"IT'S YOU." THE FIGURE DROPPED THE BOMB CASUALLY. "Outsider, you are responsible for turning back the time thirteen times."
"What?" I stood gaping at this voice. My jaws dropped at this very moment. Holy Fuck, what? I don't think even I have even had the guts to turn back the hourglass that many times... "...but how?!"
No wait. I squinted my eyes for a second. That made no f*cking sense.
"How do you know that?" I asked the figure itself. "Who are you? Where are all of these claims coming from? Are you scamming me?"
"That hourglass." The figure said pointing at the glass case in my hands. "That object is quite peculiar. It contains remnants of magic that can be only used within a certain lineage. The Piast Dukedom."
"The what family?"
"Piast family." She corrected, coughing on her hands. "It certainly can be used only by the members of the Piast family. However..." The figure glanced at me. "You don't possess the bloodline of the Piast family at all. How peculiar..."
The Piss– I mean the Piast family bloodline. Aren't they part of the nobility from the Kindom of Croa? Precisely part of the royalty descent? That means– Aria must be part of the Piast family?!
Then that...
...All those artifacts which Emma had obtained from Viscount Louvre– including the Blue Orb Crystal ball also belong to that family?!
"Why did I, Mielle Roscent, turn back time thirteen times?! No h-how could I? Am I not the villainess–" I accidentally let my thoughts out loud.
The figure asked told me. "Although I don't know why exactly you have needed to turn back time– however, you seem to come back at a specific moment of time."
"C-come back at a specific moment in time?" I asked. I-I've turned back the hourglass so much that I needed to come back in time to do something?!
How many times have I turned the hourglass? Am I even allowed to turn back the hourglass?!
"I've felt something was very strange in this world... as time was repeating itself continuously. Some things can't easily come to an end. I've felt like I've lived through almost a millennia already."
"A millennia... how long ago did I turn back this hourglass?" I asked desperately.
"Let's see, you have at least returned back two years' worth of time." They told me. "Outsider, you have gone back two years' worth in time."
...Two years?! H-how is that possible? Have I been turning the hourglass exactly at the same moment of time rewinding the time by two years?! And I've been doing this... thirteen times..?
I didn't need to do mental math to figure out how long I have been subconsciously stuck in this body of Mielle Roscente.
But why? How?!
"I believe you have the same questions as I did, however, I only know as much as you know. But you have been regressing back to the date of the 23rd day of the spring, the year of XIV of the Imperial Calendar."
But that was exactly four months ago... around the time I had reincarnated into this world...
...No wonder why I had been so sane coming into this world– I've been stuck here in this goddamn world thirteen times?!
"Have you ever reached out to me prior to this?" I asked her. "In my previous lives before my current regression?"
"That...even I'm not sure myself." The figure told me. "Perhaps I did, maybe I had this exact conversation with you in your past regressions."
Oh shit. Is it because I am not able to remember because the power of the hourglass only belongs to Aria? Then how was I able to regress back in time? Because no one other than Aria Roscente can reverse the time of the hourglass.
"So you, yourself are not aware of how you lived before this life?" I asked, intuitively. The figure shook its head. This is not good.
Under what circumstances had I been forced to use the hourglass, exactly thirteen times in a row?
...
The answer was obvious: Mielle's death?!
I know that I am not capable of fighting against Aria Roscente, however for me to go back in time by two years repetitively, that means this had occurred two years in the future. Had Aria Roscente already fucked me over by then?!
I don't think the original story was over in two years. It had to be at least five years... am I that pathetic?
"As you said, I do not possess the power to regress in time because I do not have that family bloodline within me," I said. Wait.
"I am not sure how you were able to use the power, however interestingly," the figure added, "can I try this hourglass of yours?" They stretched out their hand from the hood, and I carefully pulled out the sand-boxed hourglass from the wooden case and handed it to them.
The figure took it and flipped it on its side. The sand then started to slowly fall into the other side. Absolutely nothing happened. Or perhaps this was our perception?
Maybe we have reversed time but we are not aware? Just like I am not aware of the times I had regressed in time thirteen times?!
Fuck. This shit was messing with my brain cells. I don't think I can function anymore.
"Did you feel any time changes?" I asked, pinching my forehead in distress.
"Well... perhaps. I felt as if there was a slight distortion in this world, like a ripple."
"You can feel it?" I asked her again, scrunching my eyebrows.
"Well, I know there has been a change to some extent. But there is no knowledge regarding what had occurred in the past. As if knowledge had been wiped."
"And as soon as I try to revive those memories, I feel distressed too." I agreed.
"Hmmm... it seems that it takes five minutes for all of the sand to fill to the bottom of the glass." The figure observed. "For you to turn back two years' worth of time– it's not possible with this hourglass. You need a bigger one."
Exactly! But Aria Roscente was able to turn back five years' worth of time when she was on her deathbed. Is it because of her bloodline?
"Before that, do you think it's this hourglass itself that gives the people of the Piast family power? Or can they use other forms of hourglasses to do the same thing?"
"I would need to look into that, personally." The figure said. "All of this is... very interesting."
Interesting my ass.
"Fine, how much would you need?" I asked the figure. The figure looked confused as they said: "Pardon?"
"How much are you charging?"
"... I do not need a human's money."
"So you are not a human, are you?" I asked the figure. The Figure did not respond to my terms, but that didn't mean anything.
Instead, I added, "It'd be awkward for this one-sided exchange. No rather– it seems strange that you would be willing to work for free on something this tedious. So what's the catch?"
"Free?" The figure laughed. "I never do anything for free."
Hold up! Red-flag! My eyes became alert immediately, but the Figure laughed even more as they visibly noticed my expression become wild. "I've already obtained what I need. You don't need to worry about it."
"W-wait? W-what does that mean?!" I asked.
"In a week's worth of time, I shall send you a letter report on my findings then. See you then, outsider~!" The figure said as they bolted away from the alleyway.
"HEY! Where are going–" I yelled. However, in a flick of a second, they seemed to disappear from the naked eye. "SHIT!"
I cursed. I looked around at my surroundings. The thing is: I do not know my way out. I should have taken Emma! But no... she wouldn't have led me in here.
What was that person's deal? I wanted to seriously chase after that bastard–! Ugh! I scanned the area around me– not good. I'm lost for sure.
Ugh. Fuck. This shit is really messing with me. First, someone tells me that I've regressed back two years' worth of time thirteen times. That's twenty-six years–?! I've already lived a lifetime of how much I'd lived in my previous world.
How many times have I been living through this?
...No the person mentioned something about revenge, didn't they? One time loop leads to another.
Aria's already time-looped once. But I've been time-looping thirteen times. Holy Shit. But why? Because of Mielle Roscente's death in two years? And I think I might have been even aware of my circumstances by then as well.
...So what am I doing wrong? Perhaps my actions are the same as last time? Is Aria Roscente, herself aware of this?! Definitely not.
Ugh... shit! I am not even sure of what's going on myself. I clutch the hourglass to chest and try to reground with Emma in the others. I'm pretty sure~ that Emma is seriously concerned with me. But that's not the problem now:
The problem is how do I go back? Fuck. I looked around me.
I am lost.
***
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I WIND DOWN SEVERAL PATHS of alleyways and streets walking across unfamiliar roads. Goddamnit! Am I lost for real? Will I never return home? No... think carefully- I can just take a carriage back home.
Wait. But I don't have any money though. SHIT! I curse at myself for being so careless while wandering around in the streets. I realized that this was the most dangerous decision in my life right now.
A thirteen-year-old little girl dressed nicely in neat and fancy clothes while walking wanderlessly in the streets without an escort or a bodyguard? This screams for trouble. I may be well aware of some martial art tricks- however, in this body, I am too weak, small, and lazy. I am in no condition to get away if someone tried kidnapping me.
FUCK. I rampaged through my neatly combed honeyed blonde hair. UGH! This is driving me crazy. I looked around when I finally reached a tall white glamoured building in front of me.
Suddenly, golden blonde hair passed by my eyesight in a second. I rubbed my eyes three times just to make sure that I was seeing all of this properly. Wait....that person looks familiar.
W-w-was that Aria Roscente?!
"My lady, this is for you." A sweet voice filled my ears when I heard this. I studied properly and saw a figure proposing to Aria with flowers.
Just what in the world is going on?!!!!
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