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“EMMA, don’t you dare forget our promise for tomorrow. I’m so looking forward to introducing you to the person I want you to meet!”
“An army couldn’t stop me from coming to you because I’m excited too! I can’t wait to read all those books with you.”
The conversation was eerily familiar to the one Emma had once before. Starting today, the Magic Academy would go on summer recess. Though technically speaking, this will be my second summer in this life. Third overall.
Emma had used her power to return to the day before the long summer holiday started. Again, she repeated the day she promised Rashida she would visit her, then saw her friend off with a smile as the other girl boarded her family’s coach.
She said her attempts to deceive him about her choice of study enraged her father more than anything. So her situation should change if she and the duke have a chance to discuss things properly before the report card arrives.
“Well, Emma, I see you’ve made a close enough friend in Lady Rashida to call upon her during the summer holiday as well, hm?”
“Indeed. Tomorrow at ten in the morning.”
“Understood. I’ll be there to escort you.”
Looking at Ian’s cheerful smile and refreshing profile, Emma felt her conscience stabbing at her. She was now a criminal who had violated the most sacred law of time travel. Though Ian normally indulged her, she knew he wouldn’t forgive her if he ever found out. Just as Emma had committed her life when she willingly undertook the responsibility of a time traveler, so too had Ian Stephenson, son of a marquess and member of a long, storied bloodline, staked his own as her protector.
Returning to my fifteenth year when I was already in my nineteenth was a force majeure. But I can’t claim the same for this deliberate time leap… What other choice did I have, though? Leaving Rashida in that state was never an option.
The next instant, the young man Emma unwittingly found herself intrigued by appeared in her line of sight. She sensed a hint of disturbance in the atmosphere. Still, she knew she needed to talk to him in private, so she spoke to Ian.
“Ian… I’m sorry, but I made other arrangements for my trip home today. I won’t be riding with you in the Stephenson carriage.”
“Oh, is that so? Then, I’ll wait with you until this other coach arrives.”
“Really, you don’t have to. I mean, we’re still on the school grounds? I don’t expect anything to occur here of all places.”
“Perhaps I’m being too overprotective. Right, then, I’ll take that as my cue to leave.”
Ian smiled ruefully at Emma as she stifled her giggles. He gave her a light bow before departing. Once he was out of sight, she turned her attention to the person on her mind, who was standing some distance away from them. His carriage had already arrived, but he showed no signs of stepping into it. She didn’t spy his usual companions either, which made the situation even more curious.
“Lord Glen. Why are you here?” she asked.
“Do I need a reason to be here when I attend this school as well? Will the world end by my being here?”
“I-I suppose you’re right. I beg your pardon for my impolite question then.”
Her first time on this same day in her second chance at life, Emma had unconsciously been looking for Glen. Ultimately, she left on the short journey home after not seeing hide nor hair of him. Naturally, she couldn’t tell him that, so she tried to be subtle with her inquiry about his presence. Clearly, she had failed. But his next words astonished her.
“That aside… Why did you turn back time two months? Was the summer recess not long enough for you?”
“Ghh!”
Thud. Emma unthinkingly dropped the bag she’d been holding. She vaguely heard the fountain pen and bejeweled metal bookmark her brothers had gifted her rolling onto the ground. At this time in her life, those two items were a few of her most cherished possessions. She knew she should collect them immediately, but her body froze.
How… How does he know what I did? He shouldn’t, regardless of his own affinity with time. She couldn’t look away from him. Yet he ever so casually leaned down and picked up her fallen belongings.
“I… I should have done that. I’m sorry, and thank you.”
“It’s fine. For now, get in.”
She followed Glen’s gaze toward the Bering family’s carriage.
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I’M still not sure how things turned out like this… Seated inside the coach with Glen, Emma wracked her brain frantically. Overpowered by his intensity, she had helplessly conceded to his suggestion to take her home. And now she sat next to him.
“To start, why don’t you tell me why you reversed time?” he asked. “It surely couldn’t be because you actually wanted to enjoy summer vacation even more?”
“Of course not! What do you take me for?! I… I did it for Rashida.”
Emma never intended for anyone to find out what she’d done, much less the reason for it, but she blurted out the truth without thought, caught up in Glen’s relentless pace.
“Lady Rashida?”
“Yes. When the new term started, Rashida wasn’t at school… Her father forced her to withdraw from the Academy.”
To Emma’s surprise, instead of interrogating her further on that note, Glen chose not to press and went in another direction entirely.
“And that’s why you wanted to change the future? Tell me something, Miss Emma. Have you ever actually met Lady Rashida’s father, Duke Eslan?”
“No, I have not.”
“So…you thought everything would be resolved if you just turned back time?”
She gasped mentally because his words had brutally found their mark. To add insult to injury, his disdainful tone indicated what he thought of her reckless plan. Emma remained mute, unable to argue.
“Does Ian know what you did?”
“No… No, he doesn’t…”
“I thought as much. If Ian had accompanied you, you wouldn’t have returned to this day.”
A small part of Emma had wondered the same, so to have him pick at her concern only validated it. She clenched her skirt tightly between tense fingers.
“I… I haven’t told Ian about this time leap or about Rashida. You have to understand the state she was in. I couldn’t bear to see her shed another tear out of those swollen eyes… I don’t think she even ate that much the whole summer. It broke my heart, and I couldn’t just stand by doing nothing.”
“So you let your emotions carry you away.”
Glen braced an elbow against his armrest and rested his chin on his hand. For some time, he brooded in silence, staring out the window.
“With things the way they are… I’ll be joining you on your visit tomorrow.”
“Huh?”
“The thought of you handling the duke by yourself, with not a single concrete plan in your head, gives me chills. Ergo, it’s vital that I accompany you since I’m aware of the circumstances. This way, I can support you and lessen my own worries too.”
Emma’s eyes widened in shock at a response she could never have imagined. Yet she couldn’t deny the merit of having an ally aware of the situation. Frankly, she felt relieved.
“Then… I humbly accept your offer. Thank you very much.”
“Hm.”
She bowed her head deeply in gratitude, but his gaze didn’t stray from the view outside. He merely nodded his head in acknowledgment.
“May… May I ask you something?” she ventured.
“What is it?”
Glen finally turned to look at her as if nothing of note had just happened. His expression emanated his usual bone-deep confidence in himself, so much so that Emma wondered if his attitude would change when he heard her question. Which she found quite vexing.
“Um… How did you learn I reversed time? Since I’m the one who used the ability this time, you shouldn’t have realized that anything changed. Moreover, based on your behavior, I can’t help but think this is your second time repeating summer recess too.”
“Oh. Is that all? I guess I have no choice but to tell you. So be it. Because the time magic you possess now is one you received from me. Naturally, it’s still linked to me, which is how I knew.”
“…I’m sorry, what?”
Thud.
While Glen’s tone was exceedingly casual, the weight of his words was anything but. Emma’s bag again slipped from her grasp, and again she vaguely heard her beloved fountain pen and bookmark roll out, clanking on the carriage floor.