The bell releases the class. Students crowd toward Kael while Ara quietly packs with desperate speed and tries to leave unnoticed.

Ara moves through a sunlit academy corridor lined with stained glass, trying to calm herself while putting distance between herself and Kael.

Ara turns a corner and finds Kael already waiting in an empty west corridor washed in brutal afternoon sun.

Kael approaches without haste. Ara retreats until the corridor wall stops her, the sunlight turning claustrophobic.

Kael plants one hand on the wall beside Ara's head, trapping her without touching. His shadow falls over her face while sunlight burns around them.

Ara hides behind social distance and commoner status. Kael studies every twitch as if searching for a crack.

Kael presses for an answer with quiet intensity. Ara insists she is only a scholarship commoner with no connection to him.

Kael withdraws a worn silver ribbon from inside his coat. The corridor light catches the frayed edges like a relic.

The ribbon triggers a private memory flash from Ara's previous life. The flash is abrupt, rainy, and unexplained to Kael and the corridor.

The system window erupts with a new warning while Kael reads Ara's involuntary recognition of the ribbon.

Ara forces herself back into denial. Kael does not argue; he keeps the ribbon with the care of a sacred object.

Footsteps echo from a nearby stairwell. Kael steps back just enough for propriety, but the threat remains intimate.

Ara hurries away down the corridor while Kael remains in the stained-glass light. The system warning lingers like a stain between them.