The cool night air brushed against Maya's skin as she strolled through the quiet, cobblestone paths of the academy grounds.
Beside her walked her maid.
An ever-dutiful companion who carried a small lantern to light their way.
The faint glow from the lantern highlighted the faint furrow in Maya's brows, betraying her preoccupied thoughts.
The day had been long, but her craving for sothing sweet had won over her exhaustion.
"I need sothing to clear my mind."
Maya murmured, more to herself than her maid.
Her maid glanced sideways at her, her curiosity piqued.
"The usual bakery, Miss Maya?"
"Yes."
Maya replied, her voice distant.
"Sothing sweet. Maybe cupcakes.
I don't know... I just need sothing."
As they walked, Maya's thoughts wandered back to the Second Year Opener Exams.
Specifically, the question Noah Ashbourne had solved.
A question so complex that even the professors had failed to anticipate the solution.
The image of Noah confidently penning down the answer on the board burned in her mory, a vivid reminder of the chasm between them.
Her grip tightened on the edges of her shawl.
'Surpassing him… it's going to be harder than I thought.
He's not just clever; he's a completely different kind of monster.'
"You seem troubled."
Her maid remarked softly, breaking the silence.
Maya forced a small smile.
"Just… thinking."
"About what you'll get at the bakery, perhaps?"
Her maid teased, trying to lighten the mood.
"Maybe."
Maya chuckled, albeit weakly.
"I'm not sure yet.
But the cupcakes with blue icing... there's just sothing about them."
The soft jingle of the bakery's bell greeted them as they pushed open the door.
Warm light spilled out, along with the comforting aroma of freshly baked goods.
"Ah, Miss Maya!"
The kindly bakery woman greeted from behind the counter.
"Out for a late-night treat again?"
Maya offered a polite nod.
"Yes, sothing to take away, please.
I'm not sure what I want yet."
Her maid chuckled.
"She's been talking about the cupcakes with blue icing."
"Ah, an excellent choice!
Freshly baked today."
The woman said enthusiastically.
"I'll take so to go."
Maya said, her voice steady though her mind continued to swirl.
As the cupcakes were packed into a neat little box, Maya and her maid exchanged only minimal words.
Once the transaction was complete, they stepped back into the cool night, heading toward Silvercrest Hall.
***
In her room, Maya sat on her plush chair, the box of cupcakes resting on her lap.
The frosting glistened in the dim light, its pale blue color oddly soothing.
She took a small bite, savoring the sweet, creamy flavor.
And just like that, the mories began to stir again.
There was sothing about these cupcakes.
Their taste, their color, perhaps even their simplicity—that tugged at an old, buried part of her heart.
A part she'd locked away long ago.
They reminded her of Noah.
Not the Noah she detested now, but the Noah she had once known as a child.
'Back then, he wasn't like this.'
She thought, her grip tightening on the cupcake.
'He was warm. Kind...
Soone who cared about others no matter what.'
She hated how the mories softened her heart.
It made her stomach churn, her emotions a tangled ss of longing and resentnt.
Her mind scread at her to hate him, to rember his arrogance and cruelty.
But her heart—traitorous as it was—whispered a different tune.
"You seem… distant."
Her maid observed, her gaze sharp yet gentle.
Maya glanced at her, startled.
"I'm fine."
The maid smiled knowingly.
"Do you miss him?"
The question hung in the air, heavy and unavoidable.
Maya's eyes dropped to the half-eaten cupcake in her hands.
She didn't answer.
"You do..."
Her maid said softly, her tone void of judgnt.
"I think… sothing must have happened to make him the way he is now."
Maya stiffened, her thoughts scattering.
"What do you an?"
The maid tilted her head, watching her closely.
"I've noticed how you look when you eat those cupcakes.
There's a longing in your eyes.
Not for the cupcakes themselves, but for sothing they remind you of.
Sothing—or soone—you've lost."
Maya's breath hitched.
Her maid wasn't wrong.
Those cupcakes reminded her of a ti when things were simpler.
When Noah was soone she could trust.
Soone who made her smile.
But that ti was gone.
Replaced by a bitter, fractured reality.
"People don't change without reasona."
Her maid continued, her voice gentle.
"Maybe sothing happened to Noah.
Sothing that made him… different...
Don't you think?..."
Maya wanted to scoff, to dismiss the notion outright.
But her maid's words struck a chord.
She thought back to a mory she had long tried to bury.
---
She was young, no older than seven, hiding under a bed.
Her small hands clutched the hem of her dress as her wide purple eyes stared at the scene unfolding before her.
There was blood on the walls.
A lifeless body lay sprawled on the floor, and in front of it stood a boy not much older than her.
Black hair disheveled, his clothes stained crimson.
He clutched a butter knife in his trembling hands.
His golden eyes glowed with an intensity she'd never forget.
He didn't cry.
He didn't scream.
He simply stood there, silent and cold, as if the weight of what had just happened had drained all the warmth from him.
"....T-that was the day...everything changed."
Maya muttered.
She placed the cupcake back in its box, suddenly unable to finish it.
Her maid watched her carefully but said nothing more, sensing Maya needed ti to process her thoughts.
---
As the night deepened, Maya sat by the window, gazing out at the moonlit campus.
The mory of that day lingered in her mind.
A haunting reminder of the boy Noah used to be—and the man he had beco.
Maybe sothing did happen to him, she thought reluctantly.
But does that excuse everything he's done?
Her heart waged war with her mind, the two locked in a battle that left her feeling drained.
Despite everything, one truth remained.
She missed the Noah from her childhood.
The boy who had once been her friend.
But the man he was now?
The arrogant, detestable Noah Ashbourne?
That was soone she could never forgive.
Or so she told herself.
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