We’re out of time.

Emily stands, leaving the untouched sandwiches on the table, as she hears a bell ring from the shopfront. Her heart lurches as she hears Herber’s footsteps in the corridor, and she struggles to keep herself from crying again. Within a few seconds, Herber hurries into the room and heads straight for Emily.

“Pass me the crystals. I’ll do the talking. Just follow my lead.”

He takes the pouch of crystals from Emily, grabs her hand, and guides her towards the shopfront. Emily hears a shuffling of feet behind them and turns her head to see Anna walking into the kitchen, her face stained with tears. Emily takes a deep breath and regains her calm, holding Anna’s distraught gaze.

I’m so sorry, Anna. It’ll hurt, but I can’t lose you too.

“Love you Anna, I’ll be back as soon as I can!” she calls out with a look of grim determination.

She turns around, schooling her expression, and sees four familiar noblemen standing proudly in front of her.

Herber bows his head and Emily begrudgingly follows.

“Greetings sirs, I assume you have come here to collect these strange crystals,” Herber proffers while presenting the pouch of mana crystals to Diego.

Carlos walks past Diego and collects the pouch, starting with shock as he glances in and sees seven perfectly cut gems.

“I apologise for keeping your stolen property, I told my daughter to keep the crystal ore because it looked valuable. Please spare my children and take my life.”

Herber continues, getting down on his hands and knees while dipping his head to the floor. Carlos shows Diego the pouch of crystals and he responds with curiosity.

“Was it you that cut these gems?”

“No, it was my daughter Emily here.”

Diego turns his attention to Emily, who stands next to Herber with her head still bowed.

“Raise your head and answer me, child. What happened to the rest of the crystals? There should have been eleven?”

“Four of them were destroyed when I was experimenting with them to extract the lightning.”

A familiar look of greed creeps onto Diego’s face, but Emily is already numb to it, simply staring at him with a neutral expression as he calls out to his men.

“Miguel, check her for mana! Carlos, give him his appropriate punishment.”

Emily presents her arm to Miguel, ignoring him and making eye contact with Herber as he raises from his bow.

‘I love you!’ Herber mouths before Carlos calmly slits his throat. Emily sears her father’s final moments into her mind, barely even noticing the foreign mana creeping through her body. As Herber’s body hits the floor, bleeding out for the last time, Emily looks around the room, a frigid bite in her gaze, seeing nothing but dead men.

I may have to go with you peacefully for now, but I swear that, one day, I’ll kill everyone in this room with my own two hands.

She silently seethes with rage without letting it show, barely noticing when Miguel lets go of her wrist and turns to Diego with shock.

“She’s a first circle mage!”

“Good! How old are you?” Diego grins.

“Fifteen.”

“Did you awaken from messing with these magic crystals?”

“Yes, no one has ever taught me.”

“Wonderful!” Diego beams with joy, “Come with us and become a vassal of the Mandrago family!”

Emily glares at him in silence and Diego gives a satisfied nod, taking her silence as agreement.

“Carlos, burn the body.” Diego turns to leave and Emily flinches at his command and calls out.

“Wait! Please leave his body so my sister can give him a proper burial. His grave will be a reminder for people not to make the same mistake as me,” Emily repeats, setting up to keep Anna safe.

Diego looks back at her with irritation, responding as expected.

“Don’t talk back to me or question my decisions from now on. However, just this once I’ll grant your request since you are coming along so willingly,” he says before glancing back towards the kitchen door.

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A cruel smile plays across his lips, but he doesn’t say anything else, silently turning and walking towards the door. Emily follows his gaze back and sees Anna, staring at Herber’s body in shock through the partially open kitchen door. Emily’s heart aches as she sees the tears streaming down her face, but she can’t bring herself to say anything. She leaves Anna to her mourning.

Bye, sis, stay safe.

She turns and follows Diego out.

***

“...She’ll be a living reminder to those mortals not to touch what’s rightfully ours,” the Patriarch says, sealing Anna’s fate and moving on. “Hmm, she seems to have awfully dense mana for a freshly awakened. Girl, when did you awaken?”

“A few hours ago.” Emily croaks, her throat finally opening up again after being deprived of air, a feeling she’s growing sick of.

“I see,” he says with a calm nod, all traces of his prior anger washed away. “She’s already had her induction from Elder Santiago, correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then she is loved by mana. You did a good job bringing her in. Have her sent to The Covenant to begin education immediately and have her given the same resources as a member of the indirect line. With this much talent, she should prove very useful within a few years. As a reward, you will be allowed one artefact from the family’s storage.”

“Thank you for your generosity, sir!” Diego bows deeply with a satisfied grin.

“You may leave now.”

With that, the group once again bows with their fists on their hearts, then they turn and hurriedly leave the audience chamber.

The moment the grand doors shut behind her, Emily lets out an inaudible sigh, exhausted and ready to leave frozen time and her pain far behind. Diego leads the group back down the stairs, turning his head to speak over his shoulder as he goes.

“Carlos, go deal with getting her signed up for The Covenant and send a servant to mark her sister. Jose, show her to where she will be staying. Emily, listen to whatever Jose tells you.”

They separate after they leave the building through the large entranceway. Diego and Miguel head towards the slightly grander right wing, while Emily follows Jose towards the left. Carlos heads back through the grounds away from the buildings.

Emily follows Jose silently into the left wing of the mansion where far more servants are moving around the halls. They quickly climb a flight of stairs and head to the top floor. There, Jose guides her through a couple of quieter hallways until they come across a corridor with four doors spread a reasonable distance apart on either side. At the end sits a fifth door directly facing them.

Jose walks to the door on the right at the far end and opens it to reveal a sizable room with a four-poster bed, a large mirror on top of a dressing table, and a grand wardrobe.

“You will be staying in this room for now. Meals will be brought to you three times a day and I will have the maids bring you some nightwear and new clothes for tomorrow. The door at the end of the hall is a bathroom. Don’t leave this corridor without further commands.”

After giving his instructions, Jose immediately turns back the way they came, leaving Emily standing alone in front of her new room. She looks around the luxurious space, so different from her small room behind the shop. Her thoughts drift to Anna, crying alone in their home with an unknown assailant coming to harm her. She grits her teeth and pushes the thought away, taking a breath to calm herself.

Anna’s strong, she’ll survive. Just stick to the plan. I’ll make them pay, I promise, Anna. Then I’ll come apologise properly.

She steps through the threshold, shutting the door behind her, and walks into the centre of the room.

My detection was about four metres on all sides if I remember correctly. It should easily cover the whole room from here.

She sits down with crossed legs and her hands resting on her knees, closes her eyes, and enters a meditative state. Carefully she inspects the mana flow of the room around her, finding it denser than in her own home, searching for any abnormalities.

She searches every surface twice and finds nothing, so she breaks her meditation and moves to sit at the dresser.

I guess the surveillance was just for that audience room. They really aren’t worried about me now that they think I’m brainwashed. I could probably escape.

The idea is tempting, the thought of returning to Anna, or intercepting the Mandrago servant before they can touch her, is strong.

No! The whole point of me being here is to keep Anna safe. If their servant never returns they’ll just send someone else, and what would they do to her if I actually escaped? They’d probably kill her, then what would be the point of Dad… No, stop thinking about that.

She takes a deep breath to calm her rising panic, ignoring the slight shaking of her hands.

The Patriarch said he wanted me sent to some covenant for training. Fine, teach me magic. Show me how to kill you. Then Anna will be safe.

A knock at the door disturbs her thoughts. She looks over and calls out.

“Come in.”

Two maids walk in, each carrying a bundle of clothes.

They place the clothes onto the bed before giving Emily a light bow and leaving without a word.

“Wow, what talkative company,” Emily grumbles to herself while getting up and checking out the two bundles.

The first pile has a black robe with green accenting and a Mandrago family crest – depicting two intertwined bronze roots sprouting dark green leaves – pinned to it, a silken dress shirt, a pair of flowing black trousers, and a set of simple underwear. Underneath the pile is a pair of plain black leather shoes.

Is a twisted fashion sense a requirement of using magic? Anna probably wouldn’t mind them actually; at least I’m wearing a shirt without holes in, right sis?

She wipes a few tears from her eyes and casts her judging gaze towards the second pile. In the pile, she finds a soft silk nightgown, a towel, and a toothbrush.

There’s no way you’ll catch me dead in that.

She tosses aside the nightgown and carries the pile of robes to the dresser, dropping it on top and taking a seat again. Leaning back in her chair, she yawns and stretches her arms behind her head.

Today has been...

Why do I feel so tired, given rewinding seems to reset my physical levels? Somehow it still feels like I haven’t slept in weeks. I should sleep.

Emily gets up, takes the towel and toothbrush from her bed then leaves her room, entering the adjacent bathroom. It’s sizable, with a toilet and sink to the right of the door, and a full-body mirror to the left. Straight ahead is a large shower.

“Damn rich bastards, even their servants' bathrooms are bigger than ours,” Emily grumbles to herself before stripping and stepping into the shower. The warm water washes away the tension from her recent dance with nobility, leaving her bleary-eyed and ready to collapse.

After drying herself off, she quickly brushes her teeth and leaves, wrapped in a towel and carrying her old clothes.

Back in her room, she takes The Clock out of her shirt and places it on the bedside table. She hangs her towel over the back of the dresser’s chair and collapses into bed. Then she shifts around to find a comfortable position, tangled in the soft sheets, and drifts off to sleep.