A new field appeared, larger, like a blank sheet of paper.

A month later, after a long, tearful dinner with Ben, Elara came home. On a whim, she opened the laptop and went back to . The page had changed. The parchment field was gone. Now, there was just a simple ledger, like the inside of an old book. Lines of text, in that same navy blue, scrolled slowly up the screen.

A week passed. Nothing happened. Then, two weeks. She checked the site daily. The same message. Lorenzo was still on leave.