#owelia

Owelia outright calls Trent "father" and expresses the kind of jealousy one sees from an angry child that's bitter about their fuck-up sibling being given preferential treatment. And based on the flashbacks, it's clear that Trent is the one pushing that cult-like father/child bond with the Volstrucker (rather than the other way around)

When he's coaching Bren through the residuum insertion, Trent says "your father needs you to be strong." The first layer of meaning is Trent reminding Bren of Leofric. He's reminding Bren that his parents sent him to the Soltryce Academy for a reason, and succumbing to the pain means failing them. But it's equally (and more so) evident that Trent was referring to himself as Bren's "father". It also would not surprise me if we learned he pulled the exact same move on Astrid, Eadwulf, and eventually Owelia, in their respective tests. One has to assume that using childrens' weakened states to plant such an association would be quite effective in ensuring that it's deep-set and goes unnoticed! After all, I'd say it's quite difficult to recognise a violation of healthy boundaries with your teacher when you're in the middle of withstanding literal torture, let alone call the perpetrator out on it

I find it SO interesting that Owelia messaged ASTRID and not TRENT