Chapter 258: Chapter 258

Rocky tilted his head. "Teacher... if the small hand tells hours and the big hand tells minutes, who tells seconds?"

Alina blinked, pleasantly surprised. "That’s a wonderful question, Rocky! The tiny hand that moves very fast is the second hand. It counts smaller parts of time."

Kelpie’s eyes widened, his voice serious. "So... the second hand is like the fastest student in the class?"

Boo gasped dramatically. "Then that means Drake is the second hand!"

Drake grinned proudly. "Exactly."

Lucien, who had been quietly listening, murmured under his breath, "More like the broken clock hand."

The whole class burst into giggles again, and even Alina had to press her hand against her mouth to hide her laughter. "Alright, enough teasing. Let’s practice!" she said finally, drawing different clock times on the board.

"Now, if the small hand is on seven and the big hand is on twelve, what time is it?"

"Snack time!" Boo shouted instantly.

"No!" Drake said proudly, lifting his hand like a scholar. "It’s seven o’clock!"

"Very good, Drake!" Alina praised, clapping her hands.

Drake puffed his chest proudly. "See? I told you I mastered time."

Luna groaned. "You probably just memorized that from the wall clock in the kitchen."

"Still counts!" Drake shot back.

Alina laughed softly and continued drawing another clock. "Now, if the small hand moves to eight and the big hand points to six, what time is it?"

Sable raised his small hand shyly. "Um... eight-thirty?"

"Correct!" Alina said, smiling warmly at him. "You’re really good at this, Sable."

Sable’s face brightened, and his shadows fluttered around him shyly like butterflies.

"Teacher," Boo said suddenly, leaning forward with his chin resting on his tiny hands, "can we skip to bedtime? That’s my favorite time."

Drake snorted. "You don’t even sleep!"

"I still like lying down and pretending!" Boo said proudly, spinning in midair as the whole class giggled again.

Alina smiled at them all, her heart full. "Alright, everyone," she said warmly, "time may keep moving, but the moments we spend learning together—those will stay forever."

She smiled at the sea of bright eyes watching her. "So," she said, tapping the chalk lightly against the board, "we learned what the clock hands mean. But now comes the fun part—how we use time!"

"Use time?" Boo repeated, floating upside down. "Teacher, can we trade time too? Like—if I don’t use my morning time, can I save it for nap time?"

Alina almost dropped her chalk laughing. "Oh, I wish we could, Boo. But sadly, time doesn’t wait or pause for anyone. Once it passes, it’s gone."

Drake frowned. "That’s unfair! Who made that rule?!"

"Nature," Alina said, hiding her smile. "Even kings, even demons, can’t control time."

"Not even Principal Dante?" Luna asked, ears twitching curiously.

Dante’s crimson eyes flickered at the back of the class, and Alina froze. "Uhh... even he can’t," she said quickly, trying not to laugh as she noticed Boo’s curious glance toward the principal.

"He looks like he could," Boo whispered to Drake, who nodded seriously. "Yeah... he probably told time to behave."

Alina clapped her hands, her smile bright and warm. "Alright! Now, let’s play a little game about time." She reached for a colorful chart she had drawn just yesterday — a cheerful poster filled with small clocks, tiny suns, and moons, each showing a different time of day. The children’s eyes immediately lit up as she held it up for them to see.

"Each of you will tell me what you do at a certain time of day," she explained, her tone sing-song and full of energy. "Ready?"

"Yesss!" they chorused, their earlier reluctance forgotten.

Boo floated up higher, his eyes sparkling. "Teacher, Boo ready for all-time game!" he declared proudly, puffing his ghostly chest like a tiny hero.

Drake stretched his arms and grinned. "I’ll win this game. I know everything about time."

Luna rolled her golden eyes. "You didn’t even know yesterday’s class was over until the bell rang."

"Details," Drake said confidently, brushing imaginary dust off his sleeve.

Alina chuckled softly. "We’ll see about that. Now..." She looked at the chart and pointed to the first little clock. "Seven o’clock! Luna, what do you do at seven in the morning?"

Luna straightened up proudly. "I wake up early and brush my fur!"

"Good girl," Alina said warmly. "And Boo? What about you?"

Boo scratched his ghostly head. "At seven? I... I think I haunt the kitchen... or maybe I just float there or anywhere I feel like."

The whole class burst into laughter.

Drake leaned forward, smirking. "At seven in the morning, I’m already training to breathe bigger fire!"

Felix arched an eyebrow. "And at seven-oh-one, the house alarm goes off."

Drake huffed. "That only happened twice!"

Alina giggled softly. "Alright, alright—Sable? What about you?"

Sable’s voice was small but sweet. "At seven, I brush my teeth, make my bed, and take a bath."

Everyone "awww"-ed, and Boo dramatically wiped an imaginary tear. "He’s too pure for this world!"

Alina laughed again, then drew a small sun on the board. "Now, who knows what we call the time between morning and night?"

"Nap time!" Boo shouted immediately.

"Nooo!" Luna scolded him. "It’s daytime!"

"Daytime!" Alina repeated cheerfully. "And when the sun goes down?"

"Bedtime!" Sable said quickly, his tiny hand shooting up.

Drake puffed his chest. "Dinner time first!" Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on novel※fire.net

Kelpie raised his hand softly. "And then bath time... with bubbles."

"Exactly!" Alina said warmly, clapping her hands. "There are so many times in our day—playtime, study time, nap time, dinner time. That’s how we plan our day. Without time, everything would be chaos."

Boo’s eyes widened. "You mean worse than this class?"

"Boo!" Alina said, trying to sound stern but laughing.

Lucien muttered under his breath, "Impossible. This is already peak chaos."

Drake gasped dramatically. "Teacher! Lucien said chaos! Are we in chaos class now?"

"Yes," Boo said seriously, "we’re all part of the Great Chaos!"

Everyone started laughing and chanting "Chaos! Chaos!" in rhythm, pounding their desks lightly while Boo spun in the air like a conductor leading an orchestra of trouble.

Alina leaned against her desk, covering her face but laughing helplessly. "Enough, little chaos lords! We need to finish before the next bell."

"Teacher," Rocky said shyly from the back, "if time never stops... does it get tired?"

The room fell quiet for a moment, all eyes turning to Alina.

She smiled softly, her tone gentle. "Maybe it doesn’t get tired because... time loves watching us grow. Every second we live, every smile, every memory—it carries them all."

The babies stared at her, awestruck, even Boo frozen in midair.

Then Drake whispered, "Teacher, you sound like time’s mom."

Everyone burst out laughing again, and even Dante—sitting silently at the back, let out the faintest exhale of amusement, almost like a laugh that never left his lips.