Ophelia broke the silence first. “You handled yourself well today,” she said, untying her sash. “They didn’t suspect anything.”

Kaia gave a small shrug. “I followed your advice: keep quiet, keep moving.”

“That’s not advice,” she said lightly. “That’s survival.”

He almost smiled, then caught himself. “You’ve been here long?”

“Three years,” she replied, folding her robe.

Ophelia placed her neatly folded robe on the small chest at the foot of her bed, then glanced around the room. The two beds were close, closer than she remembered. It was almost as if they were sharing the same bed.

Kaia stood awkwardly near the other door, holding her sash like she didn’t know what to do with it.

“You can take that one,” Ophelia said, nodding to the bed by the wall.

He hesitated. “They’re… rather close.”

“That’s how all the rooms are,” she replied quickly, pretending not to notice his discomfort, or her own. “You’ll get used to it.”

Kaia sat down carefully on her bed. The silence between them stretched until Ophelia cleared her throat and pointed to a narrow door near the corner.

“The washing room is through there. "We share it,” she said.

Kaia frowned. “Share it?”

“There’s a screen,” Ophelia explained, “but it doesn’t do much. We usually take turns.”

He nodded uncertainly, eyes flicking to the door as if measuring the risk. “You first,” he said.

Ophelia didn’t argue. She took a towel and disappeared behind the thin linen divider. The sound of water splashing echoed faintly.. When she came out, her hair was damp, tied loosely at her back. 

“Your turn,” she said, keeping her tone casual.

Kaia stepped inside, closing the linen divider. The air was warm and smelled faintly of lavender soap. His mind was elsewhere. Replaying the day, the people, the endless rules. Kaia then stepped out, steam drifting in behind him. 

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

Ophelia stared, her eyes wide. The air seemed to stop between them.

It hit him then…his hand was bare. The ring.

“I—” He looked down, horrified. “I forgot it.”

Ophelia's face went red,  she turned sharply away. “Go,” she said quickly. 

He didn’t argue. He rushed back into the washing room, the door sliding shut behind him.

Ophelia sat motionless, her heartbeat loud in her ears. The silence pressed down heavy and real. In that moment, she fully understood the kind of life that awaited her now.

When Khiel returned, the illusion was back in place, his expression composed. He murmured a quiet apology, and she simply nodded.

The light dimmed, shadows crawling up the walls like restless thoughts. Ophelia closed her eyes, knowing that from now on, sleep would never come easily again.