The intended spooking goes straight over Corona's head, and she's immediately riveted. Pre-Res? Different worlds, different gods, what would they be like? What stories would they hold?

Blood of Eden's emphasis on cultural preservation had resonated with Corona (not for the archival aspects, ugh, the sixth and the messengers can keep their dusty libraries) because of the stories. So many different lives, different narratives, all such a breath of fresh air away from the contained dogma of the Nine Houses. She'd met so many different cultures, a melting pot even within the small kettle of Lemuria, and now she had the opportunity to interact with people from before that genocide, before all those millennia of isolation and trauma.

She's so fascinated and distracted that she hardly even notices she's wandered off from where he was leading her, over to look at a shop and the brightly painted and carved combs and hair sticks on display. It's true, they're art styles she's never seen before--though that doesn't definitively confirm they're pre-Res. It just confirms that they're new. A culture full of ideas that the Emperor hasn't (yet) had the chance to squash.