"No…"
The word escaped Aliena's lips weakly.
Almost instinctively.
Because her mind rejected it immediately.
Rejected the throne.
Rejected the blood.
Rejected the image of Sebastian sitting there so calmly while entire realms burned beneath him.
Free.
The silver-haired man watched her quietly as panic slowly settled into her expression.
Not cruelly.
Not mockingly.
Like someone observing a truth becoming impossible to escape.
The silver flowers surrounding them swayed violently now beneath the dark abyssal sky.
The black water beneath Aliena's feet rippled endlessly outward in distorted circles.
Even the abyss itself seemed restless.
Alive.
Reacting.
Aliena shook her head faintly.
"No," she repeated, stronger this time. "That wasn't Sebastian."
The silver-haired man did not answer immediately.
And somehow—
that silence terrified her more than words would have.
Because deep down—
deep beneath denial and fear—
some terrible part of her already knew.
