The Heart-Reflection Hearth Stone——a warm stone that fits in the palm, distributed to apprentice artisans as an auxiliary tool for soul-burning techniques——was warm again for the first time in a long while. Last night, for the first time, warmth returned to that stone. The days it had remained cold felt like a lie now, as a gentle heat spread through her palm, and Hana simply felt it for a while. When she searched for her grandmother's memory, the outline was there. She understood that the voice's timbre becoming slightly muffled, as if cotton were layered between them, was the beginning of the price. But today, she would grasp that outline once more with her own hands. Morning light streamed through the windows of the Refining Corridor——the hallway lined with individual workshops for participants on the second floor of the Kanro Palace. In the distance, the greenery toward the Suito Garden——a serene district reflecting the culture of Japanese and Eastern confectionery, positioned ni