Vol 6. Chapter 146: Continue to See This Beautiful World in Her Place

The days spent waiting for Leon and Rosvisser to return from the far north felt unbearably long for Safina. In the letter she sent to Leon, she briefly explained the role that Chronos, the God of Time, played in controlling the Void Gate, as well as what the “First Cause” truly was.

Atos, who had been waiting for the fall of the original gods, once said to Safina and the others:

“As long as Chronos’s divine power is nearly depleted and a successor who meets the qualifications to become the next ‘God of Time’ is born, the ‘First Cause’ will appear.”

The process was incredibly complex, and the relationship between the “First Cause” and Chronos was far more intricate than that of a predecessor and successor.

For the past few days, Safina had been trying to explain this to Aurora as concisely as possible. But every time she saw that pink-haired little girl walk by, her mind would become a chaotic mess.

“How could the ‘First Cause’ possibly be her?

A girl not even ten years old, someone who hasn’t even experienced a real battle, and yet she is expected to take over the mantle of the God of Time in the near future?”

If someone else had told Safina this, she would have thought they were insane. But Little Light, Moonlight, the Palace of the Sun, the old man, and the palace in the dream that Aurora saw—all pointed to one clear conclusion:

She was the next God of Time, meant to replace Chronos, to sit upon the Time Throne, to guard the Void Gate, and to oversee the vast, intricate web of time.

But to force a child to bear such a responsibility—why?

“Teacher, you look troubled.”

A cool, clear voice snapped Safina out of her daze. She raised her head to find Noa standing in front of her.

Safina’s purple eyes quivered slightly. She was genuinely surprised that Noa would initiate a conversation with her.

After a moment of silence, Noa spoke again:

“In fact, you’ve seemed absent-minded for the past few days. Did something happen?”

Before his departure, Leon had told only Noa the truth about Safina and Kaiser’s origins.

He believed that Noa had the right to know and would be able to handle it calmly. And indeed, she had.

From the moment Safina became her teacher over a month ago, Noa had already decided that her relationship with Safina would either be a battle or a bond. In that regard, she was far more composed than Safina, who had spent years at the Tower of Will.

Safina forced a smile and shook her head.

“It’s nothing. What, are you worried about me?”

Noa’s curly hair framed her proud, doll-like face as she quickly looked away.

“No, I’m just worried that if you’re not in the right state, you won’t be able to teach me properly.”

Safina sat on a seat in the left bleachers, while Noa stood before her. Their eyes were nearly level, and the distance between them was close.

This allowed Safina to clearly discern which words were lies and which were merely tsundere camouflage.

The corners of her mouth lifted slightly, and a sense of satisfaction welled up in her heart.

After all, Leon had told her that when his daughters started acting coy with someone, it meant their relationship could progress to the next level.

“Well, only someone who married a tsundere and gave birth to a little tsundere could come up with such profound insights. Anyway, I’m really fine. Let’s start today’s training,” Safina said.

Noa didn’t press further and moved to the training grounds.

...

During the lunch break, Safina noticed that Noa’s lunchbox was filled with oddly shaped little cakes.

Some of them were even slightly moldy.

Yet Noa ate them one by one without a hint of expression, then neatly put away the lunchbox.

“Why are you eating those cakes?” Safina couldn’t help but ask.

“Muse made them.”

Noa took a sip of water.

“She just attended her first baking class. I promised her I’d use the cakes she made in class as my lunch.”

“Her first batch of cakes, huh... They don’t seem very tasty,” Safina remarked.

“No, they’re not,” Noa said plainly as she closed her water bottle. “But I promised her, and without my encouragement, she wouldn’t have the confidence to try again.”

Leon was right. His eldest daughter truly was the most mature and caring of all the little dragon girls.

“You really do take good care of your sisters,” Safina said with a soft smile.

Noa’s little doll-like face went blank for a moment, clearly uncertain how to respond.

“But why?” Safina asked.

“Hm? Because they’re my sisters. It’s only natural for me to look after them, protect them. Isn’t that what I should do?”

Safina shook her head.

“That’s not what I meant. What I mean is, you’re all around the same age. Moon is even your twin. Why do you feel the need to shoulder all the responsibility yourself?”

Noa didn’t need to think. She responded immediately:

“Because I have the ability to do so, so I should.”

“What...”

“My dad told me that when you have the ability to do something, you must do it—not for fame, not for personal gain, not for some selfish heroic ideal.”

Noa said seriously:

“But so that when you look back on your life in the future, you won’t regret the things you could have done but didn’t do, the things you failed to do well enough.”

Safina looked at Noa, somewhat astonished.

“You... actually understand what your dad meant by that?”

“I understand some of it.”

“And the part you don’t understand?”

Noa shook her head.

“I don’t know. But as long as I do as my dad says, I won’t regret it.”

This child... She truly respects her father that much.

Noa pursed her lips, gripping her baking class schedule. She was so young, yet she had already grown into a knight, bearing the burdens of a princess.

Safina lowered her gaze. She hadn’t expected that a simple baking lesson would lead to such a heavy conversation with Noa.

“Hey, you and Kaiser are siblings. When you were kids, were you the one who looked after him more?”

Safina nodded.

“Yes. That idiot was a troublemaker. Unlike your sisters, he was always causing problems, and it was always me who had to clean up after him.”

Safina leaned back, resting her chin in her hand. Despite her grumbling, ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) a warm smile lingered on her face.

“I remember once, Kaiser got into a fight with a group of boys. They burned his favorite toy and called him a wild child without parents. They cornered him in an alley and beat him up. And then I found them.”

“And you rushed in to get beaten up alongside him?”

Safina smiled bitterly, her gaze lowering to the ground.

“Yes. Back then, we were weak, too weak to fight back. And all I could do was cover Kaiser with my body while we got beaten. Because... he was my brother. Just like you, I had to protect him.

It was a primal instinct, engraved in the blood of humanity—a reflex that requires no thought or reason.”

Those words seemed to resonate deeply with Noa. Her expression became more resolute, and her small fists clenched tighter.

“Even in a place as cold as the Void Realm, you still had such a warm friendship,” Noa said softly.

That warmth... even after one of them left forever, it never disappeared. It will continue to live on in Safina’s heart, until the day they meet again in another world.