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She raised her hand slowly and pushed the door.
She entered.
The house was silent.
A faint scent of jasmine and mint filled the air.
She hurried with hesitant steps, looking right and left as she called:
"Farid? Are you here?"
No one answered her.
Then suddenly…
On the edge of the wooden staircase, she spotted a thin yellow thread glowing slowly.
Her fingers trembled as she approached the thread,
then it wrapped around her wrist with a strange tenderness and gently pulled her toward the stairs.
"What is this…?"
She couldn't resist it,
not because it was strong, but because something inside her told her that this thread wanted to lead her to Farid.
She began climbing the stairs for the first time in her life.
She had never gone up to his attic despite her frequent visits.
The stairs were quiet and clean, contrary to what she expected.
And the sound of her footsteps was clear in that utter stillness.
When she reached the top, she saw two opposite rooms:
one with its door tightly closed, and the other open, with a stronger jasmine scent seeping out.
The thread tightened around her wrist slightly, then gently pulled her toward the open room.
She stood at the threshold for a moment, then entered.
The room was like a painting from an elegant era;
a neatly made bed with pristine white covers, light curtains swaying with an invisible breeze,
and a wide wooden bookshelf filled with books of different sizes.
And on the bed…
Farid was lying, half sitting, looking at her with tired features and pale lips.
She rushed toward him saying:
"You old man! Why didn't you stay in the hospital?"
He lifted his head slightly, then said with the coldness of the arrogant:
"And what business is it of yours? I got bored and came home… that's all."
The yellow thread vanished the moment she drew near him, as if its mission was complete.
She suddenly bent toward him,
grabbed his head from both sides with her hands,
and brought her face close to his until their breaths almost touched.
"You look terrible! Look at those dark circles… did you take your medicine?"
Farid's eyes widened slightly.
This was a closeness he had never experienced.
For the first time in his life, he felt his heart pounding violently in his chest.
And while he was staring directly into her brown eyes, something strange happened…
An old, faded memory surged into his mind.
A ten-year-old boy sitting at the corner of a stone house, crying intensely…
Then a girl appears before him, with the same lower facial features as Lavinia...
The same nose, the same lips, even the chin, and she holds his face between her hands and says in a gentle voice:
"Don't worry… everything will be fine."
The scene vanished suddenly.
Farid remained stunned, as if he couldn't comprehend what had just happened in his mind.
Without thinking,
he pushed Lavinia slightly back and said with tense agitation:
"Dammit! Get away from me, you ugly thing!"
Her eyes widened and her back straightened, but she didn't notice the faint redness clinging to his ears and the tops of his cheeks.
"You idiot!" she said, crossing her arms.
"I'm just worried about you. Is everything okay?"
He replied awkwardly, hiding it with great effort:
"Yes… I just… took a break from your annoyance."
She laughed lightly, mockingly:
"Oh good, I thought you were going to die."
He shot her a sideways glance and said:
"Impossible, I won't die before I get rid of you, you nuisance."
She began wandering around the room, examining the furniture, then said:
"Old people have good taste these days… I didn't expect this."
He raised an eyebrow with slight malice:
"And this taste is ten times better than yours, girl."
She ignored his comment and walked toward the bookshelf.
She stretched out her hand and pulled out a book at random.
And as soon as she opened the first page—
"Don't touch it!!!"
Farid shouted, jumping from his bed with a speed unfit for a sick man, completely losing his composure.
Her heart leaped out of its place, and she threw the book away in panic.
"What's wrong with you! Is it going to explode on me?!"
Nothing happened…
Just a book on the floor.
He advanced toward her angrily:
"Didn't I tell you not to mess with my stuff?!"
Lavinia muttered with visible annoyance:
"It's just a book, you idiot…"
She bent down to pick it up,
but he was faster, snatching it quickly,
and returning a small letter that had fallen out back inside, then closing it and placing it in its spot.
"I don't like anyone touching my books. This… is private."
He said that while turning his face away.
Her eyes widened with a sadness she couldn't hide:
"I just wanted to see if you had a book worth reading… Sorry for bothering you."
This was the first time Farid saw her face genuinely sad.
And in that moment, he realized he had gone too far.
Before she reached the room's door to leave,
He reached out and gently held her wrist in a way he was not used to from himself, and said without lifting his eyes:
"I… I'm sorry. That book is not just a book. It's the diary of someone… someone who gave it to me long ago, and I promised him I would never open it until he came back to take it."
Lavinia stopped and looked at him in astonishment, then raised an eyebrow and said with gentle sarcasm:
"I like your personality when you apologize."
As if the sarcasm suddenly brought back his arrogant nature,
he straightened up and said with exaggerated pride:
"Don't get used to it! I won't apologize again!"
Lavinia chuckled lightly, then said at the doorway:
"Will you come tomorrow?"
He replied with fake confidence:
"Of course! School is boring without me."
She laughed and said:
"Yes… it truly is."
And suddenly she felt the whole scene was strange…
Farid's face looked… red?
She blinked several times to make sure.
But before she could confirm,
a light magical force burst from his hand and pushed her outside.
In the blink of an eye, she found herself outside the house,
and the door shut in her face harshly, but without harm.
She stood staring at the door, then placed her hand on her cheek and said:
"Did… his face turn red? Or is it just the fever?"
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