chapter 3 turned out to be 33 pages which pleases me to no end.

anyway! that's the end of this chapter, like always the next two weeks will be guest illustrations from my friends! i hope you enjoy them.

also, like i said i'd do, here's a lil list of the concepts this chapter introduced. i don't think i'll do this for every chapter, but i think i introduced a lot of information to keep track of, and i want to minimize confusion as much as i can. i'm only going to really touch on the backstory and worldbuilding things. i recommend you go back and reread the chapter, though!

• tobi works for the vasillias, as did a woman named su yeong, but she hasn't shown up to work in a while. philomena is somehow responsible for this.
• gemstones that are the same color as a magician's magic enhance and focus that magic. they're stronger with them, weaker without them.
• philomena's master is lady eudora. lady eudora became a representative when she was younger than philomena. eudora taught a lady yvette. 
• philomena's father signed her up for the contest as a surprise. philomena has had her magic for less than a year.
• sylas has been trying to court philomena for weeks, but he wasn't always like this. seiji is apparently an aristocrat.
• sylas' uncle ambrose is one of the three representatives that make up The Triad, the chronicle book that lucy and tetsu read, which is apparently non-fiction. the crocodile woman depicted in the most recent edition is a 'husk', and she was destroyed.
• sylas and seiji (who are not related) have the same teacher, magister lapointe. lapointe doesn't like eudora, but liked lady yvette, who was representative at one point after eudora, but disappeared suddenly. it can be extrapolated that eudora returned to the position to fill the gap, but is now permanently retiring. the position of magister has some connection to the position of representative. 

that's what i think is most important, at least! i'm glad you all enjoyed this chapter, i was really nervous about doing one where lucy pretty much didn't appear at all. thanks for reading, see you!