Kael never had the patience for rooms that were too quiet.
Silence always brought voices he preferred to ignore.
He was in the back row of the Living Runes classroom, leaning against the wall behind him, slowly spinning a black crystal between his fingers while pretending to pay attention to the teacher's explanation. The bright lines drawn on the floor pulsed like living veins, reacting to the students' energy.
It was supposed to be just another boring class.
Until he saw her.
It wasn't immediate. It wasn't dramatic.
It was a detail.
A nervous twitch in her fingers as she held her pen and her floating notebook.
A slight tension in her shoulders, like someone who expects to be attacked even when everything seems safe.
Kael looked up instinctively. It was the girl he tried to help in the cafeteria.
Her black wings were partially retracted, almost hidden behind her back. They contrasted sharply with the soft glow of the light wings scattered around the room.
"How interesting..." he muttered to himself, with a crooked half-smile.
"Today you will activate a rune using only emotional control," announced Professor Maelis, adjusting the copper bracelets on her wrists. "Anger, fear, and euphoria destabilize the symbol. If you lose control... the rune reacts."
Some students laughed. Others gulped.
Kael rested his elbow on the table.
"Too easy."
He touched the rune with his fingers and felt the energy obey immediately. The symbol glowed a deep red, stable, almost elegant.
Silent pride.
Then his eyes returned to her without him noticing.
Ariel hesitated before touching the symbol.
Her fingers trembled slightly.
When the energy flowed, the rune did not glow white like most angels—but silver, with dark filaments snaking through the design.
The room murmured.
Kael straightened his posture, alert.
Her eyes rose instinctively—and met his.
There was no fear in that look.
There was alertness.
Like an animal that doesn't know whether to run... or attack.
Kael held her gaze for a second longer than he should have.
One corner of his mouth lifted in a provocative smile.
Ariel looked away first.
"Interesting..." he repeated, now with more intent.
Angels shouldn't carry shadows in their eyes.
And they definitely shouldn't make his heart beat faster for reasons he couldn't name.
The energy of Ariel's rune began to vibrate irregularly.
It wasn't a glaring error—yet.
It was the kind of instability that precedes something ugly.
The silver light darkened at the edges, the lines flickering as if breathing too fast.
"Emotional control," warned Professor Maelis, walking among the students. "Don't force the energy."
Ariel swallowed hard.
Kael noticed it before anyone else.
The air around the rune became heavy, too dense for a simple symbol. Small sparks crackled on the floor.
"Damn..." he muttered.
If that rune collapsed, it could cause a magical discharge directly into her nerves.
Without asking permission.
Without drawing attention.
Kael discreetly pressed two fingers against his own rune and diverted some of the energy to himself, creating an almost invisible absorption field.
A trick he had learned in Varun — to survive when something exploded.
Ariel's rune slowed down.
The glow stabilized.
Ariel blinked, confused.
Her gaze instinctively scanned the room... until it stopped on him.
Kael raised an eyebrow, as if to say it was nothing.
But his arm burned beneath the fabric of his uniform.
The mark throbbed.
He clenched his jaw.
Ariel held his gaze for half a second.
She didn't smile.
But something changed in her expression.
A new kind of attention.
As if she had just realized that he wasn't just another insolent demon.
"Bad idea to get involved," he thought.
But his body didn't seem to agree.
"Since when did you become a silent hero?" Darius muttered, leaning in his chair beside him. "Are you going to start saving kittens now?"
Kael let out a half-chuckle.
"Shut up."
"She's a different kind of angel, isn't she?" Darius commented casually. "Her wings are... unusual."
Kael glanced quickly at Ariel again.
"Yeah."
The sound of the bell echoed through the lively corridors of the east wing.
The runes on the floor slowly faded, like embers losing their breath.
The students began to disperse into noisy groups, wings opening and closing, laughter cutting through the air.
Kael walked with his hands in his pockets, Darius by his side, when he felt it again.
A strange warmth in his arm.
The mark pulsed like a heart of its own.
He frowned.
That only happened when something... important was nearby.
Ariel walked a few steps ahead, beside a luminous girl—probably a fairy.
Her black wings were folded, but not hidden.
Still, some glances pierced her like invisible blades.
Kael felt a discomfort rise in his chest.
It wasn't anger.
It was something harder to admit.
A tall angel with an arrogant expression deliberately crossed Ariel's path, bumping her shoulder.
"Watch where you're going," he growled, without even looking back.
Ariel almost lost her balance.
Lumi caught her in time.
Kael stopped.
Darius noticed.
"Don't get into this fight," Darius whispered.
Kael didn't answer.
"Funny..." Kael said aloud, walking up to the angel. "When someone hits you, do you also apologize to your own ego?"
The angel turned away, irritated.
"Mind your own business, demon."
Kael tilted his head, a lazy smile on his face.
"Curious how some people confuse a hallway with their territory."
A tense silence fell.
The angel assessed both sides of the hallway, noticing the attentive stares.
He muttered something inaudible and walked away.
"You should pay more attention to where you're walking," he commented casually.
It wasn't an accusation.
It was a light provocation.
Ariel stared at him suspiciously.
"I was looking."
"Then the problem isn't your vision," Kael smiled slightly. "It's the kind of people who walk around here."
A short silence.
"Thanks... I guess," she said, uncertain.
He tilted his head slightly.
"You're welcome, dark wings."
As she passed him...
The heat in Kael's arm exploded.
The mark burned like live embers.
He stifled a groan, clenching his fist.
An image flashed through his mind like lightning:
A red blade.
The school's barriers shattering like glass.
Black wings stained with blood.
"Damn..." he muttered.
He looked up.
Ariel had stopped too.
Her eyes were on him.
"Are you okay?" she asked, hesitantly.
The concern in her voice disarmed him for half a second.
"I'm fine," he lied. "Just allergic to rude angels."
She almost smiled.
Almost.
Lumi pulled Ariel by the arm.
"Come on, Ari."
She walked away, still looking back one last time.
This was no coincidence.
The mark never reacted like this.
And now it did... because of her.
Kael leaned his shoulder against one of the living stone columns in the side corridor, away from the flow of students.
The fabric of his sleeve hid the violent pulsing beneath his skin—but he felt each beat like a heated blade.
He clenched his teeth.
He took a deep breath.
It didn't work.
He pulled his sleeve discreetly.
The reddish mark was more vivid than ever.
The irregular lines glowed softly, like veins of fire beneath his skin.
It wasn't ordinary pain.
It was a calling.
"Hey," Darius approached, lowering his voice. "You look pale. That's not normal, even for you."
Kael quickly pulled his sleeve back down.
"It's nothing."
"You said that last time too... before that incident in training."
Silence.
"It has to do with that mark, right?" Darius insisted.
Kael held his gaze.
"If you tell anyone, I'll rip your tongue out."
Darius raised his hands.
"Okay, okay. I'm just saying... she never reacts without reason."
Kael looked in the direction Ariel had gone.
"Yeah," he muttered.
Something inside him contracted.
Not pain.
Recognition.
As if the mark was... responding to a specific presence.
As if an ancient gear had just turned after centuries of inactivity.
He clenches his fist.
"This doesn't make sense."
Kael steps away from the column, straightening his posture.
Kael spends the rest of the afternoon avoiding the main corridors.
He chooses side passages, less-used staircases, shortcuts between wings.
Not out of fear.
Out of strategy.
The mark still pulsed irregularly—and he had no intention of testing it again near her.
Darius watches.
"Since when do you run away from beautiful people?" he teased.
"Since when do you talk too much," Kael replied.
They entered a gallery of ancient magical artifacts (not your average library—more unique).
The hallway opened into a circular gallery of dark glass, where relics floated inside bluish magnetic fields.
Fragments of cursed mirrors.
Bones of extinct creatures.
Hourglasses that flowed with light instead of sand.
"Damn..." Kael muttered.
Ariel was there.
Alone.
Observing a small metal box that pulsed softly.
She seemed too focused to notice their presence.
Kael felt the heat rise up his arm again.
"I warned you," Darius whispered.
"Get lost," Kael replied quietly.
Darius gave a half-smile and discreetly walked away.
"That thing will explode," Kael commented casually, stopping beside her.
Ariel jumped.
"What?"
"The box. If you touch it the wrong way."
She immediately pulled her hand away.
"Great warning... after I almost touched it."
"It's part of the traumatic educational experience," he replied.
A brief silence.
"You're the rune boy," Ariel commented.
"Depends... is that good or bad?"
"I haven't decided yet."
He raised an eyebrow, interested.
"Fair enough."
The heat in his arm wasn't burning now.
It vibrated.
Like something... curious, too.
That bothered Kael more than the pain.
Avoiding it wasn't working.
Maybe watching was safer.
Or maybe he was just lying to himself.
Kael took half a step back, breaking the space between them.
"Be careful with artifacts that flash," he commented, resuming his casual tone. "Not everything here likes curious people."
And he walked away, without waiting for a response.
Ariel watched as he disappeared between the translucent columns.