The morning after the Gala did not bring the usual golden warmth of the Zenith sun. Instead, a thick, gray fog rolled in from the surrounding cloud sea, swallowing the lower spires and muffling the sounds of the departing students. The sky-piers were a chaotic mess of iron-bound trunks, shouting stable hands, and the constant, rhythmic thrum of departing shuttles. From the balcony of Villa 1, Vane watched the exodus with a flat, unreadable expression.

He had expected the silence to feel like a victory. For years, he had dreamed of a place where nobody would shout at him, where the air was clean, and where he had enough room to breathe without bumping into another person's misery. Now he had a sprawling villa that smelled of cedar and expensive mana-incense, and the silence was beginning to settle in like a heavy layer of dust.

'It is exactly what I asked for,' Vane thought. He adjusted the collar of his training shirt, feeling the slight chill of the morning air. 'No politics. No dukes. No grand marshals trying to measure my worth like a piece of livestock. Just me and the Gate.'

He turned back into the common room just as the heavy oak door swung open. Ashe walked in without knocking, her boots thudding loudly against the polished floor. She was already dressed in her traveling leathers, a dark cloak thrown over her shoulders. She looked irritated, which was her default state, but there was an unusual tension in her jaw.

"You really aren't moving, are you?" Ashe asked, dropping a small leather pouch onto the dining table. "I saw your name on the residence list for the break. I thought it was a clerical error."

"I told you last night, Ashe," Vane said, walking over to the table. "I have things to do here. Training is easier when the gym isn't full of people staring at my badge."

Ashe snorted, crossing her arms. "Training is easier when you aren't starving or freezing to death because the academy shuts down the main kitchens. That pouch has some dried meat and a few fire-stones. If the heating in this place fails, don't come crying to the embassy. We'll be closed for the festivities anyway."

Vane looked at the pouch. He knew it was a gesture of concern, but the underlying pity in her voice made his skin prickle. "I can take care of myself. I spent ten years in Oakhaven. I think I can handle a month in a luxury villa."

"Oakhaven didn't have a Transcendent headmistress declaring a blood-debt over your head," Ashe countered. She stepped closer, her red eyes searching his face. "Be careful, Vane. You're the Rank 1. People will be looking for a way to get to you while the guards are on holiday. If you get bored, or if things get weird, send a messenger bird. My brother is a prick, but he likes a good fight."

"I'll keep that in mind," Vane said.

Ashe gave him a rough pat on the shoulder, nearly knocking the wind out of him, before turning on her heel. "See you in thirty days, rat. Don't get soft."

Shortly after Ashe left, Isole appeared in the doorway. She didn't barge in; she stood there like a ghost, her silver hair shimmering in the dim morning light. She held a small, enchanted crystal in her hands that glowed with a soft, pulsing lavender light.

"I brought you this," Isole said, her voice barely a whisper. She walked over and placed the crystal on the table next to Ashe's pouch. "It is a resonance stone. If the mana in the air changes suddenly, or if someone tries to breach the villa's wards, it will turn dark. It is the best I can do."

"Thank you, Isole," Vane said, softening his tone. He couldn't find it in himself to be annoyed with her. She looked truly worried.

"My mother was very angry last night," Isole said, looking at her feet. "She does not like losing control. She will be busy with the rituals in the Silver Wood, but I am afraid of what she might do once the break is over. You should stay inside the wards, Vane. The threads around you are very dark right now."

"I'll stay in the villa," Vane promised. "Go on. Your mother doesn't like to be kept waiting."

Isole nodded, giving him one last lingering look before she drifted out of the room. Vane watched her go, feeling the weight of the silence returning.

The last visitor was the most surprising. Isaac Glacium walked into the villa with his head held high, though he was currently carrying a large, insulated thermos that looked very out of place in his regal hands. He looked around the common room with a critical eye, then set the thermos down with a heavy thud.

"My mother insisted," Isaac said, his face turning a light shade of pink. "She heard you were staying behind. She said it was 'criminally negligent' to leave a growing mage without proper sustenance during a mana-transition. This is the winter-marrow soup."

Vane stared at the thermos. 'The Absolute Zero is personally sending me soup.'

"Tell her I appreciate it," Vane said, fighting back a smile.

"Do not tell her anything," Isaac muttered. "If she thinks you like it, she will send a crate of it by courier. I am leaving now. My father is already complaining about the delay. Try not to let the lack of competition make you lazy, Vane. I plan to take that badge back the moment I return."

"I'll be waiting," Vane replied.

Isaac gave him a sharp, respectful nod before marching out of the villa. Vane was finally alone. He looked at the items on the table: the Razar meat, the Sylvaris crystal, and the Glacium soup.

'They all think I'm going to suffer,' Vane thought, walking into the kitchen to put the supplies away. 'They look at me and see someone who has nothing. They don't realize that for me, this is the most I've ever had.'

He spent the next few hours cleaning. He moved with a methodical pace, wiping down the training mats and organizing his books. He enjoyed the quiet. He liked the way his footsteps echoed in the hallway. It was a reminder that he was the master of his own space.

He spent the afternoon in the training room, focusing on his mana-core. He sat in the center of the floor, his eyes closed, feeling the silver fluid of his Rank 3 energy rushing through his veins. It was dense and vibrant, constantly pushing against the Gate to Rank 4. The pressure was rhythmic, like a drumbeat in his chest.

'I am close,' Vane thought. 'But the Marshal was right. If I force it now, I'll shatter my foundation. I need to wait for the core to stabilize. I need the silence to find the crack in the Gate.'

His mind drifted to the Headmistress. I am paying back a debt. He thought about his mother, Helena. He remembered her thin, scarred hands mending clothes by the light of a single candle. She had always been quiet about her past. She had told him they were from a long line of commoners. But a commoner doesn't earn the protection of a Rank 9 Transcendent.

'What were you hiding, Mom?' Vane wondered. 'Was the poverty a choice? Or were we running from something?'

The mystery was a dull itch at the back of his mind, but he pushed it away. He couldn't solve it here. He needed to be stronger. He needed to be a Sentinel before he could ask the questions that mattered.

By evening, the fog had turned into a light drizzle. The sky was a bruised purple, and the villa was becoming cold as the main heaters of the academy were dialed back for the break. Vane lit a single fire-stone in the hearth and sat on the floor, preparing to eat some of the soup Isaac had left.

The silence was absolute. The only sound was the crackle of the fire and the rain against the window.

Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door. It wasn't the frantic pounding of Ashe or the stiff rap of Isaac. It was a rhythmic, confident tapping.

Vane stood up, his mana snapping to attention. He walked to the door and pulled it open.

Valerica was standing on the porch. She wasn't wearing her gala gown or her academy uniform. She was dressed in practical traveling leathers of dark blue and silver, with a heavy cloak pinned by the golden sun of the Sol family. Her carriage was waiting a few yards away, the horses exhaling plumes of steam into the damp air.

"You haven't left," Vane said, leaning against the doorframe.

"I was supposed to leave hours ago," Valerica replied. She looked at him, her golden eyes scanning the empty villa behind him. She didn't look at him with pity. She looked at him with the same calculated, predatory focus she used in the Hub. "But I realized that my father's banquets are going to be a waste of my time. And I realized that if I leave you here, you will spend thirty days staring at a wall until your mana-core stagnates."

"I have a plan, Valerica," Vane said.

"Your plan is to be lonely and stubborn," she countered. She stepped closer, her presence bringing the scent of ozone and expensive tea. "My family has a private estate in the southern peaks. It is built over a dormant mana-volcano. The density there is triple what you will find in this villa. It is the perfect place to break a Gate."

Vane frowned. 'She stayed behind to offer this.'

"Why?" Vane asked. "You hate your father. Why take a commoner to your family's private training ground?"

"Because you are my navigator," Valerica said, her voice firm. "And because I want to see what happens when that Gate finally opens. If you stay here, you will be a strong Rank 3. If you come with me, you will return as a Sentinel. And my father hates being surprised. I think having the Rank 1 of Zenith at his dinner table would be the perfect way to ruin his holiday."

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