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Oxford, 1893.
She’s the chaos he never planned for.
He’s the silence she can’t quite break.

When sharp-tongued student Iris Evelyn collides with cold, brilliant lecturer Edward Ashcroft, sparks don’t fly—they simmer. In whispered arguments. Glances across bookshelves. Letters never sent.

Between debates and unspoken feelings, they orbit each other—too close to stay untouched, too distant to name what’s growing between them.

But in a place like Oxford, love isn't a possibility.
It's a liability.

And the closer they get, the more it threatens to destroy them both.


A slow-burn academic romance with razor-sharp banter, quiet heartbreak, and two people who were never supposed to feel this much.

Drifted Apart.

They didn't talk about what happened in the study room.

The next day, Ashcroft returned with coffee and gloves, his coat neat, his tie straight. Iris was already at their table, notebook open but untouched, eyes tracing something invisible in the grain of the wood.

"Still pretending I don't like sugar?" she asked.

"I like the way you act like I don't."

They didn't work. Not really. Books stayed open but unturned. Pens were held but unused.

Iris broke the silence first. "We're weird now."

Ashcroft didn't look up. "We've always been weird."

He finally looked at her. "Do you want to stop?"

She hesitated. "No. I just want to know where we are."

He looked at his untouched notebook. "Somewhere between easy and dangerous."

She shrugged. "Somewhere between questions I don't want to ask."

They wandered outside later that afternoon, no plan, just a habit. The wind cut sharp around corners. She tucked her fingers into her sleeves. He offered a glove without a word.

Iris stared at it. "You only brought one?"

She took it. Wore it. Didn't give it back.

They passed by a bookstore window. Iris stopped.

"You ever think we're just... scenes?" she asked. "A collection of nice sentences?"

Ashcroft tilted his head. "You mean like people who only exist in other people's stories?"

"Exactly. Just... clever dialogue and sad glances."

He looked at her. "Then what are we now?"

She met his eyes, then turned away. "I guess we're the part no one reads twice."

Ep 16: Quiet Between Questions.