EP12 - The Public Count 🪽🔴⚡💍👁️

At dawn, Celeste turns Maren’s control drill into a public wager: if Lyra breaks another stone ring, Reth must admit he was wrong to defend her. Low-rank students are pressed close to watch while the elite circle waits above for her to fail. Lyra refuses Reth’s offer to shield her, but nearly loses the crimson flare when Celeste calls her dangerous. Reth repeats Maren’s count without trying to control her. Lyra chooses to hear him, traps the surge inside the ring, and lets him see her relief before stepping back. Kael steals the cracked first ring.