As Safina’s final words fell, the entire Time Palace fell utterly silent.

Only the faint sound of sand trickling through the great hourglass beneath their feet could be heard.

They stood frozen, facing each other.

Aurora, eyes still pink and swollen from crying, glanced at Chronoz, then looked back at Safina beside her.

“Teacher… I don’t quite get it. You said that incomplete Web of Time exists because of you… and in that outcome, I don’t take the throne, which means someone else succeeds Chronoz…”

She pressed a hand to her chest, pink irises trembling slightly.

“That person… is it you?”