Chapter 648: The Shape of What Should Have Been
Selene did not answer immediately.
For a moment, she only watched Sophia, her gaze steady and unreadable, as though she were weighing something far beyond the question itself.
Then she spoke.
"Dolion once told me something," she said quietly.
Sophia's brows drew together slightly.
"It was when everything had already begun to unravel," she continued. "When he had started gathering allies. When ambition had already taken root too deeply to be undone."
Her voice softened, but not with warmth.
Sophia stayed silent, listening.
"He told me that unless I miraculously sent someone to stop him…" Selene went on, "then I would rot. And that he would make sure of it. He would take my place and be worshipped by all."
Sophia's fingers curled slightly against the blanket.
Selene exhaled slowly.
"When the time came… when I chose to sacrifice myself," she said, "that thought returned to me. And I wondered… why not?"
Sophia frowned faintly.
