The man behind the door

Aria stood at the end of the corridor, staring at the closed double doors before her.

The mansion was too quiet.

Not peaceful.

Quiet.

The kind of silence that made her feel as though the entire house was listening.

She turned toward the maid.

“Where is Professor Nightbane?”

“He is waiting for you.”

“Where?”

The maid pointed toward the doors.

Aria frowned.

“Alone?”

“Yes, Miss.”

That answer did nothing to calm her.

She looked down at herself.

Her fingers instinctively touched the pendant hidden beneath her clothes.

Her mother’s warning echoed in her mind.

Do not remove it.

She didn’t understand why.

She didn’t understand anything anymore.

Her parents had disappeared.

She had lost an entire night of memory.

She had awakened in a stranger’s mansion.

And apparently, the stranger was the chairman of her university.

Aria exhaled.

“Fine.”

She reached for the handle.

Before she could touch it, the doors opened.

Aria froze.

Kaelen stood on the other side.

For several seconds, neither spoke.

He was dressed differently from the man she knew at university.

No professor’s jacket.

No glasses.

No books beneath his arm.

Just a black shirt with the sleeves rolled to his forearms.

He looked less like a professor.

More like the owner of the fortress she had just been brought into.

His golden-brown eyes settled on hers.

Something strange happened inside Aria’s chest.

A flicker.

A pull.

A memory she couldn’t quite reach.

She frowned.

Kaelen noticed.

Of course he noticed.

He noticed everything about her.

He had spent times watching from a distance.

But she didn’t know that.

“Come in,” he said.

His voice was calm.

Aria didn’t move.

“You’re Kaelen Nightbane.”

“Yes.”

“My university chairman.”

“Yes.”

“My professor.”

“Yes.”

She folded her arms.

“And apparently the man my parents decided I should live with.”

A faint tension appeared in his jaw.

“For now.”

“For now?”

“Yes.”

Aria stared at him.

“You’re going to have to do better than that.”

Kaelen almost smiled.

Almost.

“You have questions.”

“I have hundreds.”

“I know.”

That irritated her.

“How?”

His expression remained unreadable.

“Because if I woke up in a strange house with no memory of the previous night, I’d have questions too.”

Aria studied him.

There was something about the way he spoke.

Too controlled.

Too careful.

As though every word had been measured before leaving his mouth.

“Then answer mine.”

Kaelen stepped aside.

“Come in.”

She hesitated.

Then entered.

The doors closed behind her.

Neither of them noticed the faint silver glow beneath the fabric covering the pendant around Aria’s neck.

Kaelen did.

His eyes dropped toward it for half a second.

Then returned to her face.

“You will stay here until your parents return.”

Aria’s eyebrows rose.

“That’s not happening.”

“It already has.”

“I have a home.”

“You did.”

The words were quiet.

But something about them made Aria’s stomach tighten.

“What does that mean?”

Kaelen looked at her.

“It means things have changed.”

“Since when?”

“Since now.”

Aria went still.

He knew.

That was the first thing that truly frightened her.

“You know what happened to me?”

Kaelen didn’t answer immediately.

And that silence was answer enough.

Aria stepped closer.

“What happened that night?”

His eyes held hers.

“You will learn later”

Her expression hardened.

“Then why am I here?”

“Because you’re safer here.”

“Safer from what?”

Kaelen’s jaw tightened.

“Things you don’t understand yet.”

Aria laughed bitterly.

“That’s becoming everyone’s favorite answer.”

She turned toward the door.

Kaelen watched her.

“Aria.”

She stopped.

It was the first time he had called her by her first name.

Something about it felt strangely familiar.

She turned slowly.

“What?”

Kaelen looked at her for a long moment.

There were a thousand things he wanted to say.

I remember you.

I saw you long before you ever saw me.

You don’t know me, but I am bound to you.

I promised your grandmother I would protect you.

And I would protect you even if there were no promise.

But none of those words left his mouth.

Instead, he said—

“You’re exhausted.”

Aria stared at him.

“That isn’t what I asked.”

“I know.”

“Then answer me.”

“I will.”

“When?”

“When you are ready to hear the truth.”

Aria shook her head.

“You don’t get to decide when I’m ready.”

Something changed in Kaelen’s expression.

For the first time, his carefully controlled face softened.

“No.”

His voice was almost a whisper.

“You’re right.”

He stepped back.

“You decide.”

Aria stared at him.

She hadn’t expected that answer.

Neither had he.

Because somewhere beneath the duty, the prophecy and the ancient bond—

Kaelen already knew one thing.

If he truly intended to protect her,

he could never become another person deciding her life for her.

And Aria?

She had no idea that the man standing before her was the same stranger her heart had remembered long before her mind did she only knew her lecturer and university chairman that made her heart fluster.