(The day when Kyle left — Friday)
The door creaked as Aurelia finally stumbled into their apartment.
She squinted at the clock through bleary eyes.
11:54 PM.
"Gods, I'm exhausted," she groaned, leaning against the wall as she wrestled with her boots.
One stubborn boot refused to come off, making her hop awkwardly before it finally surrendered with a thud against the wooden floor.
The apartment was too quiet.
Normally at this hour, she would hear the telltale signs of Kyle still awake.
The rustle of spell diagrams being studied.
The occasional muttered curse when a mana exercise went wrong, or, worst-case scenario, the smell of something burning from one of his 'harmless experiments.'
But tonight? Silence.
"He must have finally gone to bed at a decent hour" she murmured, though her fingers twitched with unease.
Still dressed in her academy uniform she tiptoed down the hallway.
The old floorboards, usually so vocal about every step, stayed mercifully quiet beneath her.
