Chapter 120: Information Gap

Chapter 120: Chapter 120: Information Gap

Chapter 120: Information Gap

Audra Sloane explained the release method in a low voice.

A snap of the fingers would break the control, as long as the user intended to end it. The instruction sounded absurdly simple for something that had just stolen minutes from Cyrus Calder without leaving even the sensation of time passing.

Cyrus looked down at the ring now resting in his palm.

For reasons he did not appreciate, a terrible sense of mission rose inside him.

With this thing, he might be able to become the king of St. Alder Academy.

The thought survived for less than two seconds before his survival instincts threw it into the trash.

No, that kind of future sounded far too close to the role he had almost been forced into before he escaped. A person did not run from one cage just to start another one with better lighting and a student parking lot.

Cyrus pushed the strange idea out of his head and pinched the ring carefully between his fingers.

The warmth from Audra’s skin seemed to remain on the metal. He noticed temperature more clearly than most people, and the faint trace made the ring feel less like an object and more like something recently taken from a living hand.

That was irritating.

He shifted his attention to the small pink stone instead.

Up close, the gem was more unusual than it had seemed at a distance. A muted pink light seemed suspended inside it, thin as mist and slow to settle into any stable shape. When Cyrus focused more carefully, the movement vanished, leaving behind only a pale stone set into a delicate band.

He studied it for a little while longer, then looked back at Audra.

"Are you certain there will not be a problem if I use it?"

Audra held his gaze.

"You can use it. I am ready."

Cyrus could not know what she was thinking. He only copied the way she had worn it earlier and slid the ring onto his middle finger.

Audra drew in a slow breath.

The part of her that had been restless since yesterday quieted for a moment, not from calm, but from attention. She lifted her eyes toward Cyrus’s hand.

What would he do to her while she could not resist?

The thought should have frightened her more than it did.

Instead, she had enough room left in her mind to notice his fingers. They were long, pale, and cleanly shaped, with the kind of slender beauty that made even a simple movement feel too precise to belong to a normal boy. The ring looked natural on him in a way that made her chest tighten.

Then Audra remembered she was supposed to be affected.

Her eyes unfocused.

"Audra?"

Cyrus called her name experimentally.

No response came.

She stood in front of him with her eyes vacant, her expression loosened from its usual composure. It was not sleep, and it was not fainting. She looked awake without being present.

Cyrus lifted one hand and waved it lightly before her face.

Audra did not react.

This ring was truly dangerous.

The effect Audra had warned him about did not seem to reach him. No heat rushed through his body. No strange desire pulled at his thoughts. No need rose to push him toward her.

That meant he might still have two safe uses before the ring’s backlash began.

His heartbeat sped up at the possibility.

This was an unbelievable safeguard.

Cyrus looked at the motionless girl in front of him and, for the first time since meeting her, found her extremely agreeable. He reached out and poked her cheek with one finger.

Her skin gave slightly beneath the touch, warm and soft in a way that proved she was not actually a doll, no matter how much the ring made her resemble one.

"Thank you for helping."

The words were quiet and sincere.

She probably could not hear them in her current state, but saying them cost nothing.

Cyrus withdrew his hand and prepared to snap his fingers. Before he did, he noticed the pen she still held.

Audra had written on his palm to prove the ring’s effect. Returning the favor would be reasonable.

After a short pause, Cyrus took her hand and uncapped the pen.

The moment the tip touched the tender skin of her palm, the hand in his grasp trembled faintly.

Cyrus paused.

Even under control, her body still responded to certain sensations.

That discovery mattered.

He recorded it silently.

If he ever managed to control Isolde with the ring, he could not assume she would become completely harmless. Entering her reach with absolute confidence would be stupid. Knowing that woman, even an unconscious reflex might become a sudden lunge, a grip, or some other method of turning victory into capture.

This could be useful later.

Cyrus wrote quickly across Audra’s palm. His handwriting was plain, but readable. Once he finished, he snapped his fingers.

Audra came back to herself and immediately focused on him.

"Is it finished?"

"It is finished. The ring is definitely strange."

Cyrus nodded and removed it without much reluctance before placing it back in her hand.

"After the ring’s influence appears, does it continue affecting you even when you are not wearing it?"

Audra seemed a little dazed. She lifted her hand and saw the neat C written across her palm.

The mark should have been harmless. It was only one letter.

Even so, her fingers curled slightly around it.

"The effect is weaker when I am not wearing it," she said after a pause.

Cyrus nodded.

"How do you feel right now?"

"I am all right at the moment. Because I agreed to the test myself, the influence seems much lighter."

Cyrus’s interest sharpened.

"So the ring’s influence does continue afterward?"

Audra hesitated.

Then she nodded.

Behind the cover of his hair, Cyrus’s eyes brightened.

If the ring’s aftereffects could be reduced by choosing a cooperative partner, then even if it began affecting him later, the damage might be almost nothing as long as someone helped him manage it.

That made the ring far more useful than he had expected.

Before he could fully form his next question, Audra continued on her own.

"Or perhaps it is because you were the first boy I controlled with it. Being alone with you already seems to reduce the intensity."

"I see what you mean."

Cyrus did not show much surprise.

Audra had already given him the rough explanation before the test. Still, her interpretation matched the idea he had been considering. He had planned to ask whether letting her control him occasionally might help neutralize the ring’s effect.

Apparently, they might not even need to go that far.

Regular time together could be enough.

Cyrus lowered his eyes thoughtfully and chose his wording with care.

"Then perhaps we can study together again, like before."

Audra looked at him.

Her answer came softly.

"If you do not mind, then I will trouble you with that."

Cyrus felt almost cheerful.

There was no trouble in it.

When they had been studying together before, they had already spent time in this classroom. Returning to that pattern would not look too unusual, and it would give him a clean reason to remain close enough to monitor the ring’s influence.

Audra’s timing was almost too helpful.

The problem was neither too small to ignore nor too large to manage. It arrived at exactly the right size for him to offer assistance without appearing suspicious.

Later, if he needed to borrow the ring for a short time, asking would also become much easier.

Even then, one artifact might not be enough against Isolde. She had known him far too long, and anything tied to rare-blood power might have counters he did not understand.

The ring could be one safeguard.

He needed others.

Even if Isolde knew the cards in his hand, she might hesitate if every card turned out to be explosive.

Cyrus’s hand curled unconsciously.

The plain ring on his finger pressed against his skin.

That reminded him of something he could test immediately.

"Audra."

She had been about to turn and pull open the curtain. At his voice, she stopped.

Cyrus looked directly into her eyes.

"Could you control me one more time? I want to know how long the ring can keep me under."

Audra had now used the ring on him several times in a row. She did not look tired, but something subtle had gone still beneath her expression, as if she had finally recognized a fact she had been trying not to see.

Cyrus looked at her with practical expectation.

No nervousness. No desire. No hidden anticipation.

He only wanted the data.

Audra slid the ring back onto her finger.

The pink stone caught what little light remained in the room.

Cyrus’s focus emptied again.

He became still in front of her, silent and obedient as before.

This time, Audra did not try to take advantage of it.

The heat that had driven her earlier had cooled into a different kind of exhaustion. Her unringed hand lifted slowly, and her fingertips touched the cheek Cyrus had poked before.

Why had the ring not affected her the way she wanted?

More precisely, why had it affected only her?

If Cyrus had been influenced even slightly, if the ring had drawn anything from him, there should have been some sign. A pause that lasted too long. A hand that lingered. A question with a hidden edge. A trace of possessiveness, curiosity, greed, embarrassment, anything at all.

There had been nothing.

He had thanked her.

He had tested her palm for reflexes.

He had asked about duration.

He had suggested studying together because it might reduce the ring’s backlash.

Audra stared at his face from close range. Without his usual wary focus, he looked even more unreachable.

"So there really is nothing," she murmured.

Her voice barely disturbed the classroom air.

Cyrus did not respond.

The ring had given her control of his body. It had not given her a single answer she wanted.

A long, quiet sigh escaped her.

During one lunch period, Audra felt as if she had spent half a month’s worth of emotional strength. She had apologized, offered money, explained rare-blood research, handed over the ring, let him control her, restrained herself twice, and discovered that the person who unsettled her could stand defenseless in front of her without feeling even a fraction of what she felt.

The conclusion was almost insulting.

She lowered her hand from his cheek.

The room remained dim around them, the curtain still drawn, the open window letting in enough cold air to stir the edge of a loose paper on the nearest desk.

Audra looked at Cyrus again, then snapped her fingers.

He blinked and came back.

"How long was it?"

"Not very long," Audra said. "You were under for a little while."

Cyrus frowned slightly, considering that. From his side, it had been instant again.

"That makes it hard to judge."

"It may be easier if we test it another day."

Her voice sounded normal enough, though her hand had closed around the ring.

Cyrus did not notice the faint strain beneath the words. He was already sorting through practical conclusions.

The ring worked. Control was immediate. The target might retain physical reflexes. The release method was simple. The user’s aftereffect could be reduced through consent, proximity, or some other emotional condition Audra did not fully understand. The time gap remained difficult to measure because he experienced it as nothing.

Those were useful findings.

"What should we do with the ring now?" he asked.

Audra looked down at it in her palm.

"I should keep it for now. It came from my grandfather’s materials, and I need to make sure it is not noticed missing."

"That makes sense."

Cyrus did not push.

He wanted the ring, but wanting was not enough reason to take it too early. A borrowed tool was useful only if the person lending it remained willing.

Audra tucked the ring back onto its cord.

This time, Cyrus watched the artifact rather than the place where the cord disappeared beneath her collar. His concentration was so clean that Audra nearly laughed, though the sound never made it out.

He was impossible.

That was probably why she could not let it go.

"I will be careful with it," she said.

"You should be. If the effect worsens, tell me before using it again."

Audra’s grip paused.

He made concern sound like a safety instruction.

For Cyrus, it probably was one.

"I will tell you."

The answer carried more weight for her than he seemed to realize.

Lunch break would end soon. The hallway outside had begun to collect footsteps again, distant at first, then closer as students returned from the cafeteria, courtyard, and club rooms.

Audra went to the curtain and pulled it open.

Light returned to the classroom.

Cyrus glanced once toward the hall. Nobody had stopped outside, and nobody seemed to have seen anything. That was good.

He checked his palm again. The letter Audra had written had smeared slightly but remained visible. He would need to wash it off before class, especially since Daphne already had his phone and did not need another excuse to call him aside.

Audra noticed him looking at the mark.

"The ink washes off."

"I hope so."

"It should."

Cyrus gave her a brief look.

Audra turned her face away first.

A small silence followed, awkward in a way the ring tests had somehow not been.

Then Cyrus gathered his things.

"I should go back before someone notices I am missing."

"Yes, we should return separately."

Audra stepped aside to let him leave first.

Cyrus passed her and opened the classroom door.

The hallway air felt warmer than the room, even though the building was cooling with the season. He took a few steps out, then paused.

"Audra."

She looked up.

"Thank you for letting me test it."

Her fingers tightened against the cord beneath her collar.

"You are welcome."

Cyrus nodded once and left.

Audra remained in the classroom for several breaths after he disappeared. The mark he had written on her palm was still there, the plain C resting against her skin.

She rubbed her thumb across it lightly.

The ink blurred, but did not vanish.

Her restraint had won twice today.

That should have made her proud.

Instead, she only felt tired.