Chapter 48 - The Secret Beneath the King's HeartEthan confronted Aldric before sunrise.
He carried Mira's necklace in one hand and his father's broken watch in the other.
The king sat alone beside the fire in his private chamber.
"You took my father."
Aldric did not appear surprised.
"Who told you that?"
"Mira."
The king sighed.
"Then she has returned."
"You knew her?"
"Yes."
Ethan slammed the necklace onto the table.
"Why didn't you tell me I had a sister?"
"Because she belongs to a history that should no longer exist."
Ethan's voice rose.
"Stop talking like we're pieces on some board!"
Aldric stood.
For the first time, Ethan saw how exhausted he looked.
"I have spent centuries trying to save you."
"Then tell me the truth."
The king removed his royal cloak.
Beneath his clothing, a strange mechanical device was embedded in his chest.
Seven glowing stones surrounded a spinning golden wheel.
Ethan stared.
"What is that?"
"The Heart of the First Hour."
Aldric explained that he had not been born a king.
Long ago, he had been a palace guard assigned to protect a mysterious boy who arrived from another world.
That boy was Ethan.
The first Ethan.
Together, they discovered that time was breaking apart.
Entire villages vanished overnight.
People remembered wars that had never happened.
Children woke with memories of lives they had not lived.
Ethan built the Heart of the First Hour to stabilize the kingdom.
But the device needed a guardian.
Aldric volunteered.
The machine kept him alive through every reset.
It also forced him to remember everything.
Every victory.
Every betrayal.
Every death.
"I have watched you grow old and die," Aldric whispered. "I have watched you become a king, a soldier, a father, and something far worse."
Ethan looked at the device.
"Did my father build that?"
"No."
"Then who did?"
Aldric's eyes met his.
"You did."
Ethan felt the familiar wave of disbelief.
The king approached.
"And now the device is failing."
The golden wheel slowed.
Aldric gasped and fell to his knees.
His chest began glowing red.
From deep inside the machine came a voice.
Daniel Cole's voice.
"System failure. Final reset approaching."
Ethan rushed forward.
"Dad?"
The device answered.
"Primary creator recognized."
A beam of light struck Ethan's face.
May you like
And a message appeared in the air.
WELCOME BACK, FOUNDER.
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