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“WELCOME back, Emma.”
“Good to be back!”
In the present, Emma slowly opened her eyes to find Ian sitting next to her. They were in a special room within the palace designated specifically for time travel use.
“And that’s the end of your time travel ability, hm? You’ve done well all these years. Be proud of yourself.”
“I could say the same to you, Ian. That concludes your duties as an escort-cum-attendant to time travelers for now. I don’t know what I would have done without you, so thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
As the son of Marquessate Stephenson, Ian’s family line was a special one, having served as aides to time travelers for generations. They acted as escorts for time travelers during their missions. Beyond that, they also resolved issues for them along the way, including any doubts or concerns the individual might have.
Emma thought about the Ian three months from now and couldn’t help worrying over his brooding tone at the end. The atmosphere had been so at odds with his normally tranquil aura. She felt a twinge of regret for not listening to him. This was unusual for her because she usually didn’t bother with questions of “What if.”
I wonder what he tried to tell me… In any case, there’s no point in doing my head in about it now. I’ll find out soon enough since I only have to wait three months.
Ian sighed in relief at Emma’s smile as she thanked him, his expression relaxing. “With your duties to the country over, you’re finally ready to marry into the Sagden family. I’m convinced that Bernard will make you a happy woman.”
“I certainly hope so.”
Those with an affinity for time rarely ever appeared… But when they did, more often than not, they were treated as oddities instead of tremendous talents because of the restrictions and limits of the ability itself. Once the individual fulfilled their predestined path, they would lose their time ability entirely. Once that happened, the only magic they could use was life magic. All this explained why nobility above a certain station desperately hoped their children wouldn’t possess this affinity and also why individuals afflicted with the power were subjected to a great deal of sympathy by those around them.
“Though there is the issue of your…true nature. More precisely, the fact that he’s unaware of it.”
“How crass of you to point that out, Ian! You know I never intended for you to know the real me, either. But you can understand how impossible it became for me to keep up the act with you, considering how closely our lives have intertwined for almost a decade.”
In contrast to her refined, ladylike appearance, Emma’s true personality was animated and intense. For as long as she could remember, she carefully presented an elegant facade in line with her looks, so few people knew what she was really like. Emma’s grandmother, who was kind and amiable for the most part, was bizarrely strict concerning conduct and etiquette. Under her tutelage, the exceedingly clever Emma quickly learned that her inherent disposition was far from what high society sought and admired in young ladies.
Naturally, when she and Ian first met, Emma initially continued her ladylike pretense. She was still young but already understood the ways of the world in which she’d been born. Except it hadn’t taken her long to stop hiding herself from him since they spent so much time in each other’s company.
“I must admit, I still find it unnerving how suddenly you can go from complaining about a training manual to producing a winsome smile the minute a cabinet minister appears,” Ian said.
“That’s a given for a lady, Ian.”
“You don’t say? Then what about when you lure persistent men at parties to the shadows of the grounds only to threaten them with castration and such? Though I find their actions appalling, as a fellow man, I feel some sympathy for them. To follow you, expecting one thing and finding another entirely, must be shocking, eh?”
“Pish posh, don’t tease me. Besides, we both know I can and do always count on you to clean up after me in those annoying situations, too. Have I told you again how much I appreciated your help?”
Watching Emma puff her cheeks in defiance, Ian laughed wryly before a gentle smile settled on his face. “Well, I personally prefer the ‘real’ Emma.”
“You really are an oddball, Ian. I wager you’re the only one who feels that way about me.”
The monarchy was hosting a dress party tonight, solely in Emma’s honor. For her many accomplishments over the last decade, she would be awarded a medal of merit for her service to the nation. The ceremony also signaled the end of her duties as a time traveler until the next person with the ability appeared. When that happened, she would teach them all she knew and pass on the baton, finally lowering the curtain on her part in the play.
Though I must admit, I’m incredibly excited, considering freedom awaits on the horizon starting tomorrow! It’s been a nightmare having my life curtailed so that other states don’t have the opportunity to steal the power to time travel.
Emma’s footsteps were light as she headed toward her private chamber to prepare for the function.
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BACK in her room, Emma changed into a pale pink dress gifted to her by her fiancé, Bernard. She gravitated toward a mature, womanly style of clothing, so dresses in bold blues and reds filled her closet. As such, she felt out of her element in this particular ensemble geared toward sweet, young girls—a style she hardly ever wore.
As a child, Emma was keen to learn what she could do to become a lady’s maid someday, just like Sunny. To this day, one of the things she enjoyed was coordinating outfits, from the dress to the jewelry to the hairstyle. Though the appearance of her time magic had consigned her childhood dream to naught, she still insisted on dressing herself, unlike other young noble women.
Today’s unique circumstance was different. It called for donning the girlishly charming dress Bernard had sent—a dress she felt awkward in because it was at odds with her personality. Goodness, I have no idea how to accessorize this dress since mine are so simple. What do other women do with something so pretty?
A knock sounded on her door.
“Come in!”
“Emma! Congratulations!”
“Annette, it’s you!”
While Emma dithered over her stylistic dilemma in front of her mirror, her childhood friend, Annette, walked in.
“Lord Bernard insisted on escorting me here, so we arrived together not long ago.”
“Oh, really? Well, thank you for making the trip.”
Emma smiled happily, glad to see her most trusted friend. Emma, Bernard, and Annette were all childhood friends. Whenever daughters of the ton turned out to possess the ability to time travel, many would remain unwed due to the rigors of their duty to the monarchy. To secure their cooperation, the government instituted a rule to affiance each young lady to a young man from a suitable family. In Emma’s case, her fiancé just so happened to be her childhood friend.
Incidentally, upon the awakening of Emma’s affinity with time magic, the Seagrove barony was elevated to a viscountcy. And Bernard’s later engagement to Emma resulted in Viscount Sagden’s rank changing to Count.
What…in the world? Emma’s eyes widened in surprise as they traveled down Annette’s outfit. Her dress closely resembled Emma’s, down to the color. Except hers was a vivid rose pink compared to Emma’s light pink. While Emma’s dress sported a modest amount of lace and pearls in the design, Annette’s had those embellishments aplenty, plus a gorgeous array of ribbons. Almost as if Emma’s dress was the base upon which Annette’s was extravagantly enhanced. Annette noticed Emma’s stare right away.
“Lord Bernard and I… No, I mean, um, our paths unexpectedly crossed at the dressmaker’s! Yes, that’s it. When I saw the dress he commissioned for you, I modeled my own after it. So…ta-da! We match, Emma!”
“We…we do indeed.”
Emma quietly resigned herself to the situation after Annette’s explanation and accompanying childish laugh. How could she have forgotten this was how Annette behaved? It had always been this way. If Annette liked something that belonged to Emma, she immediately copied her. In the same vein, many of Emma’s friends mysteriously became Annette’s, to the point that they excluded Emma from any weekend outings they went on.
The long and short of it was that Annette felt most comfortable with Emma when they shared everything. As for Emma, she learned early on in their friendship to let things go in the face of Annette’s feather-brained but harmless behavior. So their relationship carried on like this, even to the present.
Although it seems like Annette designed my dress rather than just used it as a reference… No, no, I shouldn’t doubt her. That would be wrong.
In a bid to erase the seed of suspicion sprouting in her heart, Emma turned back to the mirror and focused on arranging her hair. Yet, she couldn’t suppress the thought that the dress she wore would suit Annette so much better.