The old house felt different tonight, quieter than usual. My suitcase, packed with books and clothes for Whimsic, stood by the door, a silent monument to the future. Lillian, curled up on the couch beside me, was already asleep, her breathing soft and even. I should have been excited, relieved even, after the roller coaster of college applications, but a knot of unease tightened in my stomach.

Downstairs, I could hear Yadhira moving around, the clink of glass against ceramic echoing faintly from the kitchen. Her earlier reaction at dinner, dropping her wine glass, her face draining of color at the mention of Whimsic Law School, replayed in my mind. She had recovered quickly, of course, ever the composed guardian, but the fear in her eyes was unmistakable.

"You are exceptional, Alassandra," she had said, her gaze fixed on the flickering fire, "in more ways than you know." Her words, laced with an almost ancient wisdom, hinted at a world beyond what I could grasp. What did she mean? And why did the name of my new school, a place I hadn't even remembered applying to, strike such dread into her?

I glanced at Lillian's peaceful face, then at the old wooden box on my bedside table, where the 'Valerious' file still lay hidden. Tomorrow, I would be leaving this sanctuary. Tomorrow, I would step into the unknown, carrying not just my dreams of becoming a lawyer, but the heavy weight of a past I was only just beginning to understand. The quiet house felt less like a home and more like the edge of a precipice, and I wondered if I was ready to jump.