The silence held.
It wasn't heavy, and it wasn't forced. Just the kind of silence that made people focus. That made even small movements feel louder than they should.
Evelyn and Everly were still standing on stage. They hadn't left. They hadn't backed away.
They just stood there quietly beside each other.
The two tokens from Astralis still hadn't been taken.
They hadn't rejected them. But they hadn't accepted them either.
Their words lingered.
"We'll only attend the university Ethan chooses."
And now… everyone was waiting to see what would happen next.
Down by the host's stand, the man in charge flipped through his file again, as if to double-check that he wasn't missing something. But he wasn't. Only one name remained.
He took a breath, leaned into the mic, and spoke clearly.
"Ethan Nocturne."
That was it.
No music, no announcements, no buildup.
Just his name.
But it was enough.
Students in the crowd turned. Recruiters adjusted their posture. The room went still.
