"You saw him too?" Laplace's voice carried a note of surprise. It was also the first time everyone had heard such a clear fluctuation in her tone.
"I saw him 'too'?" Angel looked at Laplace with deep suspicion.
The others had still been reeling from the revelation that Angel had met the Time Thief when, before that shock had even subsided, another potential seed marked by the Time Thief appeared!
Dox pointed at Laplace with a trembling finger. "You mean, you've met the Time Thief?"
Laplace nodded.
Having received a positive answer, Dox covered his face and muttered, "Why? Why... Angel is one thing, but why can even a creature that may not even be human be chosen by the Time Thief! Look at me! I'm so outstanding, a heaven-blessed genius—why won't he come steal my choice? No, he doesn't even need to steal it. I'll hand it over on a silver platter!"
Aside from Kael and Wai each giving Dox a complicated look colored by entirely different emotions, his mournful words drew no other glances.
Angel focused on Laplace, and Laplace gazed back at Angel.
This subtle atmosphere of mutual eye contact continued for several seconds before Angel broke the silence first. "You met the Time Thief, which means he also took one of your choices?"
Laplace nodded. "He took one of my... precious choices."
Angel said, "Then he must have compensated you as well?"
Laplace replied, "Yes. My ability to move freely through the Empty Mirror Sea is one of his compensations."
One of his compensations? Angel pondered inwardly. That meant there were other compensations as well? Then Laplace had not exaggerated. The Time Thief must have taken a choice that was extremely precious to her, otherwise he would not have compensated her more than once.
Moreover, the