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AFTER building up her confidence, Lille headed to Charles’s room. It was already unlocked when she got there, and she opened the door to see Charles sitting on a chair.
“Hi.” He greeted her in his usual, friendly tone of voice, turning his head in her direction, but tension hung heavy in the air. “I was waiting for you.”
“Master Charlie…”
“I’m really sorry for worrying you today,” he began. “No—you’ve been worried this whole time, haven’t you? All because of me.”
“Don’t force yourself to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Lille said.
“No, it’s fine. This is how things are supposed to go…this time,” he added enigmatically.
The way he said it caught Lille’s attention—as if he’d experienced numerous other sequences of events that didn’t go as planned.
“To be honest, I’m still conflicted about whether telling you is the right thing to do or not. There are things that will be hard for you to hear, and you might wish I’d never shared them with you at all. You might end up being scared of me,” he admitted, sorrow clear in his voice.
Lille walked closer, and just as he always did for her, she bent down in front of him until their eyes were level. Her gaze pinned him to the chair.
“No matter how painful it is, and no matter how I feel…a burden shared is a burden halved. It’s far better than you carrying that weight all by yourself. I won’t regret hearing it, and my feelings toward you will never change,” she assured him firmly. “Ever since you saved my life, I’ve always…” She hesitated. “I’ve always been your apprentice.”
“Lille…”
She had always wanted to know what lay behind those deep, jade-green eyes. She wanted to know how he managed to remain so tender while suffering so much. She wanted to pay him back—even if only a little—for everything he offered her out of the kindness of his heart.
The scariest memories were best faced together. If Charles’s burden was too heavy, Lille was prepared to carry what she could for him. Being able to support him gave her life meaning.
“All right. Let me just take a few deep breaths. I’m the master here; I should be the one dishing out words of wisdom, not my apprentice. I really am useless,” he sighed, patting another chair in front of him. It was the same design as the ones in the living room. “I brought in a chair for you, so make yourself comfortable. This’ll take a while to explain.”
“Okay.” She nodded, perching on the chair facing Charles. Despite what he said, relaxing didn’t feel appropriate; it wasn’t like he was going to tell her a fairy tale.
Then, looking straight at her, Charles cut to the chase.
“First, I’d like to clear something up. You used the watch, didn’t you? How did you get into my room?” he asked, his brow furrowed.
“Ark had the key you lost. He lent it to me so we could give your bedroom a thorough cleaning,” she explained. Thinking back, she felt guilty. Ultimately, Charles locked the room because he was hiding something, not because he was embarrassed by the mess.
“Ark, huh…? I suppose he thought I was up to something. That might be why he gave you the key,” he speculated.
Although it was hard to imagine, given Ark’s easygoing attitude, he was actually keenly perceptive. Not to mention, Charles and Ark had lived together for years and years, so it was possible Ark noticed things that went completely over her head.
“I think so, too. He seemed upset that you hadn’t told him anything,” Lille recalled.
“Don’t worry—I’ll tell him everything as well. As for Leo… Well, he’s at a crucial point in his academic career, so I’d rather he didn’t catch wind of this. It’s not really a story children should hear, anyway. I’ll have to tell Master August, though… He’ll bite my head off,” he said, shuddering.
“Leo isn’t as childlike as you think, Master Charlie. I agree that Master August will be furious, but…that’s only because you took so long to tell him.” Lille smiled apologetically.
For a moment, Charles simply blinked, but then cast his eyes down. “You’re right… I’ll tell both of them,” he replied, gazing at the pocket watch lying in his lap. He would have to tell them about the watch as well.
“When I saw it and realized the time was wrong, I tried to reset it. Then, when I turned it, I suddenly felt a strange sensation…” Lille recounted. “I ran into Ark again when I left the room, but he acted as if our conversation from a few moments before then had never happened. That was when I realized it had to be something to do with time.”
“Ah… I feel awful for making you experience that horrible sensation. Still, it’s lucky you only went back a few minutes,” Charles noted. No doubt, if she had gone back several hours, she would have been even more shaken up. In the end, it was a good thing she had wound the crown so hesitantly.
“The watch turns back time, doesn't it?”
“Indeed,” he confirmed with a nod. “The amount the user turns the crown determines how far back they go. Then time reverses to that point. You make it so nothing after that point ever happened. That means the user can do things all over again.”
“Is that how you managed to prevent the sorcery war?” Lille deduced.
“That’s right. Without this watch, I never could have stopped it. How much do you know about what I did?”
In all honesty, she knew very little. She had no theories on what Charles had been up to lately, either, nor did she know why he had been so distressed in that nightmare he’d had.
“Only that you knew about the sorcery war because you turned back time, and…,” she paused. She could be certain of only one other thing. What she had found out today fully dispelled all of her doubts. “…We really did meet before, didn't we? In another time.”
“You worked that out too, huh?” The corners of his lips turned up slightly. “You really are an intelligent girl.” And yet, for some reason, he looked miserable as he spoke.
“When we first met, I felt as though I recognized you. Then, when you said we’d never met, I could tell you were lying. At first, I thought I’d simply forgotten ever meeting you, but I was wrong. It would’ve been impossible for me to remember something that effectively never happened,” she concluded.
“I have to say, I was surprised when you asked if we’d ever met before. It all made sense when I found out about your talent. If you have the power to see people’s pasts, of course your mana would be able to latch onto those moments lost in time,” Charles said softly.
When someone turned back time, the world after that point would cease to exist. Apparently, however, mana wasn’t affected by time in the same way. Mana stored all events, no matter whether time was reversed or not. That natural property, paired with Lille’s ability, was most likely what allowed her to see those events.
“There’s something I need to apologize for,” Lille began nervously. “When you were asleep on the sofa the other day, twisting and turning, I…I accidentally caught a glimpse of your dream. Both of us were in the tower together…”
“I remember you were crying when I woke up.” Charles nodded. “…But, why?”
“Because your feelings were rushing through me…” She looked down, remorseful.
“I’m sorry. Forgive me.” That was what he said back then. Lille’s chest grew tight at the memory, a cold sensation squeezing her heart.
“What did you mean by ‘punishment?’ What’s been making you suffer so terribly?” she asked, the corners of her eyebrows tilted up in sympathy.
Silence.
The soft tick, ticks of the pocket watch were suddenly extremely loud in the absence of any other noise. Outside, a pile of snow fell from the roof with a thwump, and Charles finally opened his mouth to speak.
“Lille,” he said with a certain resolve. “This country was once in ruin.”
His declaration made no sense to her. “Huh…? What do you mean?” She furrowed her brow.
“Everyone died.”
In the world Master Charlie saw, each and every citizen died? Leo and Master August, too?
“How… How did that happen?” Her bottom lip trembled. She balled her fists up between her knees to stop them from knocking together.
“With your talent and my powers, we just might be able to use the watch as a catalyst to project ourselves into those memories and view them together—just like you did at Leo’s house,” Charles suggested. He tightened his grip around the watch in his palm. The second hand seemed to tick with every beat of Lille’s heart.
“If you’re with me, I’ll be able to dive into my own memories. You might see some terrible scenes. You’ll probably want to cover your eyes, but…will you still come with me?” He looked at her with hesitant eyes.
“I will,” she replied resolutely. Fearless, she confidently placed her hand on top of Charles’s.
So long as I have you by my side, I could travel through any number of dreadful worlds. No matter what happens, I won’t let go of your hand.
Charles closed his eyes and started to chant a spell she had never heard before. An instant later, she felt her consciousness floating as if the ground had been snatched out from beneath her. A never-ending darkness engulfed her, yet within the nothingness, one sensation persisted: Charles’s hand anchoring them together, his warmth embracing her so as not to lose her.