The dessert shop was quiet as the sun began to sink behind the buildings. The warm lights inside reflected softly on the glass windows, illuminating the display of cookies and pastries that Clara had baked earlier that day. Business had gone well, and for once, Clara allowed herself to relax.
Lily locked the front door and turned the sign to Closed.
"Another good day," she said with a smile. "Let's go home."
Clara nodded, carefully turning off the lights. As they stepped outside, the night air felt unusually heavy—too still, as if the world itself was holding its breath.
That was when the air in front of them shifted.
A familiar presence sent a chill down Clara's spine.
From the shadows, the mysterious woman appeared once more. She seemed unchanged—her expression calm, her eyes deep and unreadable, as though she existed slightly outside of time itself.
Lily froze. "C–Clara…?" she whispered, her voice trembling.
The woman stepped closer, her gaze fixed on Clara alone. Without a word, she reached out and placed something cold and metallic into Clara's palm.
It was a ring.
The ring was simple yet ancient, decorated with delicate engravings that seemed to shift when Clara looked at them too long. The moment it touched her skin, Clara felt a faint pulse—like a heartbeat that wasn't her own.
"This ring," the woman finally spoke, her voice low and steady, "can open portals to the secret rooms."
Clara's eyes widened. "Secret… rooms?"
"You may use everything inside them," the woman continued. "They exist beyond ordinary space. Knowledge, tools, memories—things long forgotten."
Clara tightened her grip on the ring. Questions flooded her mind.
"How do I use it?" she asked quickly. "Where are these rooms? Why are you giving this to me now?"
But the woman's expression did not change.
Instead, she took a single step back—and vanished, dissolving into the darkness as if she had never been there at all.
"No—wait!" Clara called out.
Silence answered her.
Lily stood frozen, her mind struggling to process what she had just witnessed. "…Did that really just happen?" she asked weakly.
Clara could only stare at the ring in her hand.
They walked home in near silence.
Once inside the apartment, Lily finally spoke again. "Clara… that ring. Who was that woman? And why did she give it to you?"
Clara slowly shook her head. "I don't know," she admitted. "I truly don't know anything about it."
She looked down at the ring once more, unease settling deep within her chest.
For the first time in a long while, Clara felt the same sensation she had felt centuries ago—
the feeling that something from her past was reaching out to her again.
And whatever waited behind that ring's power…
it was not finished with her yet.