The hand of the clock struck eleven in the night as Mr Walter unlocked the front door.
He paused as his eyes took in his wife waiting for him. They had been married for years and never ever had his wife eaten dinner without him.
It was a routine he had known for years.
However there was something different about her today. There was an aura she exhibited and he could tell that she was deeply absent from the moment to even notice he was home.
Mr Walter tucked his black coat on the stand and walked to the couch where she sat. Her eyes were fixed at the ceiling. He calmly caressed her hair and that drew her attention towards him.
"Where are you lost?" There was nothing but calmness in his tone but there was deep care in his eyes.
Mrs Walter came out of the daze. Her confused eyes fell on him before looking for the clock. She straightened and asked, "What's the time?"
"Eleven."
Mrs Walker stood up. "Go and freshen up. I will set the table." Just as she turned to walk to the kitchen, Mr Walter grabbed her arm. "No."
"What?"
"We will talk about what's bothering you first. Dinner can wait." He had not known her for a little time. Mr Walter made her sit where she was previously sitting. It was his wife's old habbit. Everytime she struggled with something, she would go on avoiding his eyes.
"What happened?"
Her eyes watered instantly. Mrs Walter needed no more signal before pouring out her emotions. "She agreed." Small sobs broke through her throat.
Mr Walter froze.
He did not need her to say more and right away knew what she meant.
"S-she agr-agreed." Mrs Walter repeated as tears streamed down her face.
It was like a dream to her.
They had spent years praying for a child and finally the wish was fulfilled. It may not be the way they had imagined but that was the main thing about this pure emotion.
Was it necessary to feel only for a child that was biologically their own?
How was he to react?
Mr Walter had observed how his wife was around the girl in the past three weeks. They knew very well that they could not keep the child with them longer than the period of a month. Unless they were to become her legal guardion.
And that was not as easy as it should be.
Mr Walter had seen his wife getting attached to the young lady with every passing day.
For three weeks, he was seeing a slightly brighter version of his wife. She was a pinch more brighter, a bit more happy with the presence of that young lady at their home.
And it hurt to even think that his wife would not be like that after a week. So if it meant going slightly out of his way and use his powers to turn her happiness into a permanent event, Mr Walter was ready to do that.
His wife was worried how that young lady would survive in this world all alone.
It was not going to be easy to be the legal guardians of the lady who was already twenty, orphaned and involved in the human trafficking case. Fortunately for them, they still held a upper hand even in this situation.
With the working experience of his wife in the internal organization and his high status and deep connections in the government, it was not entirely impossible.
"It seems like a dream. What if something again goes wrong? What will I do in that case?" Mrs Walter wanted to trust that this one time fate was on her side. Because if this one time it did not happen, Mrs Walter knew she would break from inside.
"Nothing will go wrong, my dear. I promise you that no one would take her away from us."
Unbeknownst to them, there was a figure standing behind a pillar, hearing everything they spoke.
Her lips arched and she looked at the couple with a different set of emotions. Using the couple was not the plan but she would need them to get the strong footing here.
Three Months Later.
"The 'University of Lilac' is widely known for its history. In the middle of the modern city structures, this university falls right between the beautiful hills at about 100 kms from the Lilac Town. This University is not only known for the level of education it provides but also for its infrastructure."
"This University opened about 600 years back during the reign of the King who gave extreme importance to the education. Over the centuries, it stood firm with that foundation. Also, we need to be grateful to the government who left no stone unturned to maintain it and keep the original frame intact."
Crescent listened to Mrs Smith as she brought the children around for the campus tour on first day of their university. She followed the students as they entered another hallway.
The season of falls was on the verge of beginning after a cooling monsoons. Hence, everything here looked really pretty.
Over the past three months, several changes were brought in her life. Crescent never thought that there were so many things that was left to be explored in this world.
"Students, right from here we are turning to the open library." She let her eyes scan the words that were written on top of the entrance.
The Library.
It was one of the reasons why she came all the way here. It was her destination.
"As you all might already know, there are two libraries in our university. First one is this which is open to all. However the other one," Mrs Smith took a pause as she gazed at each and every face, "...only very few people in the world got access to it."
The words sank in and Crescent took her eyes away from the entrance. She stared at Mrs Smith with a frown. It was the information she did not seem to be aware about.