Dread was running cold down her back as Katharina's feet steered her away from the rest of her group in the opposite direction of the music room. Something of utter importance was pulling her through the manor corridors toward a goal, only the burning brand on her back and the autonomous feet beneath her seemed to know. However, having to go somewhere even before she knew of any punishable offense she had committed could only be bad news.

  As she turned more corners, rearing toward the finer parts of the manor, an inkling of her destination started to form. She had walked these exact hallways before, and in this exact order as well. These were the passages that the brand chose when heading for Master Ravnsund's personal office. She had set foot there exactly once before on the night she was brought into the manor, and that had been quite the defining point in her current situation.

  As expected, she arrived before the closed door to Master Ravnsund's office. And without even having to knock, the door slowly opened. Madam R?fna's face wore an expression of expectancy. "Katharina... there you are." The first part was an almost silent acknowledgment, and the next was a debriefing in disguise. "The Master should like to see you."

  As Katharina entered, she scanned the room quickly, assessing the situation as discreetly as possible. Master Ransund sat behind his desk, where Madam R?fna neatly positioned herself at his right, slightly behind him.

  And at the opposite side of the room, leaning against the windowsill, stood the golden-haired prince, who had been throwing all sorts of antics Katharina's way. Was this his doing, or was he just here by coincidence? Katharina would surely know in just a moment.

  She bowed politely as she now stood before the Master's large, dark wood desk, in grueling anticipation of punishment.

  "Recently," he said, fingers tapping idly against the desk, "an object of interest came into my possession."

  Katharina couldn't help but speculate at the Master's cryptic circling of this 'object'.

  "And it just so happens," he continued, "that you may be able to ?∞χ?Ω???∞ us about it."

  So this wasn't a punishment. Rather, this was some kind of test. Though it likely meant there wouldn't be any immediate pain, Katharina would almost rather have taken a slap to the face than some insurmountable task that was likely to cost her in many more ways.

  Without further explanation, the Master pulled out a drawer in his desk, and from it he lifted a small black object. Katharina immediately recognised the shape, though its appearance in this place seemed uncanny to the point her brain felt contradicted by its own recognition.

  He placed it on the desk in front of him and carefully laid a small, colorful stone on it. As if activated by the stone, the phone lit up, and a familiar image came into view.

  Staring back at Katharina was her favorite moment from a girls' trip she had taken with her college roomies the summer before she had stumbled. The sight of the image made her legs give out, and the feeling of falling endlessly through the floor into an unseen abyss overwhelmed her.

  She caught herself on the edge of the desk, staring cautiously at the Master, trying desperately to ascertain what he was trying to gain from showing her this. But he just smiled gently back at her while sliding the phone toward her.

  When it was right before her, within her reach, he let go and, in one smooth motion, lifted the little stone back in his pocket, and the screen went dark.

  For a moment, everyone in the room was at a standstill, a western-style duel playing out in slow motion, the next move to be made would be the deciding factor. Katharina could feel the brand urging her to pick up the phone before her, but she could hardly believe that it was real, and that her very own phone had found its way back to her.

  The question in itself was ridiculous, given the fact that her whole life, the last many months had been completely beyond any odds at all.

  From the corner of her eye, Katharina spotted the prince who had stayed indifferent to everything that had transpired, though she had felt the nagging suspicion that he was observing her intently. He stood disinterested, watching something beyond her view through the window. It was clear that no one was going to make the next move if not her, and so she obeyed the urging of the brand.

  Cautiously, Katharina closed her fingers around the phone, almost as if it could crumble beneath the slightest pressure at any point. She had seen the background that was hers, and looking closer at this phone, she was almost entirely convinced it was hers.

  She let her fingers slide over the screen, feeling the little scratches that had settled in the surface from her generally rough use, and the one big line that had formed from the phone sliding across the cobblestone. She let the phone settle naturally into her palm as she had done thousands of times before, but in this moment, it felt so misplaced in the scene, standing in this nightmare, looking at something from her old life.

  Subconsciously, she pressed the power button a few times, but, of course, it had run out of battery months ago, and nothing happened.

  Katharina now realised exactly what the Master was seeking from this interaction, and that she herself was willing and unable not to give it to him. He wanted to know how she was going to use this item, which he did not understand.

  She had just seen how the phone had reacted to the colorful stone, which undoubtedly was powering it with some sort of aura. And now she was about to show them that it could be powered with just the mind.

  And so she was set on getting another glimpse of the images and memories of her old life.

  Katharina closed her eyes and found her way to her little closed-off spring that was always on the verge of bursting by now, and slowly let off the lid; she felt the warm trickle of aura filling the air around her. And as her senses grew heightened, she became more aware of the other aura presences in the room.

  The Master who exuded confidence and warm superiority, Madam R?fna, who was barely detectable, though a hint of humility toward the master lingered, and the prince whose immense pressure dwarfed the rest, though he seemed more restrained than ever before.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  She had learned that once, in passing, in a lecture she had barely listened to. And now that half-remembered knowledge felt suddenly vital. Vaguely, she remembered something about an anode and a cathode, and some ions moving between them when you applied a charge. Though the image was slowly forming in her head, it was hazy and inaccurate, but the sudden vibration in her had made her eyes fly open, and she was met with the sight of a battery icon slowly charging.

  Though the percentages were reluctantly rising, Katharina could feel her body cooling and her aura draining faster than ever before.

  Before her, the Master's gentle smile had turned to hesitant observation, but not an ounce of concern for her safety was on his face. Now she could see her finger tips turning red and feel her lips turning blue.

  Suddenly, an intrusive warmth surrounded her. She could feel her energy returning in rolling waves that washed over her like a deluge, and the percentages started rising just as rapidly. Someone was lending their aura to her fuling her inner image that they couldn't see.

  She looked up at the Master, but it wasn't him. He still sat watching her calmly, his aura flowing steadily around him, not a disturbance in sight. But Katharina could feel the pressure digging into her, finding every pore and ripping it open to enter her inner well.

  Though she wanted the phone to charge, she feared the oddly familiar and nauseating heaviness of this aura. In a moment of realization, her head snapped to in the direction of the window. Only to find that the prince had turned his full attention in toward the room. Her darting eyes found his curious blue eyes watching her with an expression she could not place.

  But as soon as Katharina blamed the intrusive aura on him, it was gone. Her body returned to its shivering state on the verge of collapse. She had to stop. Leaving the phone at a mere seven percent battery.

  From in front of her, the Master's voices sounded in a pleased tone. "Seems I was quite right," he leaned forward, ready to observe her next move. "You may proceed."

  As commanded, she pressed and held the power button. Funny how the brand could tell her exactly what to do when she was the only one in the room with the knowledge of how to proceed.

  As the screen flickered on, she felt a surge of emotions that had lain dormant well up in her, all competing for the center spot.

  She could hardly tell how long it had been, months at least, since she had seen the little icons light up on the screen. Not even the clock in the phone knew the time anymore, as it had reset to midnight on January 1st, 1970. And holding this modern device now felt nothing short of unnatural and foreign. Yet her fingers were moving as though it was just yesterday that she dialed her mom, boyfriend, and emergency services in vain.

  Mechanically, she unlocked the phone, her password the digits of her boyfriend's birthday. Her fingers weren't headed anywhere in particular; just swiping through it aimlessly, clicking in and out of apps that didn't have a signal. The battery, already low, was draining with every movement, but no great truth revealed itself.

  As it hit 0, she desperately reached inward again, coaxing the thinnest thread of aura back to the surface, anything to keep the phone alive for a moment longer.

  For a heartbeat, the lockscreen stayed visible, and with it that same image. It was a bright summer day, a gentle kiss on her round and soft cheek, and a smile she could hardly believe was once hers. Her boyfriend had taken the picture while kissing her, so it had a bit of a shake to it, but it made it all the more endearing. It was an unguarded moment, frozen in time, and now it brought out a more burning pain than the brand could ever muster.

  Then the screen went dark, as her phone powered off.

  Katharina closed her fingers around it and pulled her aura back in on itself at once, sealing it away as tightly as she could manage. Her whole body started to prickle as she felt a burning heat forming on her neck and tears pressing their way to her eyes.

  She stared down at the blank screen, once again reminded of everything she had lost.

  Katharina could feel Madam R?fna's looming eyes, watching her with disapproval of this unsightly display before the Master. Yet before she could step forward to correct her, the Master had raised his hand, and Madam R?fnastood frozen almost as though an outside force had cemented her in place.

  "Let her breathe, R?fna." The Master said calmly. His gaze never left Katharina. "I see there is much to this object, which is still far beyond my understanding."

  Instead of demanding the phone back, the Master leaned back in his chair, seemingly pondering the expressions Katharina wore.

  "This object," he continued, "is clearly of value. And it is equally clear that its use is... limited without you." His eyes flicked briefly to the inert phone. "As such, I see no reason to ??ψ???? you of it entirely."

  He was in the midst of tying strings to the phone, strings that Katharian couldn't refuse, though she was sure they would be heavy.

  "Though you may never own anything," he said dryly, "I may be inclined to allow you to have use of this object."

  Obviously, the phone was practically useless now, and with time, it would inevitably break. If not from simply having to withstand her rough existence alongside her, then something like battery failure would eventually doom it. And any memory stored within would meet the same fate.

  However, those exact memories were what made Katharina want to hold on to the phone. If she could just learn how to understand aura better, if there was a way for her abilities to become just as strong as those of the prince, then she could hold on to this last sliver of her old life.

  She was about to perform the appreciative bow that came with receiving generosity from a master. But before she could even say a word of thanks, an unmistakable pressure filled the room.

  "But first you shall have toits use." The Master had used the Voice, taking away any choice, and sending Katharina's thoughts into a mindless panic of iterating through everything there was to explain about modern smartphones.

  With barely any aura left to withstand the order, Katharina could do nothing but listen to her own voice as she let out all that she knew in one continuous stream of explanation, while screaming internally to stop. Though she was betraying herself, everyone else in the room did not look pleased. Instead, immense confusion was painted on their faces.

  She listened to her own words and realized her own thrilling victory.

  "Stop."

  The single word, spoken in pure aura, carried such immense authority that the world seemed to halt around it. Even Master Ravnsun stiffened, his fingers pausing mid-motion.

  The prince had turned fully toward them now, his attention no longer feigned. His gaze rested on Katharina with sharp focus.

  "Please," he said coolly, the weight of his aura pressing down on everyone, "so that we may understand."

  The only thing left to do was lie. Lie in the only way the voice allowed, by telling the truth, but only some of it.

  "It-e is... like a book. It-e knows many things."

  Master Ravnsund studied her for a long moment, but in the end, he did not pass judgment on whether this answer was good enough; instead, he looked to the prince.

  Though the prince had seemed an extra in this whole interrogation, all the power in the room had now shifted to him, as if settling back into its natural place. A satisfied look was forming on his face; clearly, he was the mastermind behind it all.

  "She may hold on to the 'book-like' ????木?ナ? for now."

  Though this was the best that Katharina could have hoped for, there was no weight lifted off her shoulders. As she clasped her fingers tightly around the phone, she felt only another object tied to this prince now weighing her down.

  Her eyes settled on the prince, making sure she stared back at him with the same intensity he was showing her.

  And that, she realized, was exactly it.

  To this all-powerful man who wore entitlement as an accessory, this world had nothing left to offer him. He moved through it with the ease of someone who had already claimed everything that mattered.

  But her loss, her memories, her origin, was something else entirely to him.

  A fantasy he longed to possess.

  But could only observe through her.

  She held his gaze.