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AFTER school, Emma, Glen, and Annette gathered at the same place where the quagmire had unfolded. Bernard’s flattened, despairing figure was nowhere to be found, naturally.
“Today… You didn’t want Ian to be here, did you?” Emma spoke to Annette, her whole body tight with strain. It was an attempt on her part to have a silly conversation so her friend would relax. But she unintentionally got straight to the heart of the matter with her remark.
“You’re right… Because today, I’m violating the taboo of time travel… For your sake, Emma,” Annette confessed.
“What?!”
Glen and Emma gasped in unison, and Annette thrust out her right hand and chanted a spell.
“Sigil, activate.”
When she did, deeply familiar red digits appeared.
“For Emma’s sake… Can you elaborate?” Glen asked.
“Yes.”
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ANNETTE recounted her tale. She had arrived this morning from the world four years in the future, not long after she had awakened to her time affinity. She couldn’t give them all the details, but she said that Emma from her future didn’t seem to be enjoying her life. That was why Annette reversed time to the turning point in her life she deemed the start of Emma’s future unhappiness. Emma and Glen understood why she couldn’t tell them about the future. Even so, there were too many points in her story that they couldn’t understand—too many holes.
“What exactly do you mean by me being unhappy four years from now…?” Emma asked.
“Emma, do you remember when I wanted your advice on what to do about Lord Bernard’s advances?”
Coincidentally enough, it had happened yesterday, so Emma nodded.
“Of course, I do.”
“Emma, I think you’re surprised to learn about my time magic, but… Something even more shocking happens in the future. In the world I come from, you demanded to break off your engagement with Lord Bernard. As a result, the relations between your family and Vis… I mean, Count Sagden’s worsens considerably. Because you feel responsible for the situation, you end up being unable to say no in the end.”
“Oh… I see…”
Emma had no trouble accepting Annette’s explanation since what she described fell within her expectations. But what does she mean by “I can’t say no in the end”?
Glen spoke, correctly guessing Emma’s confusion. “You mean because of everything else that hangs on the engagement?”
“That’s right! But… But no one would have been able to refuse in her situation! I-I mean, after all…”
Annette gasped and shut her mouth, realizing she might have revealed too much about her future. Then she inhaled quietly to calm herself before speaking again.
“In any case, I came back to the past. Instead of turning down his invitations, I decided to accept them! If everyone found out he committed adultery with me, even Count Sagden couldn’t complain about the engagement being ended on those grounds, right? I admit, I was uncertain about how this would play out because I heard the past can’t be changed… But it worked! I accepted Lord Bernard’s invitation to rendezvous, and what’s more, Prince Victor just happened to be there as well. I couldn’t have been luckier! Now, Emma, you won’t be unhappy in the future…!”
“So regardless of how or when, Victor always ends up embroiled in this…”
Based on Annette’s spirited explanation, Glen looked thoughtful, coming to some conclusion Emma couldn’t follow. Now that she had more or less told them what she could, Annette looked satisfied.
“Right, then, I’ll be going back to the future! Emma… I-I know it’s forbidden to go into the past. B-But you’re special to me. You always, always helped me when I needed it, and I never returned the favor. So I thought this was my chance to finally do something for you.”
“Understood… Thank you.”
Emma experienced a sense of nostalgia as they talked. On the day of the royal function, she was shocked when she learned about Annette and Bernard’s relationship. Being betrayed by the two people she trusted the most had been such a bolt out of the blue that she had recklessly allowed her rage free rein.
Even though most of her fury had been directed at Bernard, it still profoundly impacted her relationship with Annette in her second life, leaving it in a strange limbo. Despite logically knowing the Annette in this life was different from the one who had committed adultery with her friend’s fiancé, Emma had deliberately kept the other girl at a distance. But when she thought about the fact that Annette had broken the cardinal law of time travel and reversed time for her sake, she wondered if their friendship had, in fact, remained strong. Thinking about it relieved her.
“O-Oh, I almost forgot to tell you one more thing!” Annette said. “Just in case…I suggest you ask His Majesty for another reward instead of a fiancé, as soon as possible! I know you have an idea of what you would rather receive, right?”
“Huh?! Well… I do.”
“I… I hope you’re happy when I go back to the future, Emma.”