“I was just curious. Because, you see.”
“Yes, please be honest.”
The secretary rubbed his face with both hands and whispered, “When I saw the archmage couple here, there weren’t any stars above their heads either. So I wondered whether no star of fate appears above your head either.”
I looked at the brilliant star shining above the secretary’s head and let out a hollow laugh. Why is it only my family whose lives are so messed up? Is this another case of ‘forced plot logic’?
Grinding my teeth in frustration, I heard the secretary quietly murmur, “The archmage couple definitely had a beautiful constellation above their heads at first.”
“…You mean those stars suddenly disappeared?”
“Yes. As if their fate had become completely scrambled.”
It was suspicious. Do my parents have some kind of secret too? Narrowing my eyes, I stared at the tiny, sparkling stars like shards of glass above the secretary’s head. What is so special about those stars that only my family can’t see them?
At some point, I noticed a shooting star falling from the artificially created night sky above the terrace. I watched as the shooting star, having spent all its energy, dropped to the ground with a soft thud. Or rather, it had now turned to stone.
“Ah, when a destined turning point is over, the star falls to the ground. While it’s above your head, it sparkles, but once it falls, it’s just a rough, unimpressive rock.”
With trembling hands, I picked up the stone that had fallen to the floor. That stone was…
“Ah, a star that has finished its role will disappear anyway. Don’t worry too much.”
I slowly lifted the stone, thinking to myself. This isn’t just an ordinary stone. It’s a lucky stone. The moment I clenched it in my hand, it vanished like an illusion… But aside from that, it matched a lucky stone perfectly.
“Come to think of it, your father also asked about that stone when he visited this place. He kept asking what it was for quite a while before leaving, saying it looked a lot like a lucky stone.”
Something about all this didn’t add up. Yeah, this is strange. Why is there a lucky stone here? After mulling it over, I realized there was probably only one person who could answer that: the tower master. I quickly asked the secretary if I could meet the tower master.
* * *
…And so, it was right after the secretary excused themselves to go fetch the tower master. I decided to sit down on the terrace and examine the book titled [Will You Regret It When I Die?]. Before the tower master arrives, I need to check the clue my father left behind.
I figured that if I put everything I had into opening this suspicious book, the one with [Will You Regret It When I Die?] written on the cover, I might finally get some answers about all these mysteries. But no matter what I tried, the book wouldn’t open.
“Books are divided into two kinds. Books with personalities, and books that are mere objects. This one is the former, so if the book doesn’t wish it, it will not open easily.”
“Oh.”
If this book really does have a will, and it’s hiding secrets it doesn’t want me to see…
“Then I’ll just have to force it open.”
Is mana really the only way to force it open? Though it feels like such a waste to use up a lot of mana for this.
As I mulled it over, a clever little trick popped into my head. Come to think of it, I’m not alone here, right…? I grinned mischievously.
Before I knew it, Krrr, who had been invisible, fluttered down onto the back of my hand. Right then, as if responding to my thought, this little bird quickly spoke atop my hand.
“Krrr. (I’ve never tried casting brainwashing magic on a book before, but I’ll give it a shot!)”
Soon, a transparent membrane-like light covered Krrr’s body. As if testing the waters, Krrr pecked at the book’s cover with its beak.
Huh? At that moment, the book trembled and then stopped.
“Krrr. (It feels like it’s maybe working…)”
Wearing a puzzled expression, Krrr suddenly started pecking at the cover so fiercely that it looked like it might tear it apart.
What a sight. I decided to just let the adorable willow warbler do as it pleased. As the bird pecked away at the hardcover, the book’s surface began to shake, and then, finally—Thunk. With a small sound, the book finally opened.
…Whoa, look at that. It actually opened.
But what appeared inside wasn’t a book. The book that had been in my hand vanished, and in its place, a small pool appeared. When I leaned over the water’s edge, the face of a joyful woman shimmered on the surface. It wasn’t my own reflection staring back at me…
“Our child has been born. Our child is blessed by God, Honey!”
…It was my mother’s face, looking so happy. A face that looked so much like Wot’s.
With a faint sense of emotion, I noticed a small skein of thread lying beside them. That’s the Thread of Fate. The skein-shaped magical artifact that could predict a person’s destiny was shining with a golden light.
“Looking at this Thread of Fate, our child will become the greatest archmage in the empire, Honey.”
“Of course! Our child will do something more honorable than anyone else.”
Even the blind prophet who visited our family blessed my future.
Then why the hell is my future so miserable? They’re all quacks.
…I decided to keep watching for a while longer. Before I knew it, I heard the sound of pages turning by my ear, and a new scene came vividly into view. A small room appeared before my eyes.
I was a little older now, still sleeping soundly, breathing with a faint wheeze, but my parents’ faces didn’t look at ease. The skein that seemed to be the <Thread of Fate> by my side was snapping, one after another.
“Wife, it seems the child’s fate has changed.”
“What do you mean? Why would something like that happen to our child…?”
“And it appears even our own lifespans have been shortened.”
Once again, the scene before my eyes shifted in a flash. I watched, palms sweating. My mother and father looked utterly exhausted. After all, the <Thread of Fate> had snapped until only a single strand remained. Around that time, my father held me in his arms, preparing to slip out of the mansion, and whispered softly.
“I’ve found out why <Thread of Fate> started to change. Apparently, there’s a stone that can alter fate.”
“A stone that alters fate?”
“Someone stole our child’s brilliant future. And then they replaced it with their own wretched fate!”
“How could anyone do something so awful…”
“If I had to guess… Wife, has anyone suspicious come into contact with us lately? Perhaps someone used the stone that altered fate.”
“The stone that alters fate…”
“Yes. It looks like a rough, ordinary stone, but when it’s activated, it glows with a faint light. People usually—”
“I know what you mean. People usually call it a lucky stone.”
After that, I saw my parents going around, asking around about the ‘lucky stone.’ As I blinked, I saw the last strand of the <Thread of Fate> snap with a soft pop. And then, I was instantly flung out of that place. It felt like my whole body was drenched in cold sweat.
Is the book not going to open anymore? With trembling hands, I tried to open the book again, but it wouldn’t budge. No matter how hard Krrr pecked at the cover, it stayed firmly shut.
I let out a hollow laugh. I’ve realized exactly why my life fell apart. It was only a short while ago. I’d realized that Giselle, the female lead of the novel [Will You Regret It When I Die?], was my previous life. But that book wasn’t my real life. My fate had been stolen, twisted into misery. That must be why this world tormented me. Because I was forced to live out a wretched destiny that wasn’t mine.
It wasn’t just my mana that was taken from me. Even my fate was stolen by someone else. And it’s obvious who that someone is. The person who possesses the lucky stone, basking in the dazzling glory of being an archmage. It has to be Duke Reshaniel. Most likely, his parents swapped my fate with their son’s. I still don’t know how I managed to change that fate back. But here’s what matters.
“Wow… I’m really about to lose my mind.”
They say when people get too angry, they start laughing.
“Haha, ha…” A cold, icy rage swept over me. Colder and deeper than any anger I’d ever felt before.
It was at that very moment.
“Has something happened?”
As the secretary entered the terrace with a calm expression, I laughed like a true madwoman and said, “I have something to say.”
There was something I needed to do immediately.
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