanings. As they arrive at the castle and he parks in a space marked for the Chancellor, Ophelia realizes there is something familiar and warning-like about him. She escapes the car with her bags, aware of his stare but determined to focus on her two hidden goals: graduating and uncovering why her parents died near this location a mile from where they parked.