After exiting the throne room, Eluria made a beeline for Alma and Millis’s location. She always made a point to memorize the wavelength of her companions’ mana, so it was a simple matter to trace them via the mana they unconsciously leaked out.
The location was Alma’s office. Eluria opened the door and was welcomed by a rather chaotic sight.
“Waaaaah... What do I dooooo...” Millis wailed.
“You’re asking the wrong person,” Alma said flatly. “Ed, say something to her.”
Edward sighed. “Oh, Instructor Kanos... You can shove your mess and clutter to me, and I’d fix it in a jiffy. But this? Oh, I can’t fix this. Do I look like I understand the struggles of youth these days?”
“Why are you talking like a geezer? You’re only three years older than His Excellency—so twenty-one, right?”
“My youth was all about mana research and my sister’s fists... Instructor Kanos, why don’t you give her some advice as a highly experienced senior?”
Alma raised an eyebrow. “And you think I’ve got any advice to give?”
“Absolutely not,” Edward replied flatly. “You’ve got empty beer bottles rolling all over the floor, nothing is in its right place, and your clothes are scattered everywhere... You’re a woman on the outside but an exhausted middle-aged man on the inside. No way you’d have romantic advice to give.”
“How about I punch you for every year I’ve been alive?”
“Now, I’m aware it’s rude to ask a girl her age, but since my life is at stake here—may I ask how old you are?”
“I’m twenty-six.”
“Whew! My little sister punches me four times as much on the daily, so it looks like I get to live to see another day.”
“You didn’t even try to convince me not to punch you...”
“Could you two please stop ignoring me?! I’m at my wit’s end here!” Millis shrieked, slamming her hand on the desk.
Her pleas fell on deaf ears. Alma just continued looking through her documents with a sleepy gaze, while Edward appeared more interested in the two trash bags in his hands.
However, it didn’t take long for Alma to look up from her papers and notice Eluria’s arrival. “Oh, look—someone with a love life.”
“Ah, Lady Eluria, my dearest sister-in-law who is experiencing her springtime youth,” greeted Edward. “Have you any wise words to spare for your pitiful friend here?”
“I might need an explanation first,” Eluria mumbled.
Millis fidgeted. “Well, I found out the true identity of Lesi W. Ater—”
“Correction: I might need to prepare some tea and snacks first,” Eluria interjected with sparkling eyes as she eagerly began to set up her very own tea party in the office.
“Wow! Finally, somebody looks excited to hear me out!”
Eluria was glad she’d come as soon as she had; she wouldn’t have been able to live with herself if she’d missed out on such a fascinating conversation. “So?” she urged Millis on. “Who is Lesi W. Ater?”
“Um... Wisel, probably,” Millis mumbled.
“Mm-hmm. And how did you react when you found out?”
“I never would have expected him to be an acquaintance, much less a friend!”
Eluria smiled. “I’ve been eagerly awaiting that reaction.”
“Aha! So you did know about it! I had a feeling you were whispering something behind my back in the hot springs!”
“I was just being a thoughtful friend. It was better for you to find out on your own.”
“Maybe you should’ve said that before you told me that you’ve been waiting for my reaction!” Once again, Millis slammed the desk in frustration.
Eluria averted her gaze. She’d gotten a bit too excited back there. In any case, she turned back to her friend with a quizzical look. “I understand that you were surprised, but why do you also seem a bit bothered?”
“Well, I mean... To me, Wisel is a colleague and friend who’s overcome arduous training alongside me. I never thought we’d have ended up together here in the First World...”
“So, do you not like Wisel?”
“Th-That’s not it! Setting aside all the romance talk, I really do respect him as a friend and as a person!” Despite her firm declaration, there was clearly still much bewilderment lingering on her expression.
Eluria stared at Millis for a brief moment, then nodded. “I’ve read about your case in a book before.”
“H-Have you now?”
“You’re like a protagonist who only starts being conscious of the female lead after his friend points out that she’s in love with him.”
“That sounds like a romance novel!”
Eluria nodded. “A spin-off of Once upon a Sage’s Love, to be precise. The sixth volume focuses on the protagonist and the female lead’s friends. This scene is from the forty-sixth paragraph of chapter four.”
“Such amazing memory!”
“Mifuru told me about it during our outing in the capital, and I happened to pick it up recently.” The friends of the protagonist and the female lead had spent so long together watching over the two that they also began to develop feelings for one another. It had quite a different flavor from the original work, making for a delightfully interesting read. “I think the same thing is happening with you. This made you more conscious of Wisel, but I don’t think you need to be so bewildered. Since you like him as a friend, then that might someday blossom into romantic feelings.”
“I...suppose you’re not wrong,” Millis admitted with an uncomfortable wince. “Th-They do say that you never know what life has in store for you, but still...!”
“Besides,” Eluria continued, “you shouldn’t feel shackled by the actions of your First World counterpart. If you had to marry Wisel just because that’s what happened in this world, then by that same logic I’d have to become the Demon Lord again and destroy the Second World.”
“Well, when you put it that way, I certainly can’t afford to object!” Millis exclaimed, aghast.
“Our cases are similar, aren’t they? This time around, I get to be with Raid. In your case, Millis, you don’t need to care about what your First World self did—just be yourself. I believe it’s more important for you to think of how you feel about Wisel after learning this new information.”
“How I feel after learning this...?”
“Mm-hmm. You learning about what happened to you in the First World is similar to me reincarnating with memories of my life a millennium ago. It shouldn’t have happened at all, but it did—and because I still had my memories, I remembered my feelings for Raid and went looking for him.”
Had she not retained her memories, Eluria would have never gone looking for Raid. They might have crossed paths at some point in their new lives, but she probably wouldn’t have even noticed him. In a similar vein, Millis never should have known of this alternate future—but now that she did, that new information could influence her choices going forward.
“What happened to you is simple: You learned a new piece of information. That’s all. With that information, you could start being conscious of Wisel and perhaps fall in love with him. Or you could maintain the status quo if that’s more comfortable for you. If you can only see him as a friend, then that’s perfectly fine too. What matters the most is what you want to do, Millis.”
Millis listened quietly and intently to Eluria’s advice. For a while, she fell silent in deep thought, until finally she gave a firm nod, looked Eluria in the eye, and decided, “I guess I’ll put this on hold for now!”
“Wow,” Eluria remarked blandly.
“I mean, I never should’ve even known this, right? After all the time we’ve spent together in the Institute, I see Wisel as a wonderful friend! Wouldn’t it be weird for me to start acting all awkward because of something that never even happened to the current me?” Millis wore a bright smile, looking as if a load had been taken off her shoulders. “In that case, I could ask for nothing more than to fall in love with Wisel purely as myself!”
Seeing her smile, Eluria could tell that Millis had already had her answer deep in her heart—and that this incident did no more than bring her to that realization herself.