Chapter 70
Aldraya's brief gaze was like a fragment of light that should not have been born from the eyes of a girl still standing in the middle of a distorted temporal vortex.
Not merely a glance, not merely an affirmation of her presence, but something that passed so clearly that Theo felt the very center of himself touched by something far beyond his comprehension.
The clear light within that gaze carried the trace of separation between a human and something higher, a sign that seemed to peel away boundaries long believed to be absolute.
And in that brief moment stretched thin, he caught the echo that the gaze was not given to someone considered lower, but to something standing on equal ground with her.
For a moment, Theo felt as if the world that kept moving backward had stopped solely to give space for that strange understanding.
The pulse of time halted, as though postponing its duty to make room for a conclusion too heavy to grasp with clarity.
The silence formed no longer felt like a mere pause, but a space that acknowledged his existence in a different way.
There was a faint impression flowing from Aldraya's eyes that he was not standing as a human dragged by the flow of fate, but as someone placed upon a strata he had never imagined.
That feeling was not born of personal pride, but the reflection of a gaze too pure to be considered accidental.
As that gaze faded and the space returned to the backward rush of spiraling time, Theo still felt that shard of understanding cling to him like the memory of something that had brushed his skin.
He knew how impossible it was to interpret Aldraya's gaze as mere curiosity or a glance without meaning, for that gaze carried a clarity that could not have been born from coincidence.
Even in a state where the Sa of the Administrators was reversing all things, that was the only thing that felt unmoving.
And whether he liked it or not, that faint recognition grew without being asked, giving Theo the sliver of an impression that he was seen not as a pawn—but as something standing closer to the essence of the Administrators.
The conclusion did not come suddenly, but felt like something that had long been waiting to be realized.
'She's behind me, and I'm wondering what she intends.
I hope Aldraya won't start again with her strange questions.
Not now.'
Uuuuuh!
'If she suddenly asks why air is invisible or why light can touch skin, I'll freeze in place before Quorin or Valthura can even reach me.
Focus. Don't shift your stance.
But I think she's starting to move.'
The sky that continued rolling backward like sheets of cosmic curtains made the surroundings feel severed from the world that once existed.
Valthura and Quorin remained floating motionless in the air, restraining every surge they wished to release, keeping themselves from being provoked by the presence of something clearly not aligned with the rhythm of their Sa.
Under their gaze, Theo stood with a stance he deliberately held steady, trying to maintain the stability of his body while calming the anxiety creeping through him.
That worry did not come from the threat of the two Administrators, but from the possibility of something unexpected being done by the girl behind him.
In a critical state like this, he was truly terrified imagining Aldraya suddenly asking a question unrelated to anything—like why air could not be seen or why the ground never fell into the sky.
But as he tried to hold his breath and feel the presence of the two Administrators, an oddity suddenly disturbed his instincts.
There was a small shift in distance that should not have shifted—an indication that the world was rearranging its layout without permission.
He felt a thin breeze sweep across his back.
Not because of an attack, but because something moved forward, stepping away from its position.
He realized Aldraya was no longer standing directly behind him, and in the next second, he straightened his posture, focusing his senses toward the direction he could not see.
Curiosity rose slowly, clashing with the nervousness gripping much of him, making him wonder whether this was another manifestation of Aldraya's illogical tendencies or something far more serious.
Only after he found a point of calm within the turbulence of his mind did Theo realize that those footsteps were not hesitant steps nor the frantic movement of someone who had been frozen by Sa and then freed from its constraints.
The movement was too rigid to be natural, too upright to be an attempt at protecting Theo, and too silent to be considered a spontaneous reaction to the threat of the two Administrators floating above them.
Aldraya walked without glancing back at him, without giving any sign of departure.
Her body moved following a call unheard by anyone but herself.
In a matter of breaths, she had taken three meters ahead of Theo and stopped abruptly, standing straight with her back toward him, like a statue relocated from one world to another.
'The changes in Aldraya became obvious after the seed took hold.
The color of her eyes faded into a silver-gray, while her dark hair absorbed light and drifted as though blown by wind from another dimension.
Even her clothing looked unnervingly flawless—truly spotless without wrinkle or blemish—making her resemble a nearly translucent replica of a human.'
Fshiiiih!
'The impression she gave was the coldest, most measured silence carried within every step she took.'
The rolling fog of time reversing backward painted the world in washed-out gray, and in the middle of that void stood Aldraya—changed into something impossible to judge whether still human or a manifestation of foreign power infused into her.
Her eyes no longer reflected any emotion, mirroring an absolute silence that gave no room for the faintest tremor of feeling.
The irises that once bore ordinary color had faded into a deadened silver-gray, pale and dim like a monitor screen losing power.
In the distorted light warped by the Sa that continued to ensnare the world, those eyes emitted nothing—instead swallowing every reflection that attempted to give them life.
Meanwhile, her pale silver hair drifted with a rhythm no longer governed by wind, as though another dimension's current moved it with patterns impossible to predict.
Every strand looked too precise to be organic, so dark within its paleness that it resembled tiny voids devouring the light around her head.
Its movement seemed unnatural—almost soft yet rigid—creating the illusion that the hair existed in a space not intersecting with the world Theo perceived.
Even the outfit Aldraya wore for their date did not escape the unsettling transformation.
The soft cardigan wrapping her body still looked like warm knit material, but that warmth felt impossible when the garment showed no signs of wear despite the temporal vortex shaking reality.
The tank top or boat-neck shirt beneath it appeared too pristine, its neckline too neat—as if freshly drawn from a simulation that rejected the existence of imperfection.
The A-line midi skirt or palazzo pants shaping her elegant silhouette never shifted from its ideal form, moving with her steps in a synchronization far too flawless to be natural.
To be continued…