diff --git a/ggml/src/ggml-hrx/runtime/host-memory.h b/ggml/src/ggml-hrx/runtime/host-memory.h
index 2e8a6fc81aaa..fa5ef3f8976a 100644
--- a/ggml/src/ggml-hrx/runtime/host-memory.h
+++ b/ggml/src/ggml-hrx/runtime/host-memory.h
@@ -191,6 +191,14 @@ class HostWeightCache {
     // Bytes this cache holds against the pool ledger (engine#1711). Tracked separately from arena_capacity_ so clear()
     // returns exactly what was charged, including the case where a grow released a superseded arena.
     size_t                                 charged_bytes_  = 0;
+  public:
+    // engine#1856: the ledger figure a test has to see and set. `tests/test-hrx-arena-ledger.cpp` simulates a charge the
+    // way `test-hrx-staging-ledger.cpp` simulates the staging buffer's -- reserve against the pool, record the tally, then
+    // exercise the paths that must return it -- because what is under test is conservation in the ledger, not the
+    // allocation. The staging object gets this for free by being a struct; the arena needs the seam named.
+    size_t held_bytes_for_test() const { return charged_bytes_; }
+    void   set_held_bytes_for_test(size_t bytes) { charged_bytes_ = bytes; }
+  private:
     size_t                                 arena_capacity_ = 0;
     size_t                                 arena_free_bytes_ = 0;
     std::vector<std::pair<size_t, size_t>> arena_free_;
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index 9b77d6b19d84..3f00f132620a 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -388,6 +388,15 @@ if (TARGET ggml-hrx)
     target_link_libraries(test-hrx-staging-ledger PRIVATE ggml)
     add_test(NAME test-hrx-staging-ledger COMMAND test-hrx-staging-ledger)
 
+    # engine#1856: the same conservation for the HOST-WEIGHT arena's charge, which had no ledger arm while the staging
+    # buffer has had one since #270. Device-free for the same reason: the charge is simulated on the object and the paths
+    # that must return it are exercised directly.
+    add_executable(test-hrx-arena-ledger test-hrx-arena-ledger.cpp
+                   ../ggml/src/ggml-hrx/hrx-1bit-safety.cpp)
+    target_include_directories(test-hrx-arena-ledger PRIVATE ../ggml/include ../ggml/src ../ggml/src/ggml-hrx)
+    target_link_libraries(test-hrx-arena-ledger PRIVATE ggml)
+    add_test(NAME test-hrx-arena-ledger COMMAND test-hrx-arena-ledger)
+
     # MemAvailable parsing for the unbounded-residency warning: pure, no device and no /proc (engine #669)
     add_executable(test-hrx-host-memory-available test-hrx-host-memory-available.cpp
         ../ggml/src/ggml-hrx/runtime/host-memory-available.cpp)
diff --git a/tests/test-hrx-arena-ledger.cpp b/tests/test-hrx-arena-ledger.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..c6c3c4ec910f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-hrx-arena-ledger.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+// Copyright 2026 bong-water-water-bong
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+//
+// The host-weight arena's pool charge (engine#1856, the arm llama.cpp #275's review asked for). #269 charged the arena
+// and #275 charged the unbounded per-weight path, but nothing asserted either against the LEDGER: the staging buffer has
+// had that arm since #270, and the arena never did, so both charges could have been wrong in the one direction that does
+// not fail loudly. An under-charge leaves the ledger saying less memory is held than is, the guardrail admits a launch it
+// should refuse, and the result lands in the allocator as "llama_model_load: error loading model" -- the shape of
+// engine #1502 and #1417.
+//
+// No device: this simulates the charge the way test-hrx-staging-ledger.cpp does -- reserve against the pool, record the
+// tally on the object, then exercise the paths that must return it. The size of a growth is NOT re-derived here: that is
+// plan_arena_charge()'s arithmetic and test-hrx-transient-arena-charge.cpp already pins it. What is under test here is
+// conservation: what goes in comes back out, exactly once.
+
+#include "ggml-hrx/hrx-1bit-safety.h"
+#include "runtime/host-memory.h"
+
+#include <cstdio>
+
+using ggml::hrx::HostWeightCache;
+
+static int failures = 0;
+
+static void check(bool ok, const char * what, size_t got, size_t want) {
+    if (!ok) {
+        std::printf("FAIL %s (ledger %zu, want %zu)\n", what, got, want);
+        ++failures;
+    } else {
+        std::printf("ok   %s\n", what);
+    }
+}
+
+int main() {
+    using ggml::hrx::onebit::pool_allocated;   // the LEDGER (not pool_reserve_bytes, which is the 16 GiB headroom reserve)
+    using ggml::hrx::onebit::pool_reserve;
+
+    const size_t base = pool_allocated();
+
+    // 1. clear() on a cache that holds nothing must not touch the ledger. This is the state of every freshly constructed
+    //    cache and of every one already cleared, so an unconditional release here would underflow every later figure.
+    {
+        HostWeightCache empty;
+        empty.clear();
+        check(pool_allocated() == base, "clear() on an arena holding nothing leaves the ledger alone", pool_allocated(), base);
+        empty.clear();
+        check(pool_allocated() == base, "and calling it twice does not either", pool_allocated(), base);
+        check(empty.held_bytes_for_test() == 0, "and the cache's own tally stays zero", empty.held_bytes_for_test(), 0);
+    }
+
+    // 2. A held charge is returned exactly once. Budget 1 TiB because pool_reserve() returns true WITHOUT touching the
+    //    ledger when budget == 0, which would make every assertion below vacuous.
+    {
+        HostWeightCache cache;
+        const size_t    bytes = 8u << 20;
+        const bool      reserved = pool_reserve(1ull << 40, bytes, "the host-weight arena");
+        check(reserved, "the pool accepts an 8 MiB arena growth", 0, 0);
+        cache.set_held_bytes_for_test(bytes);
+        check(pool_allocated() == base + bytes, "the ledger carries the arena's bytes", pool_allocated(), base + bytes);
+        cache.clear();
+        check(pool_allocated() == base, "clear() returns exactly what was charged", pool_allocated(), base);
+        check(cache.held_bytes_for_test() == 0, "and zeroes its own tally, so a second clear() is a no-op",
+              cache.held_bytes_for_test(), 0);
+        cache.clear();
+        check(pool_allocated() == base, "a second clear() does not release it again", pool_allocated(), base);
+    }
+
+    // 3. The refusal path must take nothing. A growth the pool cannot hold returns before the tally is incremented -- the
+    //    direction that matters, because a charge taken for an allocation that never happened would make the guardrail
+    //    stricter than the memory and refuse launches that fit. Simulated with a budget that this growth cannot fit.
+    {
+        HostWeightCache cache;
+        const size_t    bytes = 64u << 20;
+        const size_t    before = pool_allocated();
+        const bool      refused = pool_reserve(/*budget*/ 1u << 10, bytes, "the host-weight arena");
+        check(!refused, "a growth larger than the budget is refused", 0, 0);
+        check(pool_allocated() == before, "... and the refusal leaves the ledger untouched", pool_allocated(), before);
+        cache.clear();
+        check(pool_allocated() == before, "... and a clear() after it returns nothing it did not take", pool_allocated(), before);
+    }
+
+    // 4. Two caches are independent: clearing one must not release the other's charge. The arena is per-cache, and a
+    //    shared tally would make the ledger right in total and wrong per model -- invisible until two models load.
+    {
+        HostWeightCache a, b;
+        const size_t    ab = 4u << 20;   // identical sizes on purpose: a shared tally bugs out on the second release
+        check(pool_reserve(1ull << 40, ab, "the host-weight arena (a)"), "the pool accepts a's growth", 0, 0);
+        a.set_held_bytes_for_test(ab);
+        check(pool_reserve(1ull << 40, ab, "the host-weight arena (b)"), "the pool accepts b's growth", 0, 0);
+        b.set_held_bytes_for_test(ab);
+        check(pool_allocated() == base + 2 * ab, "both charges are in the ledger", pool_allocated(), base + 2 * ab);
+        a.clear();
+        check(pool_allocated() == base + ab, "clearing a returns a's bytes and leaves b's", pool_allocated(), base + ab);
+        b.clear();
+        check(pool_allocated() == base, "and clearing b returns the rest", pool_allocated(), base);
+    }
+
+    if (failures == 0) std::printf("all host-arena ledger checks passed\n");
+    return failures == 0 ? 0 : 1;
+}