When Noella Rose signed the contract to become Delmarth Academy's first official school counselor, she thought she was agreeing to work at a boarding school in upstate New York. Unbeknownst to her, the moment her pen left that page, she magically bound herself to a school in a completely different dimension, in the kingdom of Cavale. Now trapped in Cavale until the school year comes to a close, Ella is forced to work alongside beings of immense power called Primordials, who view emotions as pesky hindrances and have been taught to despise humans from what they call the Earthly Plane. Ella's coworkers are determined to send her back to her own land, believing her presence in their world will be a dangerous influence on the students of Delmarth-particularly Kellen Kilic, the Varmin department head who's made it his personal vendetta to make her life a living hell. Ella must find a way to do her job, be an advocate for the student's mental well-being, and survive the school year, hoping to prove to these formidable beings that the most powerful magic of all can be the embracement of feeling. Kellen Kilic has spent the past twelve years fighting a system designed to fail him in order to protect his two younger siblings. He gave up everything for his future to take care of the twins and against all odds finally gained full custody of them. The arrival of the human Noella Rose at Delmarth Academy threatens all the hard work Kellen has done to protect the twins from their mother. He hates Noella with every fiber of his being, yet finds himself inevitably drawn to her as his siblings begin seeing her for counseling. Noella makes him question what he was taught to view strength as, finding power and beauty in the way she teaches both the students and him not to fear their emotions. Kellen finds himself in a battle between his head and his heart, between what he believes he needs to do to protect the twins and what he wants for himself, which slowly over time becomes the human he's supposed to despise.
