Chapter 18 - 4.1 : A Month in the Shadows
It had been a month since Al started living at the Virellano estate.
Time moved like a calm current—but beneath the surface, invisible whirlpools churned.
Every day, Al woke up at the crack of dawn—something he’d never imagined doing on a regular basis. Not because he liked it, but because the house had rules. Unwritten, yet heavy. Like the air around his family—always elegant, proper... and cold.
He ate breakfast alone in his room.
The ban on joining the main dining table still stood.
The looks from his older sisters—and even from the servants and security staff—though no longer as openly hostile as when he first arrived, were still often laced with subtle jabs. Or, more commonly, polite smiles paired with sharp, cutting words.
After breakfast, he put on his school uniform and left early.
Though he was officially in the afternoon class, his schedule had been unilaterally changed.
"To instill discipline befitting a Virellano," his father had said one morning while sipping tea.
Al didn’t care. He simply obeyed, like a shadow moving according to the light.