The estate did not change.
That was the first cruelty.
Stone remained stone.
Windows held the same pale light.
The long corridor still smelled faintly of polish and old paper — a place meant for scholarship, not revelation.
Yet Elara walked through it as though gravity had altered.
Reality had not shattered.
It had bent.
And something inside her refused to return to its former shape.
Her footsteps slowed near the archway overlooking the inner courtyard. Morning light lay across the stone like quiet judgment.
Students crossed in small clusters beyond the gates. Voices drifted faintly.
Normal life.
Normal sounds.
Normal safety.
A bitter breath escaped her.
"Normal," she murmured. "What a ridiculous word."
Behind her, Alessandro did not immediately answer.
He had allowed distance — not far, but deliberate. Enough to lessen the invisible pressure she now recognized as instinct pressing against restraint.
Enough to let her breathe.
