introduction

Introduction Poem

“Through life to feel loved it may seem, Travel from heart to soul, a dream, Through pain and bloom, we journey far, In search of a love that knows who we are”.-Oraco

Chapter 1: When the Eyes First Spoke

Aurelia had never felt more unsettled by a single gaze. The sun poured into the arched stone halls of the university, softening the centuries-old edges with light, but nothing could calm the storm unraveling inside her. The past clung to her like smoke—its scent, its sting, still too familiar.

That day in art history class, she arrived early as usual. She preferred silence before the room filled with voices and presence. She picked the seat by the tall window, where the ivy crept up outside and the cathedral bells could be heard faintly from a distance.

She felt him before she saw him.

Caelum. His presence settled next to her like a question. He didn’t ask if he could sit—he just did, folding himself into the seat beside her with a quiet assurance.

He had storm-blue eyes, the kind that looked like they held weather, and an ease that didn’t match the usual nervous energy of college students. His shirt was a little wrinkled, his notebooks filled with marginal doodles and poetic half-lines.

“You always wear sadness like silk,” he said, softly.

Aurelia blinked, startled. “Pardon?”

His grin was quick, but not mocking. “You seem poetic. Thought I’d try to match your vibe.”

Her heart pulled tight. She looked away, her fingers tangling in her scarf. She wasn’t ready to be seen—not really. Not beneath the surface.

Yet when their shoulders brushed—accidentally, as he reached for his notebook—something cracked open inside her. A silence fell, not awkward, but full. Heavy with things unspoken.

Class began, but she couldn’t focus. The professor’s voice blurred. She stared at a Renaissance painting projected on the board, something about divine figures and earthly longing, and her throat tightened.

She cried.

Silently. A tear slipped down her cheek, hidden by the angle of her hair.

Caelum noticed. He didn’t speak, not at first. But his body shifted slightly closer, as if to say: I’m here. Not watching. Just present.

Then, gently, his voice reached her.

“Why do I feel like you’ve lost something too sacred for words?”

She didn’t reply. Couldn’t. But his words lingered.

After class, she tried to leave quickly. He caught up.

“You don’t have to say anything,” he said. “I’ll just… walk beside you.”

And he did.

They walked through the courtyard, past the old fountain where ivy trailed into stone. The air was crisp with early autumn. She said nothing. But when a breeze lifted her scarf, he caught it and handed it back.

“You have an old soul,” he said, softly.

She glanced at him. “That’s a polite way of saying broken.”

He paused, then shook his head. “No. That’s a sacred way of saying you’ve survived.”

Something in her loosened.

She didn’t know why, but she believed him.

That night, she dreamed of ocean waves and stars that pulsed like heartbeats. And in the dream, someone reached out—not to take her, not to fix her, but to simply hold her hand as they watched the sea together.

When she woke, she whispered his name.

Caelum.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***