The following morning arrived without ceremony. There wasn't any alarms of urgent summons for some kind of catastrophe, it was just normal.
Sunlight filtered through thin curtains, pale and unhurried, tracing soft lines across the floorboards of his room. The house was quiet, not the tense, watchful quiet of danger held at bay, but the gentle stillness of a place allowed to breathe.
Albedo lay awake, staring at the ceiling in thought.
One week.
That was what the Academy had declared: a mandatory cooldown period following the exchange. Seven days for the students who had went on the exchange to relax themselves.
A nice, welcome pause in their hectic lives. Albedo exhaled slowly in thought. This time off felt strange.
