That day, I decided to visit a certain noble’s manor on my way home from the academy. I don’t think I had ever met this person, but the house of Viscount Ravenwood had always bothered me. They had apparently produced many generations of excellent mages, and their contributions were viewed highly along with their rank. I had Isabel head there first while I waited by the gates.
“I want to be shown around your manor,” I had requested.
My actions were undoubtedly impertinent, but my rank was much higher. I knew that I could be a touch unreasonable. After a while, Isabel came out with a servant of the manor, and I was guided inside. In front of the manor door stood Viscountess Ravenwood. She looked nervous, perhaps wondering what business I had with her family.
“I’m pleased to meet you, Viscountess Ravenwood,” I said, trying to act as politely as I could. “My name is Serena Rosenberg. I’m terribly thankful that you allowed me inside despite my sudden request.”
“I’m very much aware of your name,” the viscountess replied. “May I ask what business you have with us today? I’ve been told that you wanted to be shown around my manor…”
“May I ask a question first?” I inquired. “Viscountess Ravenwood, do you have a child around the same age as me?”
“No… We do not have a child.”
She looked a touch sad as she spoke. It must have been difficult for her to impart that their household had no child to become heir.
“I’m very sorry for bringing it up,” I said. “If you are willing, I would like for you to show me a certain room. I presume no one is using it.”
The viscountess and her servant glanced at each other, baffled by my statement.
“I’m not sure if we have such a room,” the viscountess said. “However, I could show you the various rooms of our manor, excluding my husband’s. Please, step inside.”
I entered the manor and was immediately overwhelmed with a sense of déjà vu. This was my first visit here, and yet it felt eerily familiar. The viscountess gazed at me dubiously, but I ignored her and began to walk forward. From the entrance hall, I took the corridor to the left. There was a room right at the end of this corridor—that was my destination. I still had vague, fuzzy memories of the Record’s location.
However, when I reached the end of the corridor, there was nothing there. There should have been a room here, but now it was just an open space that felt unnatural to me. I gently placed my hand on the wall, certain that it was there. My palm brushed against a cavity that couldn’t have possibly existed in this space and glided across its perimeter, searching.
Finally, my fingers touched an invisible doorknob. There was a loud clack—this was exactly what I had been looking for. When I gripped the knob, a door suddenly appeared as though it had always been there.
The viscountess, her servant, and my squires were all astonished at how these events unfolded.
“Lady Serena, what is this?” Isabel asked. She clearly had her guard up and feared that this was some form of sorcery.
“This isn’t an illusion or anything of the sort,” I replied. “I suspect that it was isolated to maintain the consistency of this world. It was meant to hide something that wasn’t supposed to exist.”
The book would persist even if time was wound back. It would affect the chronological order of events and create contradictions, such as the cause and effect of the loss of its creator. This was an inconvenient item to keep around and thus had been hidden away.
I opened the door with no hesitation.
Inside the room were a bed, a desk, and a chair. There was also an empty bookshelf. This feels so nostalgic. I wasn’t supposed to know this room, and yet it felt so familiar. I opened the drawer of the desk and took out a single book—the Record.
The Book of Marius Ravenwood, the book’s cover read. I left the room and turned towards the stunned viscountess.
“I apologize for the fuss,” I said. “Please excuse me.”
I had just committed theft, but I couldn’t allow anyone else to read the book’s contents. If I explained to her that this was a book by her son who she neither knew nor remembered, it would only confuse her further. I knew that with time, the people of that manor would naturally accept the room as though it had always existed there. She would probably forget the existence of the book as well; if she didn’t, the world would be inconsistent with prior events.
I noticed that the viscountess and her servant were frozen in place, unnaturally so. By tonight, I guessed that the world would conveniently reconstruct their memories. My squires also seemed to be confused and unable to concentrate. Some of them frowned as they walked, shaking their heads. Only I had memories of the book from my previous timeline and would be permitted to remember this entire affair.
Yeah, this book is amazing. It can even change the fate of the world and continue to exist.
I stepped into the carriage and quietly opened the book. Isabel sat across me, and Emma sat beside me, but it was though my visit to House Ravenwood had never occurred. Neither of them were interested in the book. Even Alice, who sat diagonally across from me, had her nose buried in a different tome. She probably didn’t even question why I had this book in my hand.
I read the first page.
To my beloved Serena…