The ensuing months were relentless. Kaelen worked tirelessly to restore the capital's magical stability. He spent weeks in the Sunstone Aether Bank, slowly reversing the Feedback Loop and meticulously repairing the elemental regulators. He could not risk a large, dramatic spell; only precise, localized Blue Rank Transfiguration could mend the damage without causing a total power outage.
His use of Temporal Foresight was no longer a military tactic, but a political tool. Kaelen would use the spell before every major Council decision, projecting his consciousness days into the future to observe the long-term consequences of installing a new King, or of enacting a specific law.
"The burden of the scryer is constant," Kaelen confessed to Elara late one night, slumped over the Codex on the library desk. "I see too many possible futures, and I must choose the one that involves the least suffering. My Aether is no longer limited, but my will is constantly taxed by the choices."
Elara, as the Scribe, was his indispensable counterweight. She provided the emotional and historical context Kaelen lacked.
When Kaelen was considering a harsh decree against Valerius's former loyalists, Elara intervened. "The novel said that after the rebellion, a political purge failed because it created martyrs. You need to enforce justice, but you need to show mercy. The people need to heal, not fear."
Kaelen listened, reversing the decree and choosing rehabilitation over execution—a political move that stabilized the city and earned him the Council's trust.
Their partnership evolved into a perfect synergy: Kaelen, the pure magical power and temporal foresight, and Elara, the pure, untainted human perspective and historical knowledge.
The biggest decision loomed: choosing the new monarch. Kaelen used a specialized Temporal Lineage Scry—a massive spell of precision—to look through the royal family's descendants. He found two candidates: a minor noble, Lord Aric, who was popular but too passive, and a distant cousin, Lady Seral, who was politically astute but ambitious.
Kaelen chose Seral, but with a caveat. He wrote a Transfiguration Charter—a contract enforceable by magic—that limited the Queen's power, requiring regular audits by the Council of Governance and requiring the Archmage of the Obsidian Line to be an official, independent advisor.
"I am limiting her power not because I distrust her, but because the Codex shows that unchecked power always corrupts," Kaelen explained to Elara. "We build a kingdom ruled by law, anchored by magic."