The hour was late, and a faint drizzle tapped against the wooden panes of Professor Aurelius Dreymark's cabin. Inside, the fire crackled low, filling the room with a warm, amber glow. Books and scrolls lay scattered across the desk, their shadows dancing on the walls as the candlelight flickered.
The door creaked open. Aurelius looked up, surprised."Professor Maeron? You are here at this hour? Is everything all right?" he asked with genuine concern.
But Maeron didn't answer. His shoulders trembled, and before a word escaped him, the older man broke down, sobs shaking his frame. His voice, when it finally came, was raw, as fragile as cracked glass.
"Headmaster… I failed her."
Aurelius frowned, rising from his chair. "Failed? What do you mean?"
Maeron pressed his palms against his face like a child ashamed of his tears. His voice cracked."I failed as her godfather. Every time she came to me… every time that little girl looked into my eyes with hope—hope that I might finally tell her the truth of her parents—I lied. And every lie shattered her. I saw it, Head master. I saw the light fade from her face again and again, and I still—still chose silence."
The fire popped in the hearth, filling the silence between his words. Aurelius felt the weight of every syllable.
Maeron's hands dropped limply to his sides, his eyes red and wet."Two years ago… the last time she came. She was only seven. But she didn't ask me about the truth anymore. She looked at me with those trembling eyes and said, 'Professor… today I'm not asking for the truth. I only want a photograph of them. Just one. So I can touch them, so I can feel their love in some way.'"
His voice broke completely. He staggered to a chair but didn't sit—just gripped the back of it with white knuckles, shaking.
"And do you know what I did? I lied. Again. I crushed her hope again. That day… I saw something inside her break for good. She stopped coming to me after that. Stopped looking for comfort. Stopped asking anything at all. She built walls so high, Head Master, that I cannot see through them anymore."
His sobs echoed in the quiet cabin, mingling with the whisper of rain and the hiss of the fire.
"Tonight, when I looked at her face… her eyes were swollen, her pain carved into her like stone. And yet she did not let me see it. She hid it from me. Even in her suffering, she kept me out. Do you understand, Headmaster?" He clutched his chest as though the weight of his guilt would crush him. "She doesn't trust me anymore. I broke her heart so many times… and now I've lost her."
Aurelius rose to his full height, the firelight casting deep shadows across his stern face. He placed a steadying hand on Maeron's trembling shoulder.
"Control yourself, Maeron," he said, his tone calm yet commanding. "You know as well as I do—we cannot allow ourselves to break like this. Behind every lie you've told her these nine long years lies a reason, one greater than either of us. Do not forget—many have sacrificed far more than tears. Some gave their freedom. Others… their very lives. All to guard the truth from reaching her too soon."
Maeron's breath hitched, but Aurelius pressed on, his voice quieter now, heavy with resolve."She will learn, one day. When the right time comes, the truth will be hers—whole and unshrouded. But not now. Not when she is unprepared, not when the knowledge would crush her instead of strengthen her."
The flames crackled in the silence, throwing sparks up the chimney as Aurelius's gaze turned distant, almost sorrowful."Until then, she must grow. She must become strong enough to bear it. I will see to it she is occupied—with her studies, with challenges that forge her, not break her. And you, Maeron… you must endure. I know how it tears at you to look into her eyes and keep your silence. But that is the burden you must carry. For her sake. For all our sakes."
Maeron lowered his head, his tears still glistening, but his sobs stilled under the weight of Aurelius's words. The night pressed close around them, the rain whispering against the windows like secrets the world itself conspired to keep.
Aurelius's gaze softened, though his voice still carried the authority of a man who bore centuries of secrets.
"One more thing, Maeron," he said, leaning back in his chair. "To ease your heart—I can tell you this much. Someone has joined Grimswald. Someone who will watch over your little princess. He will be by her side in her trials as well as her joys. In her suffering, and in her moments of light. She will not walk this path alone any longer."
Maeron's tear-stained face lifted, startled by the weight in the Headmaster's tone. But Aurelius offered nothing more than a faint, unreadable smile.
"You will know who he is soon enough," Aurelius continued. "For now, that knowledge must wait. Rest easy, Maeron. Take comfort in this—your princess finally has someone to rely on."
He rose, signaling the end of their meeting. "Now go. Leave these thoughts behind for tonight. The day after tomorrow, your duties return, and all of us will be swallowed by the business of teaching once more."
The flames in the hearth hissed, casting long shadows across the cabin walls as Aurelius turned away, his expression unreadable.
After the professor Maeron left headmaster's cabin, Aurelius dreymark sat on his chair, looking towards the Ancient Magic Book - "The Tome of the Twin Stones". An untold story was shining in his eyes.