The courtyard was alive with morning chatter. Robes fluttered. Books rustled. The crystal bell above the academy tower rang like wind over glass.
Auren stood beneath the old tree near the eastern wall, where the sunlight fell through fractured branches, sketching dappled shadows on his sleeves. His fingers were curled around the silver ring that hung from his neck, hidden beneath his collar.
Another day, another performance.
They still think I have everything together.
Keep your posture. Answer clearly. Don't let your eyes show it.
"Vale," someone called out. A classmate — voice bright, familiar. "You heading to elemental recitation?"
Auren turned slightly and offered the practiced half-smile.
"Yes. I'll see you there."
The boy jogged off without waiting. That was how it usually went. People spoke to him as if he were already whole, a figure carved out of expectations. They never stayed long enough to notice the quiet behind his eyes.
Maybe that's easier. If they don't stay, they can't ask what's wrong.
He took the long path to class, walking slowly, as if each step helped him hold himself together.
The academy grounds stretched wide around him a semi-modern marvel that hummed with enchantments hidden in stone. Ancient sigils flickered beneath the tiled walkways. The air itself seemed to listen. Somewhere beneath these buildings, he knew, deeper magic slept. Magic that tied to something more personal. Something buried.
Auren stopped outside the lecture hall. He could hear laughter inside, the kind that echoed too loud when you felt far away.
He didn't step in yet. He leaned against the wall, his eyes half-closed.
This isn't fear. This is just exhaustion.
Of pretending. Of keeping the flame steady when it wants to flicker.
His thoughts were interrupted by a voice behind him quieter than most, but sharp with edge.
"You don't look like someone who's late. More like someone who's drifting."
It was Kael'Thorne.
Auren's jaw tightened. He straightened his back before replying.
"I could say the same."
Kael's expression curled into something close to a smirk.
"People think too much of you, you know. It must be exhausting, being the academy's soft-spoken saint."
Auren didn't answer.
He just walked past him and into the hall.
Let them talk. That's easier than explaining what they don't want to understand.
Inside, the seats were already filling. Scrolls, glyphs, murmurs. He found his usual corner far enough to observe, close enough to be unseen.
He sat. He unrolled his parchment. He breathed.
Across the room, a pale girl with silver-woven blindfolds turned her head slightly in his direction. She didn't say a word. But somehow, Auren felt as though she saw him more clearly than anyone else.
Senna.
There's something strange about her… not in the way others think. She's not curious about me. She just… listens, even in silence.
He looked down at his notes.
The symbols blurred.
The ring beneath his shirt pulsed faintly against his chest.
You were always good at hiding it, weren't you, Vale? But how long can you keep doing that before even you forget who you are?