The uninvited visitor arrived shortly after the small celebration had ended.

It was that quiet hour when the afternoon light began to fade and darkness seemed to creep in, curious and watchful.

Although the entire Grandel family had insisted that she didn’t need to, Seren couldn’t be stopped from helping with the clean-up.

Thankfully, the gathering had been small, so the work was finished quickly.

They had just begun to drift apart and return to their respective corners of the inn when there was a knock at the door.

Had it been a guest, they would simply have opened the door and stepped inside.

They would not have knocked.

“I’ll get it!”

Aillen assumed it must be the postwoman—or perhaps the milk delivery. Judging by the hour, the former seemed more likely.

When she opened the door, it was indeed Reina, the postwoman.

“Sister! It’s been so long!”

“Reina! It has. Haven’t there been many letters for us lately?”

“That too, but you haven’t been leaving the inn much, have you? People were saying that you must be hiding something good.”

“Hiding what? I’ve just been busy. Would you like something to drink?”

“Not today – I’m swamped. It’s that time of year when mail from the north usually arrives, so I’ve got lots to deliver. Oh! There’s something addressed here from the north.”

“The North?”

Aillen turned her head swiftly, searching for Seren.

She wasn’t the only guest from the North, nor the only one who had listed the Grandel Inn as their mailing address. Yet these days, Seren was the first person to come to mind whenever she heard the word ‘North’.

Leaning against the wall and enjoying the evening breeze, Seren raised an eyebrow.

“For a guest?”

“Yes.”

“Oh….”

“What?”

“She’s beautiful.”

Reina bent down slightly and whispered, her brown eyes sparkling.

For some reason, Aillen found this irksome. She pursed her lips.

“What sort of thing is that to say out of nowhere? It’s rude.”

The moment the words left her mouth, Aillen realized that she had been no different when she first met Seren and fell silent.

Reina giggled.

“You’re pretty too, sister.”

“Stop talking nonsense and get going. You said you were busy.”

“How cruel. Where did the sister Aillen who used to collect pinecones with me go?”

“I left her in the forest. Now hurry. Come by when you’re free and have some coffee.”

“Alright, alright.”

Reina planted a loud kiss on her cheek and skipped out of the inn. ‘Goodbye!’ she called as the door shut behind her.

Aillen was standing in the doorway, sorting through a pile of letters. She lifted her head absentmindedly when a shadow fell over her.

“…Oh.”

“Aillen seems to have quite a few friends. …Intimate ones.”

‘Intimate.’

Seren drew out the word slowly, tapping her cheek with her finger.

Seeing this, Aillen couldn’t quite bring herself to make her usual careless joke, ‘Would you like one too?’ Instead, she let out an awkward laugh.

“It’s just a local habit.”

“There’s no need to make excuses.”

“I’m not. It’s true.”

Seren’s thin lips pressed together.

For a fleeting moment, she looked like a sulking child. Aillen could not help the soft laugh that escaped her.

“Come now. Let’s sort the letters. You said there’s one from the North—there might be something for you.”

“Didn’t you say you felt bad about making me work?”

“It might not be you helping me. It might be me helping you find your letter.”

Seren gave a short nod, as though accepting a challenge.

They divided the stack between them and began searching eagerly for familiar names.

Ultimately, Aillen wished she had sorted them alone.

A name that she had never expected to hear again was spoken aloud.

“Calix…?”

The moment Seren said the name, Aillen felt as though her heart had dropped to the floor.

Reflexively, she snatched the blue envelope from Seren’s hand.

Written boldly in the recipient’s line was her own name, and beneath it was the name Calix, signed clearly.

“Ah… This person is…”

Only after seizing it did she realize her mistake. Seren had gone still, clearly startled by her reaction.

“I mean… he’s a former guest who once stayed here.”

“…I see.”

“Well, we didn’t part on particularly good terms, so I didn’t expect to hear from him like this. I suppose that’s why I was startled. I’m sorry for surprising you.”

“No. There’s nothing for Aillen to apologize for.”

Seren’s tone was firm.

As the air between them stiffened abruptly, Aillen found herself unsure how to respond.

Just moments ago, the atmosphere had been as gentle and bright as the breeze drifting in from outside.

“I… I—”

Seren faltered.

At least, Aillen had rarely seen her do so before.

She waited carefully.

The color drained gradually from Seren’s face.

“…I’m tired. I’ll go upstairs and rest for a while.”

The mood felt too fragile to restrain her.

Aillen nodded slowly.

“Promise you’ll come down and eat dinner with us.”

But Seren’s thin lips curved only into the faintest arc.

***

As Aillen had half-expected, Seren did not come down in the evening.

The dining hall was so crowded at suppertime that there was no chance to slip away and see how she was doing.

Although she moved about busily, Aillen’s eyes kept searching for long black hair among the unfamiliar faces passing before her.

By the time she realized her family had noticed, her share of the cleaning duties had already been allocated.

“You said you’d rest tonight in exchange for doing the laundry earlier, didn’t you? Go on upstairs.”

Her father waved his free hand, still holding a dishcloth in the other.

“So, that guest isn’t having dinner?”

Her mother asked lightly, pressing a plate into Aillen’s hands. Riman gave up the yoghurt he had been saving for himself, while Haila thr*st a fresh orange towards her.

Had she made it that obvious?

Embarrassed, she accepted her family’s quiet concern without protest.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, Seren. Even if you’re not feeling well, you should eat something.”

There was no answer from inside for a moment.

Aillen hesitated. Should she knock again, or give Seren more time?

Truthfully, she had no idea why Seren had become so moody.

Could it be because of the letter?

But the only name written on the envelope was Calix’.

Just as Aillen realized she had forgotten about the letter entirely, the door opened.

“I’m sorry—I was just washing up. Come in.”

Seren stood there in a robe. The dark blue silk shimmered faintly, as if it had been cut from the night itself. It suited her black, damp hair, which rested softly against her shoulders, so perfectly that Aillen’s chest ached just from looking at her.

For a moment, a thought flickered through Aillen’s mind.

Perhaps this person will not just be a memory of a single season.

This realization struck her with dizzying force.

She had promised herself time and again that she would not cross that line.

Stepping forward with deliberate courage, Aillen forced brightness into her voice to steady herself.

“Didn’t I say I’d feed you until you burst?”

Seren lifted her eyes from the plate and looked at her.

Perhaps because she had just bathed, the faint, mature fragrance that usually clung to her had disappeared. In its place lingered an unmistakably clean, fresh scent.

Her blue-grey eyes were still damp and conveyed a meaning that Aillen could not begin to read.

The silence stretched between them, slow and unyielding.

When even the sound of her own swallowing felt unbearably loud, Aillen shifted slightly, uncertain what to do.

At last, Seren spoke slowly.

“I never said you would make me burst. Only that you would feed me generously.”

The words broke the tension like a spell.

Aillen’s smile of relief came unguarded.

“It’s practically the same thing!”

Feeling relieved beyond measure, she decided not to ask Seren what had happened earlier, what had troubled her or how she was feeling.

If they could simply return to light, trivial conversation and laughter, that would be enough.

But Seren did not seem willing to let it pass so easily.

“Aillen, earlier, I—”

“Eat first. If you finish that, I have an orange waiting to be peeled for you.”

“This is—”

“Your arm’s going to fall off!”

The corners of her mouth trembled as she forced a smile.

It was only then that Aillen realized quite how frightened she was — frightened of whatever Seren was about to say.

Yet this did nothing to ease the strange anxiety coiling inside her.

She knew this feeling.

It was how someone carried a secret.

The way they struggled with it and wrestled with it until they finally reached the point where they could no longer bear to keep it hidden.

She had seen it many times in Calix.

And if she were honest, nothing good had ever come of it.

Some things were better left hidden.

It was better not to know.

Just like her own feelings.

Whatever Seren had been hiding, why bring it into the open now?

Aillen felt instinctively that it was a box that should never be opened.

Those blue-grey eyes searched her face as though trying to find something there.

Pretending not to notice was easier than she had expected.

What unsettled her instead was the conflict within herself.

Part of her hoped Seren would see the fear in her eyes and change the subject.

Another part of her wished Seren would speak plainly, ask what was wrong, and calm her with her peculiar, restrained gentleness.

“…Aillen, have you had dinner?”

Relief and disappointment washed over her at once at Seren’s choice of words.

For some reason, it felt as though tears might rise. Aillen blinked quickly and shook her head.

“Then eat with me. If I finish all of this alone, I really might burst.”

“Alright.”

She hoped her voice did not sound too strained.

If it did, Seren might ask what was wrong.

***

The silence was broken only by the faint clink of a fork against a plate and the rustle of the wind stirring the curtains.

This place had never truly been cold before. Seren was from the north, so she wouldn’t have been chilled by this.

Yet, when one’s heart leaned towards someone, even the slightest thing invited concern.

Seeing her damp hair, Aillen could not help but worry.

“Aren’t you cold? You should dry your hair.”

Perhaps it was just an excuse.

An excuse to speak.

She looked at Seren, hoping that she would take it as an opportunity to break the silence and answer.

But Seren merely shook her head.

The silence returned.

They finished their meal.

Resigned now, Aillen intended to peel the orange as promised and then leave.

She would have done so if Seren had not naturally taken the orange from her hand first.

With hands seemingly incapable of holding anything heavier than a pencil, Seren began to peel it.

Aillen was used to the task, but it was difficult without scoring the rind first.

Yet Seren stripped the peel away more deftly than expected.

Once the fruit was fully revealed, she placed it in Aillen’s hand.

With her other hand, she took Aillen’s.

Aillen looked at her without speaking.

Seren’s thin lips parted slowly.

“Stay like this.”

Even if only for a moment.

The added words were nearly a whisper.

Seren turned her hand and covered the back of Aillen’s.

Aillen did as she was told.

She wanted to.