Marius’s memories were mostly based on the previous timeline, but they had also meshed with the current one, meaning that he was now familiar with my squires.
“Memories are volatile,” Marius said. “No one can perfectly and accurately remember everything. It’s possible to believe in a false event and subconsciously invent new memories. There’s Person A and Person B. Even if they have the exact same experience, different viewpoints can lead to different impressions. Based on how one might view things, it’ll be a completely different experience. Humans are composed of memories, but because they are so vague and volatile, people are as well.”
We were sipping tea. Marius wasn’t a particularly handsome man. He was of average height and a bit scrawny. His messy brown hair still had some of his bed head, with tufts flying every which way. Behind his spectacles were a pair of hazel eyes that often looked sleepy but lit up with an excited twinkle when he spoke on topics he was passionate about.
I had poured each of us a cup of tea, and these, of course, weren’t drugged. I was more knowledgeable about magic thanks to my second chance at life, making me the perfect conversation partner for him. Currently, he was a part of the Seven Luminaries, as he had been in his previous life. The world had arranged it so that he was pitted against Alice for the selection process and came out victorious. The other candidates were the same as the ones in his previous life.
“Oddly enough, I do have memories of competing against Alice,” Marius confessed. “I know that never happened. When I read the Record, I know it’s all a lie. These lies don’t strike me as odd. Apparently, when a fragment of the world’s memory is rewritten, those affected by it will have their memories automatically altered and seamlessly connected to other memories. Since those memories make up a person, no one doubts their validity. It’s impossible to doubt them in the first place. We have the Record to act as our wedge between worlds, so we know that there are two, but without it, our memories probably would have been perfectly altered to fit the narrative.”
Marius was less joyful about the fact that he was back and more eager to theorize on the effects that the Record and Reset had on the world. He had tested his creations on his own body. No doubt he had plans to develop a new spell.
While his Reset ritual was highly esteemed, it was deemed forbidden. I wasn’t surprised. The world couldn’t be rewritten for a single person’s sake, and I didn’t want this to happen again. A life that required a do-over at the expense of another person’s sacrifice was one filled with falsehoods.
Above all else, there weren’t many mages who were keen to cast a spell where they might disappear. Excluding this oddball in front of me, I thought.
“I see,” I said. “In the end, my engagement was canceled.”
I had no regrets about forfeiting my engagement to the crown prince, but the result hadn’t changed.
“The world works to correct itself,” Marius said, looking so proud of himself. “Results tend to be surprisingly stable. Actually, I sort of thought that would be the case.”
Excuse me? So, you knew that my engagement would be canceled twice?
“But I’m still alive,” I said.
If the world really wanted to correct itself, I should have been dead.
“Well, ultimately, our existences aren’t all that important to the world, I guess,” Marius replied. “Whether we’re alive or dead, it doesn’t really matter. There really aren’t that many people who have to exist or have to disappear for good. Humans can be replaced by anyone at any time. But I assume that Lady Eleanor, the saintess, becoming queen was set in stone. I guess she was the only one who was special. A saintess only appears once a century, so in her case, she can’t be so easily replaced.”
I didn’t know what to feel. Now that I’d graduated from the academy, I was rather renowned in noble society. To the world, however, I was just a side character who could be replaced by anyone. In the end, I couldn’t win against Eleanor.
But can Marius truly be replaced?
Now that I had gone through my life a second time, I was finally able to understand just how amazing the Record and Reset were. These were revolutionary forms of magic, and it was incredibly meaningful that he was able to produce both.
Maybe the world had already decided that Marius’s existence would be brought back somehow…
I shook my head. I didn’t want to think about such difficult topics; Marius and Alice were better suited for that anyway.
“By the way, I may not matter to this world, but my engagement was canceled,” I said. “No one will marry me. Don’t you have something to say?”
In noble society, if someone had their engagement canceled, they were treated as damaged goods, and it was difficult to find a new partner. Even if I weren’t damaged goods, I wasn’t sure if I would have found a husband. My name carried a negative reputation in a different sense from my previous life. There were rumors that if anyone carelessly came close to me, they would be taken over and devoured whole.
“It’s exactly what I concluded when I was three,” Marius said. “I predicted that you would never be able to marry.”
Don’t decide my future at the young age of three! To be fair, in my past life, I was executed and thus wasn’t able to marry.
“Did you forget the last line that you wrote in the Record?” I asked.
Marius turned away. “Everyone has a past that they wish to forget.”
The moment he wrote the words in the Record, they would remain for eternity.
“I’m only a noble,” he said. “I’m in no position to be able to say those words to you. I only wrote it down because I thought that I’d never see you again.”
His cheeks turned the slightest pink. I felt compelled to tease him a bit.
“You gathered so many strands of my hair that you could create a catalyst from it, didn’t you?” I asked.
“Your dark hair was truly stunning,” Marius replied. “I even cast spells on the strands so that I could keep them.”
Whoa, his fetish is far more twisted than I thought.
“Is only my hair worthy of praise?” I asked.
“No,” he answered. “Your hair, skin, eyes…everything about you is absolutely stunning. You’re perfect, except for your personality.”
You didn’t need to add that last bit, did you?
“Are you sure that you don’t have anything you’d like to say to me?” I inquired.
“Then why don’t I tell you one of my secrets?” Marius offered. He leaned forward and brought his lips to my ear. “Truth be told, I didn’t hate listening to your selfish requests.”
What a guy. I guess he really has no plans on making the first move.
Thinking back, he had always been like this. He always had a way with words and didn’t really listen to what I said. Even so, he stayed by my side until the very end. In my previous life, I didn’t see him as a potential partner. But as I went through my life a second time, I felt like I was finally able to stand alongside him and share the same views. Marius was mature for his age, and I was immature for mine. Because of my second chance at life, we were finally able to click.
I guess this roundabout way of going through life isn’t all bad. Fine. I’m the wicked princess, after all. I’m used to making selfish requests.
I pointed at Marius.
“Marius Ravenwood,” I ordered. “Marry me.”
At once, Marius turned solemn and went down on his knee. “Lady Serena, allow me to share another one of my secrets with you.” The corners of his lips tugged upward. “I’ve been in love with you ever since my past life.”