A few minutes passed.
Her breathing slowed. Deepened.
"She actually fell asleep."
Ren stared, somewhere between impressed and envious.
"She's tired."
Serein murmured beside him.
She seemed to sense his gaze, because she glanced over and added quietly, "Asylia does fall asleep easily. But not this easily. Not this fast."
A faint worry ran through her voice.
"She must have really worn herself out getting here," Ren said, still watching Asylia.
Her figure was relaxed against the sofa, the gentle curve of her frame visible even under the uniform. Her neck tilted slightly against the armrest, tracing a smooth line up to her face, where a kind of quiet stillness had settled.
Her skin looked impossibly smooth — like porcelain, but warm somehow, youthful and untouched. For one brief, ridiculous moment, the thought crossed his mind that her cheeks probably felt exactly as soft as they looked.
He pushed it aside.
Her eyes were closed, long lashes resting like delicate shadows against her skin.
Asleep, Asylia looked completely different from the bright, lively person she'd been just minutes ago. The energy she carried when awake had gone somewhere else entirely, leaving behind someone much quieter. Almost like two different people sharing the same face.
Ren looked away.
Only now, in the stillness, did it really hit him — how striking both of them were. Earlier, with everything happening at once, there hadn't been a single moment to notice. No space to breathe, let alone think about something like that.
Serein moved silently, picking up a blanket and draping it over Asylia. She tucked it carefully around her, leaving only her head uncovered.
Without looking up, she said softly, "Part of why she's this tired is because she helped me clean up the room while you were knocked out."
"What — knocked out?"
The word landed a little painfully.
Ren glanced around. The room was spotless. No blood, no broken furniture — every trace of what had happened earlier was simply gone.
"Well... is there anything I can at least do to help?" he asked, eyes drifting around the room. He scratched the back of his head.
*This is embarrassing. I didn't contribute a single thing.*
Serein looked up, met his eyes, and thought for a moment.
"There's nothing you need to do right now. Just save your energy for later."
Then she paused.
"Actually — there is something I want to know."
"What is it?"
Ren raised an eyebrow.
She leaned forward slightly. Her pale azure eyes lifted to meet his through her lashes, calm and still, watching him with quiet, unhurried focus.
Ren could see her profile clearly from where he sat — the soft, almost too-perfect lines of her face shifting slowly as she tilted her head. Something about the way she moved was hard to look away from.
"What are your aether attributes? Your major — and your current state?"
There was a thread of curiosity in her voice. Her eyes stayed fixed on him, steady and attentive.
"My... aether attributes?"
Ren went still.
*Is that related to what she did earlier?*
The memory surfaced on its own — that cold blue light, passing through the air so quietly it almost didn't seem real. It had looked beautiful, even harmless. And then in the space of a single breath, something that had been alive simply... wasn't anymore. Frozen solid. A creature full of life, extinguished in an instant.
Even now, thinking about it sent a chill through him.
*Damn. I don't have any attributes at all.*
Let alone attributes — he didn't even understand how they did that.
The realization settled into something cold and anxious at the back of his mind.
He opened his mouth.
Then closed it again.
*What am I supposed to say?*
Ren sat there, turning it over uselessly.
Serein watched him. Her expression barely shifted, but her eyes stayed on him.
"Would it be inconvenient to say?"
Her tone was completely neutral — no pressure behind it, no edge. And somehow that made it worse. It felt exactly like being caught doing something wrong and being questioned by someone who was being very calm about it on purpose.
His heart skipped a beat.
"It's not that I can't say it," Ren said, scratching his cheek with a sheepish grin. "It's just a little embarrassing."
"Is it because you don't have any attributes yet?"
Serein nodded slightly, more to herself than to him, like she was quietly fitting the pieces together.
"Would you like me to show you? I'm not the most knowledgeable, but I can at least walk you through how I do it."
Her tone softened just a little.
"Ah — really? Is that okay?"
Ren blinked, the weight of what she'd just offered catching up to him a second later.
*Wait. She's going to teach me herself? How to use aether?*
His thoughts moved quickly. He'd been trying to think of a way to steer the conversation toward this without giving himself away — and she'd offered on her own, without him having to do a thing.
*As they say — misfortune and fortune really are two sides of the same coin.*
"Of course it's okay," Serein said. "And you can help me in return — by being my practice partner for my cold aether."
She stood up and slowly stretched out one hand, palm open.
In the dim light of the room, something stirred around her fingers. Her eyes caught the glow faintly at the edges, just barely brightening. And then, drifting from her fingertips like dust caught in sunlight — thin, delicate trails of ice, curling silently through the air.