The morning arrived slowly, as if the world were respecting the silence that still lingered over the mansion.
I woke with the clear feeling that something had changed. It wasn't in my body, nor in the environment. It was inside. There was no confusion, nor that uncomfortable emptiness that used to appear after long nights. There was clarity. Strange, heavy, but honest.
Elara was the first to move. She opened her eyes, looked at me for a few seconds, and smiled slightly.
"You've been awake for a while."
"Maybe," I replied. "Or maybe I just didn't want to go back to sleep."
She rested her elbow on the mattress. "Thinking?"
"Always."
Liriel woke up shortly after, calm, as if she had awakened at the world's own rhythm. Vespera took a little longer, but when she opened her eyes, there was no surprise. Only attention.
No one spoke for a few moments.
It wasn't embarrassment. It was a decision forming.
I got up slowly and walked to the window. The sun illuminated the garden, the servants were already moving outside, the city remained alive. Everything looked far too normal for the weight I felt in my chest.
"I need to say something," I said without turning around.
I heard the sound of them shifting on the bed, attentive.
"Until now, a lot of things simply happened. The mansion. The title. The Rank S. Even us." I took a deep breath. "None of this was exactly planned."
Elara answered first. "But it wasn't a mistake."
"No," I agreed. "But today is not like yesterday."
I turned to face them. "Today I know exactly what I'm doing."
Liriel watched me with that calm gaze that always seemed to see beyond the obvious. "Then say it."
I walked back to the bed and sat in front of them. "I choose you. Not out of confusion. Not out of fear of losing. I choose because I want to build something real, even if it's complicated."
Vespera crossed her arms. "You understand that this is not common."
"I haven't lived anything common since I arrived here."
Elara laughed softly. "That's true."
The silence settled again, but now it was different. It didn't press. It simply waited.
Liriel was the first to approach. She touched my face gently. "Then this is not a night that happened. It's one that begins."
I nodded.
There was no hurry after that. No impulsive gesture. Every touch was conscious. Every approach carried clear intention. There was no drink. No escape. Only choice.
When we lay down again, time seemed to slow. The world outside continued, but inside everything was simple. Present. True.
Later, when the sun was already high, we went downstairs for breakfast. The servants watched us with contained curiosity, but said nothing. The table was set as always, organized, silent.
We ate slowly.
"So," Elara said, breaking the silence. "Does this change anything in the group?"
"On the contrary," I replied. "I think it makes everything clearer."
Vespera nodded. "Clarity prevents mistakes."
Liriel smiled. "And strengthens bonds."
After breakfast, we trained together in the courtyard. Nothing intense. Just basic movements, fine adjustments. It was strange to notice how the harmony felt different. More natural. Less tense.
During a break, I sat on the stone bench and watched the three of them talking among themselves. There was lightness there. Something that hadn't existed before.
For the first time, I thought about the future without feeling an overwhelming weight.
At night, when the mansion became silent again, I lay down once more with the feeling that something had settled. Not like a grand promise, but like a foundation.
I knew challenges would come. The world would not accept that easily. There would be looks, judgments, perhaps conflicts.
But that night, while the silence was filled by nearby, real breathing, I was certain of one thing.
It was not impulse that united us.
It was choice.
And conscious choices, I knew, were the only ones that endured when the world truly began to press.