Chapter 21: A Name That Connects

The stall remained quiet after they entered, the kind of silence that wasn’t uncomfortable but wasn’t entirely relaxed either. The old woman moved somewhere in the back, preparing food without interruption, while Kael continued eating as if the two new presences at her table were nothing more than passing shadows.
Aerin, however, was anything but quiet.
He shifted in his seat, wincing slightly as the soreness from earlier settled into his body, but the discomfort didn’t seem to dull his energy. If anything, it made him more restless.
“Thank you, sister,” he said finally, his voice carrying a mix of relief and excitement.
Kael didn’t look up.
Aerin leaned forward slightly, unable to hold it in. “You were so cool back there. I didn’t think—” he paused, scratching the back of his neck, correcting himself, “I mean, I didn’t expect… that.”
Kael raised her eyes just enough to glance at him.
“That I wasn’t useless?” she said flatly.
Aerin shook his head quickly. “No, I didn’t mean that. I just thought—”
“You thought correctly,” she cut in, returning to her food. “I am not a climber.”
That only seemed to encourage him more.
“Still,” he continued, undeterred, “please let me join your team. I want to be strong too.”
Kael let out a quiet breath, setting her food down for a moment before looking at him properly this time.
“If you had trained,” she said, her tone calm but edged with something sharper beneath it, “you wouldn’t be sitting there like that right now.”
It sounded almost like concern.
Almost.
But the faint mockery threaded through it was impossible to miss.
Aerin didn’t flinch from it.
Instead, he straightened, nodding immediately. “I will. I promise. I’ll train from now on.”
Kael studied him for a second, then leaned back slightly, unimpressed but not dismissive either.
“But sister,” Aerin continued, curiosity creeping back into his voice, “I’ve never seen you train before. How do you know how to fight? Where did you learn?”
Kael rolled her eyes, the faintest hint of annoyance returning.
“Do you think that was a fight?” she said.
Aerin blinked.
“I swung a pan and hit them,” she continued. “That’s not skill. That’s timing.”
She tapped her fingers lightly against the table, her gaze steady now.
“You don’t lack strength,” she added. “You lack confidence. You hesitate. And hesitation gets you hit.”
Aerin listened closely, his earlier excitement settling into something more focused.
“You have to be fearless,” Kael said. “Or at least look like you are.”
It was the first time she had spoken to him like that—not dismissive, not cutting him off, but actually explaining something.
And that, more than anything, made Aerin’s expression light up again.

Kael’s gaze shifted.

To the girl sitting beside him.

The girl straightened immediately under the attention, her earlier fear replaced by something more alert, more cautious. Before Kael could say anything, she spoke first.
“My name is Mira,” she said quickly, her voice steady despite everything that had happened.
Kael narrowed her eyes slightly.
Not at the name.
At the readiness.

“Why are you so desperate to enter the Tower at your age?” Kael asked directly.
No softness.
No attempt to ease into it.

Mira hesitated.
Just for a moment.
Then answered.
“I want to search for someone.”

Her voice had changed.
Lower.
Quieter.

Kael tilted her head slightly. “Who?”
Mira’s fingers tightened in her lap.
“…Someone important,” she said.
“Family?” Kael pressed.

Mira shook her head immediately.
“No.”

That was quick.
Too quick.

“He used to come to our orphanage,” she continued, her voice softening further. “He wasn’t family, but… he treated us like we mattered. Like we weren’t just… there.”
Her gaze dropped slowly.
“He was like my elder brother.”

Something in Kael’s expression shifted.
Not visibly.
But enough.

“Tarin?” she asked, almost to herself. “He used to donate. I’ve heard of that.”

Mira shook her head again, this time more firmly.
“No,” she said.

Then she looked up.

“I’m searching for Riven.”

The name landed.

Kael stilled.

For the first time since they had entered—
She reacted.

Not dramatically.
Not loudly.

But enough.

Her fingers, resting lightly against the table, tightened just slightly before going still again.
Her gaze sharpened, locking onto Mira with a precision that hadn’t been there before.

“…What did you say?” Kael asked.

Mira hesitated, just for a fraction of a second, caught off guard by the shift in tone.
“Riven,” she repeated, quieter now. “That’s who I’m looking for.”

Aerin glanced between them, confusion flickering across his face.
“…You know him?” he asked.

Kael didn’t answer.

Her mind had already moved ahead.
Fast.
Precise.

Riven.
An orphanage.
Donations.
A connection she hadn’t known existed.

Another piece.

Another direction.

And suddenly—
The Tower wasn’t the only place that held answers.

Kael leaned back slightly, her expression returning to something controlled, something unreadable.
But her eyes didn’t leave Mira.

“…Start talking,” she said.

This time—
It wasn’t a suggestion.

End of Chapter 21