Prologue
IT was bright inside the room, even with the curtains closed. The light piercing through the small gap in the fabric practically blinded her. Despite reflexively pulling the blanket over her head, the sun’s rays still warmed her. The gentle scent of flowers wafted in from her partially opened window. The aroma came from the white flowers blooming on the trees in the garden of her family home, the domain of her father, Viscount Seagrove.
Mmm, how nostalgic. What are those flowers called again? Emma Grace Seagrove thought to herself, three seconds from slumbering again.
“Emma! How long do you plan on sleeping?!”
Her mother’s voice broke the silence.
“Ngh… A few more minutes…”
Despite an inexplicable sense of wrongness, Emma burrowed deeper into her cozy bed. The familiar softness made her feel safe. Which, in itself, made her wonder if she was still dreaming.
“Has it slipped your mind already?! You’re moving into your dormitory at the Magic Academy today! The carriage will be here soon, young lady!”
Ah-ha. So I am still dreaming.
After all, Emma was already nineteen years old and quite independent, thank you very much. She entered the Magic Academy’s dorms in the spring of her fifteenth year. Her time there had been the happiest of her life. Perhaps this dream was compensating for yesterday’s nightmare. Though, unfortunately, yesterday was reality.
For a brief, extremely brief moment, she unwillingly recalled the previous night’s events. Emma wanted to forget the cruelty of the real world by escaping into her dreams. But she wasn’t even allowed that small reprieve. She sighed tiredly, still nestled under her blanket.
Hoping to at least do something about the overwhelming brilliance on the other side of her comforter, she reluctantly stretched her hand out from within her calming cocoon. Situated in the royal palace of the Monarchy of Reauxvil, Emma’s room had been provisioned for her a year ago. The window was right next to her bed, which made it a breeze for her to open and close the curtains without ever leaving the plush haven. She considered this positioning a plus.
Her blanket covered her from head to toe as she groped blindly for the curtain. Before she realized that what should have been there wasn’t, her hand was slapped. Ouch!
“Young lady, will you wake up already?!”
When the blanket was aggressively and brusquely torn from her body, Emma tumbled out of bed. This is awfully realistic. The impact with the cold, hard floor made her flinch.
“That…hurt,” she groaned.
“Emma, such behavior is unacceptable for a young lady of fifteen. Especially in light of the fact that you’ll be living on your own in the Magic Academy’s dormitory starting today. Oh, goodness, I’m even more worried about you now!”
Rubbing her eyes, Emma stared up at her mother’s face, looking a bit younger than she remembered. Her mother’s latest diet had been a success, slimming her down considerably. Instead, Emma discovered herself looking upon a round, slightly plump visage. Regardless of her weight, her mother was considered a beauty by any standard, and that would never change. Even so, Emma secretly preferred this softer version of her mother because she found her more charming. While idle thoughts ran through Emma’s mind, her mother spoke.
“Emma…? You’re acting strange. I know there isn’t a mission scheduled anytime soon, but…don’t tell me you’re in the middle of a time leap episode?”
“Impossible.”
Emma responded automatically to her mother’s outrageous question.
“Right. Right, of course not… Oh, yes, your fiancé, Lord Bernard, is also moving into the dormitory today. You’ll receive plenty of compliments on your appearance henceforth in your time at the Academy, but that’s no excuse to neglect the way you carry yourself. You mustn’t embarrass him or yourself. Have I made myself clear?”
Stuff and bother Lord Bernard. The beauty Emma inherited from her grandmother meant nothing in the face of that traitorous wretch’s so-called true love for someone else. Because she knew that four years after the time in which this dream took place, her engagement would be called off.
“Yeeesss, Mother.”
Though she cursed the man every which way in her heart, Emma responded promptly and dutifully. She had no desire to see his shameless face, even in her dream, so she took the fastest route to end this loathsome conversation. She dragged herself off the floor and sat on her bed. Satisfied that her daughter was done lazing about, Emma’s mother left the room.
“Oh, the curtains.”
She pointed her index finger toward the window and lightly twirled it. When she did, the small gap widened as the drapes opened fully. Seagrove Manor’s garden lay resplendently outside the window. Emma reflected on how she had spent her life in her family’s ancestral seat until she went to the Magic Academy at the age of fifteen.
She’d been right about the window being open, after all. Even within the confines of her dreams, the white blossoms’ uniquely sweet scent made her eyes prick with tears as memories flooded in.
“I still can’t believe how truly lifelike this dream feels,” she murmured.
Despite knowing nothing would be there, Emma studied the back of her right hand and activated her magic.
“Sigil, activate.”
After yesterday, the number on the sigil should have been zero. For her own peace of mind, she had chanted the spell the day before in front of the king to confirm that it would never activate again. Once she had, she knew her work was finished. Except—contrary to her expectations, the infinity symbol appeared instead.
“How?!”
Emma inhaled sharply in shock. The previous night’s events rushed through her mind. Her former fiancé’s face looking so idiotic she almost forgot her rage. Her seemingly pure best friend, whom she’d trusted completely, sobbing hysterically. Her childhood friend, the prince, filled with both anger and distress.
And finally, the image of a young man emerging from the crowd of curious onlookers. He grabbed her hand, kissed it firmly…and made her heart jolt. Oddly enough, it was this very right hand to which he had pressed his lips.
Emma shook her head vigorously, trying to banish the memory. Unable to stop, she pinched her cheek hard. Gah! Ow!
Unable to accept the inexplicable wrongness she’d been sensing all this time, Emma stood up and gingerly made her way to her dresser to look in the mirror. She should have known her face like the back of her hand. Instead of last night’s elegant upswept coiffure, her hair fell in disarray around her shoulders. Her face itself, younger and rounder than she remembered, stared back.
What?! Wait, wait, wait. This isn’t a dream?
The haze in her mind steadily cleared, bringing much-needed clarity. Emma had unwittingly broken the taboo of her own prodigious talent and traveled back in time to the world she knew four years ago.