[Evelina's POV—Abandoned Cabin, Deep Forest—Night]
The glowing shard hummed beneath my fingertips.
Soft.
Cold.
Unnatural.
Like moonlight crystallized into a heartbeat.
The system window flickered again, pale and sharp:
[System: RARE ITEM DISCOVERED—Memory Fragment: Type ???[Warning: This fragment contains DATA.]
Data.
Not magic. Not emotion. Not a story.
Information? The kind that changes routes? Or the kind the game doesn't want me to have?
My hand hovered over the fragment—but Rowan's voice cut through the air like a blade.
"Miss."
His footsteps crossed the wooden floor—silent but fast. Too fast. The fire crackled behind him, throwing gold light across his soaked shirt and shadow-carved jaw.
He stopped beside me.
Not touching.
Not breathing.
Just watching the shard in my hand with eyes that sharpened like drawn steel.
"…What is that?" he murmured.
"It's mine." A cold glare cut the air between us.
