The girl looked as though she wanted to say something, but every time Aveline glanced her way, she looked away too quickly, nervous and uncertain.

Aveline’s patience had been thinning with each passing day. The pressure of being watched, whispered about, and avoided had started to wear on her nerves. Also, she couldn’t get inside the archduke’s lab. He had locked the doors and she couldn’t slip in. She was not in a great mood these days.

So, without thinking too much about it, she followed the girl.

She caught up to her in a narrow, dim alleyway between two wings of the Arcanum, where the stone walls held the cool, damp scent of moss and shadow.

The moment the girl saw her, she recoiled.

"Please, don’t hurt me!" she shrank back against the wall, fear flashing across her face.

Aveline stopped short.

Hurt her?

Before she could decide whether to be offended or confused, the girl rushed to explain in a trembling voice.

"I only wanted to ask you something," she said, words tumbling out in a hurry. "About how you identify the Aetherstones. You always get it right on the first try..."

Aveline leaned in slightly, her patience already frayed and her curiosity sharper than her sympathy at that moment. The girl trembled in front of her, so frightened that her shoulders seemed to fold inward on themselves.

Aveline stared at her.

"Why do you think I would hurt you just because you spoke to me?" she asked, more puzzled than angry.

The girl lifted her eyes then, and tears shone there instantly.

"You are Lord Sylvarien’s marked one, aren’t you?" she whispered.

Aveline’s brows lifted.

Seriously?

The girl’s voice trembled so badly that the words nearly broke apart before they reached Aveline properly.

"You’re Lord Sylvarien’s marked one... aren’t you?"

Aveline stared at her for a long moment, stunned into silence.

The narrow alleyway between the stone buildings was cold and damp, the moss-covered walls trapping the chill inside like a secret. Above them, the distant sounds of students moving through the academy echoed faintly, but here, hidden away from the main pathways, it felt strangely isolated.

The girl pressed herself harder against the wall as if she truly believed Aveline might strike her at any second. Her hands were shaking so badly that the sleeves of her worn linen uniform rustled softly with every tremor.

And for the first time since arriving at the Arcanum, Aveline realized something important.

They were afraid of her.

Not because of who she truly was.

Because of what they believed she belonged to.

"Marked?" Aveline repeated slowly.

The girl immediately lowered her head. "I-I’m sorry," she stammered. "I shouldn’t have said it out loud..."

Aveline blinked at her.

"No, wait," she said quickly. "Explain."

The girl hesitated before finally lifting her watery eyes again.

"When a noble takes interest in someone... especially someone powerful or beautiful... people say they’ve been marked," she whispered. "It means they’re under that noble’s protection. Nobody dares touch them after that."

Aveline’s brows slowly furrowed.

Protection?

Her thoughts immediately drifted toward Theron.

Toward the silk uniforms, the luxurious room, the way nobody openly harassed her despite the whispers.

And then...

Aelion.

Aveline’s expression stiffened slightly.

Had everyone misunderstood because he spoke to her twice?

Or worse...

Had Aelion allowed them to misunderstand on purpose?

The girl swallowed nervously beneath Aveline’s silence.

"Lord Sylvarien is famous," she whispered carefully. "Most people stay away from anyone connected to him."

Aveline tilted her head. "Why?"

The girl looked horrified that she even had to ask.

"Because he’s terrifying."

That made Aveline blink.

Terrifying?

That ethereal silver-haired man who looked like moonlight given human form?

That strange man who called her dumb while throwing lightning from his hands?

That man?

Seeing Aveline’s disbelief, the girl hurried to explain.

"He smiles while ruining people," she whispered. "And... and the Sylvarien family..."

Her voice trailed off as fear crossed her face again, as though merely speaking about them aloud was dangerous.

Aveline noticed it immediately.

The shadows around the girl trembled.

Fear. Real fear.

Aveline looked down quietly, her thoughts turning inward, as she was beginning to understand something terrifying.

People’s hearts were uglier than monsters.

At least the creature from before had attacked openly.

Humans smiled first.

Aveline suddenly let out a quiet sigh and leaned back against the mossy wall beside the trembling girl.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Then Aveline quietly asked, "What’s your name?"

The girl startled as if she had not expected kindness after being cornered like this.

"...Lydia."

Aveline nodded once.

"Well, Lydia," she said softly, "I’m not Lord Sylvarien’s anything."

Lydia looked unconvinced.

Aveline almost laughed.

Honestly, even she would not believe herself at this point.

Still, she looked up toward the distant sky visible between the academy buildings, and her chest tightened painfully again.

Theron.

The ache of missing him had not lessened. If anything, it had grown worse with every passing day.

She still remembered the warmth inside that token before it turned cold. She still remembered the pain she felt from him.

And the worst part was not knowing why he was keeping away from her.

Aveline pressed her lips together hard before forcing herself back to the present.

No.

Crying would solve nothing. She had survived ten years in Willowgrave. She could survive this too.

Slowly, she straightened her posture.

She looked back at Lydia, and this time there was something steadier in her gaze. Something resolved.

"You live in the attics?" Aveline asked softly.

Lydia looked up in surprise before nodding carefully, almost as though she feared the answer itself might offend her.

Aveline remembered those cramped upper floors all too clearly. The narrow halls that smelled faintly of damp wood and worn cloth. The tiny rooms where too many girls slept side by side beneath thin blankets while winter air slipped through cracks in the walls.

She had seen girls there whose hands trembled from exhaustion while noble children complained about lukewarm tea downstairs.

The difference between the lower and upper floors of the Arcanum felt less like architecture and more like a reminder of how cruel the world could be.

"How about living with me?" Aveline asked suddenly.

Lydia’s eyes widened.

"I... I dare not," she said at once, bowing her head.

Aveline sighed quietly. Even kindness frightened people here.

"There’s an empty room beside mine," she explained. "It was meant for a maid."

Her voice softened a little after that.

"I do not need a maid," she admitted. "But I do need company."

The words left her more honestly than she intended.

Because loneliness had begun to settle into her bones here. Every hallway felt too large. Every meal too quiet. Every night too cold.

She missed Theron.

She missed having someone look at her without fear.

Lydia slowly lifted her head again, disbelief flickering openly across her face now.

"I can have an entire room?" she whispered.

Aveline nodded.

"With a warm bed. A study desk." She hesitated before adding almost awkwardly, "And they give me larger meal portions than I can finish."

That finally broke through Lydia’s caution.

Wonder filled the girl’s green eyes so suddenly that it made something ache inside Aveline’s chest. No one should look that shocked at the idea of warmth and food.

"You can move your things tonight," Aveline continued. "And if anyone asks, tell them you’re my maid. No one will bother you then."

"I don’t mind being your maid, Lady Vaelreth," Lydia said quickly, almost desperately, as though afraid the offer might disappear if she refused the title.

Aveline shook her head immediately.

"As I said, I do not need a maid."

What she needed was someone who would speak to her normally. Someone who would sit beside her without trembling. Someone who would not look at her like she was either cursed or useful.

Someone who could remind her she was still human.

Lydia stared at her for a long moment before her eyes began to water slightly. She lowered her head quickly, trying to hide it.

"Thank you," she whispered. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

After sending Lydia toward her classes, Aveline remained standing there alone in the corridor.

But this time, the loneliness did not feel quite as sharp.

Slowly, the softness left her expression.

Her eyes narrowed with thought.

Now...

She needed to find Aelion.