Chapter 52: A Room Divided: Silk and Shadow
{IRIS}
Lord Val continued, tone colder than winter steel. "I am calling only to remind you not to speak to me in public. Do not approach me. We don’t know each other. Do not contact me unless it is very important. Is that understood?"
For a moment, I could not speak.
The temperature in the room seemed to drop. The moonlight felt harsher, colder, slicing down my arms like a reprimand.
"I... understand, Lord Val," I whispered at last, voice small, trembling at the edges.
Distance.
Formality.
Walls rebuilt in a heartbeat.
The call ended.
Silence pressed in from every corner of the room. Heavy. Suffocating.
It was the same cold hollowness I once felt when Lorcan rejected me—when he turned away with a dismissive tilt of his head, when my heart had caved inward like a ruined thing.
But this... this hurt differently.
Lord Val had been my shelter. My improbable protector. The one who shielded me from the world. My only ally.
And for a brief, fragile moment, I let myself believe we had drawn nearer—that I was more to him than a duty he begrudgingly bore, more than a pawn arranged among his pieces.
How foolish of me.
The echo of his voice lingered in my ear—distant, cold, and icy.
It felt as though I had been pushed back into the shadows... where creatures like me belonged.
I sat slowly on the edge of my bed, fingers trembling over the silver necklace Zephyros had placed around my throat.
The hollowness in my chest deepened, cracking open something fragile within me.
Why did being unwanted always hurt this much?
Why did it always feel like being left out in the snow?
I sighed and finally slipped beneath the covers, the moon casting long pale stripes across my sheets.
I wanted to see Lord Val. To speak to him. To hear even a fragment of warmth in his voice again.
But what could I do...if he no longer wished to see me?
Was all his earlier gentleness nothing but decorum? A kindness offered out of his own agenda?
Had I mistaken courtesy for closeness?
I no longer knew.
Those thoughts coiled tight beneath my ribs, and I drifted into sleep with that ache still breathing quietly in my chest.
====
I woke to chaos.
Thundering footsteps. Banging. Rustling fabric. Laughter.
"Ohohoho! I have arrived! Yes, yes—bring the trunks inside! Set that one near the window—careful, it’s imported! And those boxes go over there!"
"What—?"
Disoriented, I sat up, hair falling into my face. My vision swam before settling on the spectacle overtaking the entire dormitory room.
A stunning woman—radiant, golden-haired, and terrifyingly energetic—stood in the doorway, hands on her hips as she commanded a small army of trolls. Each worker carried mountains of luggage, ornate boxes, and shimmering parcels. They moved with frantic haste while she barked cheerful orders.
I had barely blinked before the room transformed around me.
Boxes stacked elegantly. Silks draped over bedposts. Colorful gowns hung neatly. Perfume bottles arranged in crystalline perfection.
Her belongings swallowed the empty space beside mine—and even spilled delicately into my own barren corner.
Not that I minded; my side of the room was embarrassingly plain.
The contrast was almost painful—her world bursting with color and luxury while mine sat silent and pale.
At last, the whirlwind stilled. The staff bowed themselves out. Quiet settled like dust after a storm.
The woman turned to me with a brilliant smile that lit up the room.
"You must be my roommate," she chirped. "I’m Caroline Hail. As you can see—human. Lovely to meet you."
Her cheerfulness hit me like a warm gust.
I hadn’t realized I was holding my breath until relief spilled out in a soft exhale.
At least she was friendly. Warm. Bright. Not a predator lurking behind a smile... not someone waiting to judge.
"I—my name is Iris Snow," I said shyly. "And I’m... I’m a werewolf."
Her blue eyes widened with curiosity, not fear.
"Oh? Truly? I thought the academy would pair me with a human also, considering... well... races don’t always get along. Some think humans are weak. Or—haha—food."
I stiffened. "Oh... I see."
Perhaps they paired me with her because I had no wolf. Because they considered me harmless.
"Well," I added softly, "I don’t mind humans. And I’m harmless, really."
She laughed—a bright, airy sound. "Ahahaha! Don’t worry. I don’t mind either. I can protect myself. I’ve had training. And I bite harder than I look."
Her grin was wickedly confident.
Despite everything—my anxiety, my exhaustion—the corners of my lips lifted.
"I hope we get along," she said warmly, extending her hand.
"M–me too..." I murmured, shaking it.
Her palm was warm against mine.
A heat so different from Lord Val’s cold untouchable distance... and Zephyros’s chilling, spectral presence.
A warmth that felt... human.
Kind.
Well . . . she is human.
Perhaps this place wouldn’t be as lonely as I feared.
For the first time in days, I felt a sliver of relief bloom quietly in my chest—like a candle flickering to life in a dark stone hall.
However... that fragile sense of ease did not last.
As the days crept toward the opening of the term, I slowly began to notice little things—small cracks in the golden charm that was Caroline Hail.
At first, it was simple.
She never cleaned.
Not the floors, not the desk, not even the pile of dresses she shed like flower petals across the room. While I swept the dust from beneath our beds or folded the laundry she left lying about, Caroline would be out in the bustling academy streets—shopping, gossiping, tasting pastries, or parading around in whichever new dress she had decided was "in season."
I didn’t mind cleaning; I had lived my whole life doing such chores.
My hands fell naturally into the rhythm—wipe, fold, sweep, tidy. A simple, familiar comfort.
I wasn’t used to sitting still; keeping myself busy gave me a small sense of purpose—something I clung to, second only to the peace I found in reading.
