Again, She Left Me

Time turned back a single day.
Not far, but far enough.

Morning light spilled through the academy’s high windows, cool and quiet. Jade had already approached Rose’s door once that day, only to be turned away by Alice with her polite bow and practiced calm.

“Lady Rose requested not to be disturbed,” the maid had said.

Even by her.

So Rose was still inside, Jade assumed — maybe preparing for lessons, or avoiding everyone after the commotion the night before. But something about Alice’s tone didn’t sit right.

Jade stepped outside. The courtyard air felt too open, too still. Her eyes lifted instinctively toward the willow—the same place she had found Rose with Kai so many times before.

Empty.

The sunlight shimmered between its branches, mockingly gentle.

“Where are you, Rose…” she whispered.

Her search took her next to the library, the echo of her boots marking the only sound in the marble halls. No trace of her there either. Just the faint smell of dust and paper, and the lingering chill of mana through the air.

Then came Simon.

By the time Jade left him behind, her steps had lost their rhythm. She told herself she’d keep looking — maybe the garden, maybe the west dorms — but her thoughts wouldn’t focus.

She couldn’t keep searching. Class was about to begin.
There was no way Rose would miss it—so Jade decided to wait for her there.

And so, when the first class bell rang, she realized she’d been walking in circles.

She hurried across the courtyard and then broke into a light run inside the hallways toward her classroom.

Simon was already seated near the back, his notes open as he adjusted his glasses resting on the bridge of his nose—just as the front door once again slid open.

Jade stepped in.
A little too fast, a little too intense.

Every head lifted briefly as her eyes swept across the room.
No Rose.

Simon watched quietly as the tension in her shoulders hardened into silence. Her classmates could only guess why. Jade—who was usually composed, cold, and effortlessly calm—now looked unsteady. The quiet control that defined her was fraying at the edges. Her eyes moved too sharply, her breathing too shallow, as if the absence of one person had cracked something she’d worked hard to keep sealed.

Class continued like normal.
However, Jade’s eyes never left the door.

She sat upright, silent, her quill untouched. The other students whispered, exchanged notes, and laughed between lectures — but Jade’s stare was fixed, expectant, tense. Her classmates could only guess why. The girl who was usually composed, aloof, and precise now looked as if she’d forgotten how to breathe. Even her stillness felt brittle, like glass under strain.

Simon noticed it most.
He had grown used to Jade’s silence — the kind that commanded distance — but this one felt different. Her gaze was frantic beneath its surface. Each time the door creaked, her fingers twitched.
He knew what she was waiting for.

In his mind, Rose’s voice echoed from that morning.

“Please, look after Jade.”

He had only smiled in return.
You didn’t have to tell me that, he thought. I was already going to.

__________

When the bell rang, Jade stood at once. Her movements were sharp, almost mechanical. Celia, startled, rose to follow her, only for Jade to hand her bag over.

She stepped into the corridor, where Celia stood already waiting with a bow and raised hands. Jade handed her belongings over to her without a word. Celia carried them effortlessly, used to her mistress’s rhythm.

“Any news this morning?” Jade asked flatly, her tone clipped but controlled.

“There was... some vague talk of a disturbance in the courtyard last night,” Celia replied carefully. “Nothing official.”

“Unimportant," Jade said, eyes narrowing. “I don't care about some silly disturbance.”

Celia hesitated, unsure if there was more Jade wanted to hear, but Jade was already walking away.

Celia quickly snapped, "I did receive a letter from Lady Rose."

Jade's feet came to an abrupt halt. She turned and started back toward her maid.

"From Rose? Where?"

“I’ve placed it in your quarters, my lady. For when you return.”

“Then why didn’t you say that sooner? Let’s go.”

Simon, on the other side of the classroom door, waited for the crowd to thin before following. He’d been standing there the entire time, pretending to linger for no reason.

Outside, his butler waited.

“Master Simon, shall I—”

“No.” Simon handed him his book. “Go prepare lunch. I won’t be in the cafeteria today.”

The butler bowed, understanding more than he was told, and left.
Simon adjusted his coat and began walking in the same direction Jade had gone.

__________

Jade reached her quarters to find a sealed envelope resting neatly on her desk.
Her name—in Rose’s handwriting.

Her hand trembled as she opened it.

Jade,

“By the time you read this, I will have already left.
I’ve chosen a path I cannot turn from.
This world can’t change unless someone moves first, and I intend to be that someone.
Take care of yourself, Jade. You were always stronger than you believed.”

Rose.

Jade’s fingers trembled as she lowered the page, ‘What does she mean “chosen a path”?’ she muttered. “Last time I saw her, she was glowing... Did she tether?”

Her pulse quickened.

Celia’s voice wavered. “My lady?”

Jade barely heard her. “If she did, then who with?”

Simon leaned on the door outside. Having heard enough, he quietly stepped away, guilt pressing heavier than before.

Because he knew. 

Because he saw Rose go.

__________

Jade didn’t attend her afternoon classes.
For someone who prided herself on discipline, that alone was unheard of.

She spent hours in her room — curtains drawn, eyes swollen but dry — sitting at the edge of her bed as time slipped past. When she finally stood, her reflection in the mirror looked hollow. She brushed back her hair, straightened her uniform, and called Celia.

“Do you know who she tethered with?”

Celia froze. “I... I’m afraid I do not know, my lady.”

Jade nodded once. “Then we’ll find out.”

Celia quickly fixed her face with powder. Moments later, she stormed out. Celia rushed to follow.

They approached the front of Rose’s quarters. No maid stood near. 

Jade approached the large doors, and with a rhythmed knock, she waited.

No answer. Silence.

She… took Alice with her? she thought, as her hands fell to her sides. Her hands curled into fists as she turned back toward the hallway.

She anxiously approached the Dean's office and knocked, opening the door when invited in.

The Dean looked up from his paperwork, surprised. “This is the first time you’ve ever skipped a class, Miss Jade. I almost thought you’d fallen ill.”

Jade ignored the remark. “Where’s Rose?”

The Dean exhaled slowly. “Miss Rose is no longer under academy authority.”

“What do you mean?” Jade’s voice cracked for the first time. "Did she tether?"

"I confirmed her tether earlier today." He stared at her, hands connected on the table.

“Then I’ll go with her.”

“Unfortunately, you’re still untethered,” he said gently. “You cannot leave. Rules are rules.”

Jade turned sharply toward the door, her silence cutting deeper than any retort.

__________

Time passed and evening fell. Lanterns flickered along the academy paths, their golden light catching faintly on the cobblestones.

Faint voices of students walking the halls toward their rooms filled the silence of the courtyard.

Jade sat alone on a bench facing the willow, though far from its shadow. She’d always hated that tree. Its shape hung too peacefully, as if it pitied those who couldn’t bend as easily.

She stared at it until the air began to hum with quiet.

Footsteps approached. Simon.
He slowed as he neared her, choosing his words carefully.

“Are you okay, Jade?”

“Leave me alone, Simon,” she said. Her tone was tired, but not cruel.

He sat beside her anyway, at the far edge of the bench. The silence that followed wasn’t uncomfortable—just heavy. The kind that said both of them knew why he’d stayed.

After a while, Jade spoke again, voice low.

“Every time we had our routine lunch together, she seemed like she was somewhere else." She paused before facing ahead. "I asked her one time if I wasn't good company, and even though she said I was, she also said she was going to that stupid willow.”

She exhaled. “It’s like she only spent time with me out of habit. Out of respect for the length of our friendship.”

Simon watched her, eyes soft but unreadable. “Sometimes people don’t say goodbye because it’s easier to be hated than missed.”

Jade turned slightly toward him. “You speak as if you knew.”

He didn't meet her gaze. 

“You’re not her shadow, Jade.” He said as he stood up from the seat. “You never were.”

She studied him for a moment. Her voice softened.

“You really believe that?”

“I do.” He turned to her, staring attentively in her eyes. "You are… luminous, in a different way."

He continued, "If only you saw what the rest of us see.”

Her breath wavered. For the first time that day, the ache in her chest eased—just a little.

Maybe I’m overreacting, she thought. Maybe Simon’s right. Maybe I’ve spent so long chasing Rose’s light that I forgot I had my own.

The silence between them deepened. Above, the dark sky began to bloom with stars, tracing quiet patterns across its vast canvas.

“Simon,” she said finally. “Would you tether with me?”

He blinked in surprise. His glasses almost fell off the bridge of his nose. A gentle smile arched across his face so she could see it.

Then he nodded.

For the first time in her life, Jade didn’t feel like she was chasing something.

She simply sat still.

And for once, that was enough.