I adjusted immediately, letting my senses shift into their usual arrangement of survival.
I followed Ramiro carefully.
Ramiro continued speaking as we walked.
“Your room was originally assigned upstairs in the main wing,” Ramiro said, his voice measured as it moved ahead of me, “but Rafael requested a change. He said it would be too difficult for you.”
Something tightened faintly in my chest.
Too difficult for me.
“The stairs are steep and there are many of them,” he continued. “So we prepared a suite on the ground floor.”
A pause followed—just long enough to feel intentional.
“But you should know,” Ramiro added more quietly, “that the suite once belonged to his late wife. Some of her personal belongings are still there... including her piano. She used to play it in the early days of her illness.”
My foot nearly missed a step.
I caught myself at once, drawing in a quiet breath to steady my balance.
Only then did the meaning of his words fully settle.
The room hadn’t been chosen out of kindness.
It had been placed there deliberately.
“You made it sound as though Rafael was being considerate,” I said carefully, my voice tightening despite myself. “But it isn’t kindness, is it? He wants me there. In her space. That’s intentional.”
A pause.
“Can I request a different room?”
Ramiro didn’t hesitate for long.
“No,” he said simply. “Not unless Rafael changes his mind. It was his order.”
A fraction softer, almost procedural again—
“If you want it altered, you will have to speak to him directly.”
Then, gently, “We’re almost there. Come.”
I swallowed, forcing my feet to move again as he guided me forward. Each step felt heavier now, the air in the house turning denser—like I was being led closer to something that had already decided it would not move for me.
We stopped.
I heard it first—the soft groan of heavy wooden doors opening inward.
The sound was deep, aged, as if the door itself carried history in its hinges.
Then air shifted.
A subtle whoosh of displacement washed over my skin as the room opened in front of me.
Ramiro stepped inside first.
I followed cautiously.
