Isabella straightened, her handbag strap leaving a faint mark on her coat's shoulder.
Her fingers tapped lightly against the silver chain once more.
The invisible screen in the corner scattered in the breeze, and voices surged back in.
The whole process had been silent. No one nearby had noticed that the area had just been cut off from the rest of the room.
Isabella took another item from her coat pocket and handed it to Richard.
It was a small, flat tin flask, about the size of his palm. Its lid was screwed on tight, and a simple daisy design was engraved on its side.
"What is this?"
"It's medicine, for your sister." She tapped the flask with her fingernail.
"This works a little better than the medicine I sent before. Take one pill every night before bed. Don't take more than that."
The medicine she'd sent before... So that was why his father made regular trips to the post office.
"Your mother's breathing problems aren't entirely due to her physical condition."
Isabella pressed the flask into his hand.
"She gave up cultivation, but the Circuits left in her body were never completely shut down. Aether had been circulating through them for over a decade, slowly damaging her lungs.
"The coal smoke in the Northern Industrial Zone only made things worse. The real cause is internal."
"So treating her lungs alone won't cure her..."
"That's right." Isabella admitted it plainly. "Given her current condition, all we can do is ease her symptoms."
"This bottle should last about three months. When you've used it up, write to me. I'll see if I can send more to your home."
Richard put the tin flask away in an inner pocket, close to his body.
"Thank you, Aunt."
"Mm." This time, she didn't correct