Chapter 61
But now, none of that remained.
Only flatness.
Monotonous, and a silence that stretched longer than words.
He tried to write something in the air—perhaps to add a small note to make Aldraya "smile" a little—but the imaginary pen no longer held any power.
The world rejected correction, and Theo realized he had lost control over the script.
"Is it already ten o'clock? I completely forgot! I have to go back immediately!"
"Something urgent?"
"Very important. I should have left twenty minutes ago!
My goodness, I got too caught up in the accessory shop earlier."
"Do what you must."
"You really don't mind?"
"Your task here is done."
"Okay, then. Thank you so much, Aldraya.
Sorry, I suddenly have to leave. Or are you annoyed?"
"Ridiculous."
"Good. See you again at the academy!"
Time seemed to bend between them, revealing a distance that could not be bridged even by words.
When Ilux's watch reflected the strengthening sunlight, its hands pointed to exactly ten—seconds marking a subtle fracture in the momentum.
Ilux's expression changed, as if his awareness had just been struck by something coming from beyond the conversation.
He looked around, holding his breath for a moment, then without much speech, he tapped his own forehead—a spontaneous gesture reflecting panic and unavoidable lateness.
In hurried steps, he glanced at Aldraya, trying to organize his voice, choked by time and the pressing realization of something awaiting him elsewhere.
The air between them turned cold, despite the sun climbing arrogantly in the clear blue sky.
Aldraya showed no sign of disturbance.
His gaze remained the same.
Calm, flat, like the surface of a lake refusing ripples.
When Ilux lowered his head, his farewell request emerged softly, enough to stir the still air.
There was no lengthy reply from Aldraya.
Only a small, slow nod, barely visible, yet in that very moment, the weight was felt—a signal that ended the meeting with a silence deeper than the farewell itself.
As Ilux turned and began to walk away, his shadow stretched across the cold stone floor, leaving a faint vibration in the space he departed.
Each step carried a hurried echo, like a heartbeat refusing to be late to collect something that could not be postponed.
Behind him, Aldraya remained standing in place, his body upright under the morning light, yet somehow distant, like a figure slowly dissolving into the mist.
Time turned, and the farewell occurred without needing formal words, felt only through the swirls of wind rolling between them.
'Ironically, the world continues to pulse around, yet Aldraya stands as if estranged from the flow of time.'
Fuuuuh!
'Silver hair still lifted by the wind, skin gleaming in the morning light, yet his face remains flat, devoid of sorrow or longing.
It is this silence that makes his elegance feel strongest and resonate.'
The city's bustle pulsed softly around, yet Aldraya remained the center of a strange calm—a frozen point in the ever-moving current of life.
People passed by left and right, carrying colors, sounds, and breaths of a fleeting world, but none could penetrate the layer of quiet that enveloped him.
His silver hair rolled gently in the breeze, glinting like a stream of moonlight in the midday, cascading down his back to his hips, exuding a soft, almost unspeakable fragrance.
His skin, pale as porcelain touched by gods, held a silence no one who glanced at him briefly could explain.
In his stillness, Aldraya seemed to gaze at something far deeper than the road before him.
His eyes were flat, lifeless, reflecting passing humans without truly seeing any of them.
Behind that gaze, there was no melancholy, no emptiness—only a kind of awareness too old to be articulated, like memories long dusted at the bottom of time.
He stood, unmoving, silent, and the time around him slowed, stretching seconds into blurs under the increasingly warm morning light.
The wind carried fragments of dust, brushing the edges of fabric swaying gently around his feet.
Human footsteps mingled with the sound of wheels, traffic, and endless whispers, yet for Aldraya, all were mere passing echoes without meaning.
He did not look at anyone, nor did he consider where Ilux had gone, as if presence and departure no longer differed for him.
In his calm, he seemed like a symbol.
No longer a woman, but something beyond flesh and space, a form created to witness the world without being part of it.
Minutes stretched into tens.
Sunlight struck the stone surfaces and human faces harder, yet Aldraya remained, unmoved.
He waited for no one, sought nothing.
Simply standing, looking forward, with eyes that knew no meaning of feeling, marking that the world had stopped right before him.
'This is not normal.
The date ended too early.
There should have been seven locations, not just three.
If the story diverges halfway, the Administrator might appear.
They could conclude this as a system error, an anomaly—and if so, I would be the next target.
Thinking, and thinking—'
Hffffh!
"This hair… real?"
"Why?"
"Aldraya!"
Buuuk!
"Awwww—! You've been watching me all this time?"
"...."
Sssshh!
"For heaven's sake, I swear I'm not a spy!
I'm just writing in my book—just taking notes!
Believe me, I am not following your steps!"
The sky, once bright blue, now resembled a sheet of glass holding its breath, reflecting excessive light onto Theo's sweat-drenched face.
His steps faltered, yet his mind raced—chased by unending anxiety.
The shadows of Aldraya and Ilux, who had just parted, kept replaying in his head, like tiny fragments of fate capable of summoning calamity.
In his chest, the heartbeat became erratic, as if each breath carried questions unwilling to be answered.
He knew that such a brief encounter could trigger something far greater.
The presence of another Administrator, a being whose very existence could shake the balance of the small world Theo now stood in.
A gust of wind brushed his temple, cold, carrying a faint scent of metal and dried flowers.
Theo stopped, standing under the dense foliage of a tall tree, its trunk reaching toward the daylight.
He regulated his breathing, trying to calm himself from the shadows haunting his mind.
Yet in that brief silence, something disturbed the air—something subtle, a whisper without sound.
A strand of silver-white hair floated lightly before him, dancing in the air before falling slowly to the ground, and the world stopped instantly.
Theo's body tensed.
There was something behind the silence, something watching from a space that should have been empty.
He stepped back.
One, two, three steps, until his back touched the tree trunk.
Breathing fast, eyes wide, sweat dripping to the dry ground.
Before him, the air rolled gently, revealing a form impossible to ignore.
The silver hair was not merely a sign.
It was the presence itself, cold and distant elegance, standing between the human world and something far above it.
Aldraya stood there, still, his gaze fixed directly on Theo, frozen behind the tree.
No anger.
No surprise.
Only a look that made time lose its shape.
To be continued…