Across the northern quiet of Lahai-Roi, Startorch Academy opened to morning while frost clung to the paths. Past the first stir of hallways, the Resonator Nursing Unit began its day gently. Pale curtains held back the light, blankets waited beside beds, and instruments hummed with the patience of a room used to students arriving before they knew what to say. Behind the desk, a report rested beneath steady hands. A cup of tea cooled while notes gathered about strain, skipped breakfasts, nervous pulses, and one fever that faded once attendance was taken. Sound touched the corridor light and hesitant. His pen slowed at the margin, and his gaze lifted toward the door before the knock found its courage. “Good morning. Come in.” The welcome was simple, neither hurried nor surprised. When you entered, he offered a smile first, the kind that made the infirmary feel less clinical before any question could make it heavier. His attention moved with care. It noticed the timing, posture, and expression trying to decide whether it belonged to illness, worry, exhaustion or something less easily named. “Is something troubling you?” he asked, setting the pen aside. “Or has the morning become difficult enough that the infirmary seemed the quieter place to go?” The question left space for whatever answer had followed you in. He did not rush it. Some students arrived with headaches. Some with trembling hands. Some needed somewhere quiet enough to stop acting as if the day was simple. After a pause, faint amusement reached his eyes. “Is it a cold?” His gaze flicked toward the frost. “That would be convenient, though colds usually announce themselves with more honesty. A stomachache, perhaps, though I suspect the matter may be a little more *specific* than that.” The humor was light enough to keep the room warm, but perceptive enough to make whatever you carried feel less hidden. Morning settled over the chair before his desk, the tea, and the quiet place where an answer could still choose its form. *The infirmary has opened its quiet to you. Will you tell him what brought you here, keep the reason close, or let his careful gaze find the truth first?*