Nobela ni Noriaki1

For Rosella, a place in the classroom represented a future she had almost lost. For Lina, the arrival of that same girl threatened a world she had never imagined sharing.Later that afternoon, Rosella was in the small staff sitting area, sorting through her school documents.The room was modest but comfortable, with a narrow sofa against one wall, a wooden table and a cabinet containing household stationery. A window overlooked the side garden, where the gardeners were trimming the hedges.Rosella had spread her papers across the table. Her admission letter was at the top, followed by copies of her previous school records and the documents required for registration. She checked each one carefully, making sure nothing was missing.Republic City High School.She traced the name on the letter with her finger.It still felt strange to see it written there.For months, she had imagined what it would be like to attend a school in the city. She had imagined classrooms with proper learning fa

It was remarkably easy to overlook someone when you believed they had nothing worth noticing.Lina Tenneson had never considered herself a particularly difficult person to please. She simply liked things done properly. Her clothes had to fit well, her hair had to look presentable, and her surroundings had to reflect the standards she had grown accustomed to. It was hardly unreasonable, in her opinion. She had been raised in a home where quality was expected, not requested.That morning, she was seated before the dressing table in her bedroom, examining two pairs of earrings with the seriousness of someone making a considerably more important decision.Her bedroom was one of the largest in the eastern wing of the mansion. Tall windows overlooked the manicured gardens, and the morning sunlight filtered through layers of sheer ivory curtains, casting a warm glow across the pale cream walls. A pair of dusty-rose armchairs sat beside a small round table near the window, while a large upho

Rosella woke to silence.It was different from the silence she had known all her life. The silence of her village had always carried something with it—the distant crowing of roosters, the sound of someone sweeping outside, children calling to one another, the occasional sound of a motorcycle passing along the road. Even at night, there had always been something. But the silence inside the Tenneson mansion was almost complete. It was the kind of silence that belonged to expensive houses, thick walls, closed windows, and people who had never needed to shout to be heard.For a few seconds, Rosella stared at the unfamiliar ceiling above her, confused about where she was. Then everything returned at once. The mansion. Grace. The enormous corridors. The family portrait. Lina standing across from her at dinner with that unmistakable look of annoyance on her face. The interview. The uniform waiting for her. Republic City. Her new life. And then, like a shadow that followed her everywhere, cam

By the time Rosella left Republic City High School that afternoon, the sun had begun its slow descent, casting a warm golden glow over the busy streets. She adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder and checked the address Christiana had given her once more before continuing down the road. The farther she walked, the more the city seemed to change around her. The crowded streets gradually gave way to quieter roads lined with carefully planted trees, tall walls, expensive cars, and enormous houses hidden behind elaborate gates. Rosella had seen wealthy neighbourhoods before in pictures and occasionally from a distance, but walking through one was different. Everything seemed cleaner, quieter, and almost unreal compared to the small town she had grown up in. She found herself slowing down several times just to look around, though she quickly reminded herself why she was there. She wasn’t sightseeing. She was looking for a job.According to the address, the mansion was about a thirty

Mira’s health deteriorated quickly. For the next several days, Rosella barely left her side except for going to school and her part-time job. She cooked simple meals, washed clothes, fetched water, and hurried back home whenever she could. The little house seemed quieter than usual, as though even the walls had noticed that something was changing. The air carried the faint smell of medicine, boiled water, and the herbs Mira sometimes used when her chest became too tight. Her mother’s coughing had grown weaker, but somehow that frightened Rosella more than the loud coughing ever had.At night, she sat beside Mira’s bed, watching the rise and fall of her chest. Sometimes Mira slept. Sometimes she simply lay there with her eyes closed, breathing slowly as though every breath required effort. Rosella would pretend not to notice. She would pretend that if she kept busy enough, if she cooked enough meals, washed enough clothes, studied hard enough, then everything would somehow return to no

Morning came quietly, almost too quietly. The rain had stopped sometime before dawn, leaving the small town wrapped in a cool gray mist. Water dripped steadily from the edges of the rusted roof, and the narrow path outside the house was soaked with mud. Inside, Rosella woke to the sound of coughing and immediately sat up. For a moment, she was disoriented, but then she remembered her mother. She pushed aside the thin blanket and hurried into the next room.Mira was sitting on the edge of the bed, struggling to catch her breath.“Mother!”“I’m fine.”Rosella frowned. “You don’t look fine.”“I told you, I’m just tired.”Rosella crouched in front of her. “Then why were you coughing all night?”Mira didn’t answer. Rosella studied her face and immediately noticed what she had been trying to ignore. Her mother looked even more exhausted than she had the previous evening. The dark circles beneath her eyes were deeper, and her usually steady hands trembled slightly as she reached for the cup