Morning found Hajin on the clinic bench with his right sleeve rolled above the shoulder. The unlocked bedroom stayed visible beyond the corridor, and its doorway had stayed open all night.
The clinic smelled of clean linen and cooled kettle iron. Somewhere in that ordinary smell lived more safety than six halos had ever carried, and everyone inside knew it.
Vella set two fingers against the gold-purple pathways beneath his skin. She followed their heat from wrist to collarbone without saying a word first.
The child remained inside with Loccy while Juna watched the hall. No petitioner could invent a medical verdict over Vella's shoulder, and several had tried.
'If she wanted theater, she would have asked for six lights. This is only measurement, and measurement has no music in it.'
Vella pressed near the old Decree scar and waited for ordinary mana to pass through a sampled circuit. No Ring opened during the test, and none was invited.
