“…Indeed,” I muttered, biting down my lip. “If we stay like this and get discovered… I might be fine, but Vientin would be in serious trouble.” Because anyone could tell that he looked like the grown-up version of the young Vientin Kalinos.
At that moment, I stared intently at Vientin. “I’ll thoroughly analyze the cause and effect to determine exactly what happened.”
However, the day when I could explain the cause and effect never came. Because young Arseno and Vientin were coming this way! Their voices were so loud that I could hear them even from the rooftop.
“Brother, what did you say was in the stable?”
“There’s an interesting stable keeper.”
“Is it worth researching?”
Listening to their conversation, I hurriedly lowered my body. If we get caught, we’re screwed. Just imagining what would happen if young Vientin and the Vientin here met was horrifying. It won’t just end with the Butterfly Effect Meter ticking.
Tense to the extreme, I barely held my breath and flattened myself completely against the roof. But Vientin looked at me with a somewhat relaxed expression.
“…Is this amusing?”
“Get down, quickly!”
As I whispered hastily, he nonchalantly dropped to a crawling position. Meanwhile, young Vientin and Arseno were approaching step by step.
I hurriedly lowered my gaze and repeated my incantation in my mind. We need to leave, but why is this happening?! But the tips of my fingers only seemed on the verge of glowing, without actually doing so. Just as I clenched my fists in frustration, I heard young Vientin’s youthful voice.
“Huh? Brother.”
“Hmm?”
“It seems there’s no one inside the stable.”
“That can’t be… Did the stable keeper run away too? I didn’t think they would.”
The thing is, we tried to run away, but couldn’t. Damn it, I couldn’t even say that out loud. Hiding on the roof, I barely let out a quiet breath.
“But they really are gone. What to do…? There was something I wanted to show you.”
Then young Vientin murmured. “By the way, Brother! I feel like someone is watching us. The gaze is coming from the northeast. Shall I calculate the exact location?”
Is he crazy? I flicked my gaze toward Vientin. He was burying his face in his hands. His ears were bright red as if he was deeply embarrassed. Is he undergoing mirror therapy right now?
At that moment, Vientin raised his head and whispered. “I’m glad to inform you, Wife, that I have been analytical and logical ever since I was young.”
Did he really think that was an appealing trait? I swallowed a sigh internally, but didn’t forget to put on a forced smile nonetheless.
In that very moment, Arseno’s gaze, which had been fixed on young Vientin…
No way, did he look over here? Had I been too careless again…?
But his gaze seemed unable to reach me and dropped down abruptly. Then Arseno spoke in a low voice. “It can’t be helped. Vientin, shall we go play for a while?”
“Yes, Brother!”
The way Arseno looked now, he certainly didn’t seem like someone who would go off to fight in the monster war in the future and lose his life. For some reason, I felt a little awkward about that…
It was after they left once more. Hanging precariously off the edge of the roof that looked ready to collapse at any second, I let out a short breath.
Vientin, who was holding me firmly, spoke. “I think that’s enough for now.”
There was so much sincerity in that one sentence that I couldn’t help but laugh softly.
At that moment, Vientin spoke quietly. “Ah, Giselle. There’s light at your fingertips…”
“Yes, there is.”
Before I knew it, the time-travel machine, filled with my mana, had begun to move. Perhaps the brief malfunction had happened so that I could see Arseno smiling, and Vientin being happy as he watched him. If so, I’m glad that this time travel brought happiness to Vientin rather than me.
My vision blurred, and my head began to spin. And finally, we left the past and returned to the present. However…
* * *
After my vision spun round and round, we returned to reality. We’re back in the laboratory where we were before the time travel. I swallowed a sigh, feeling as though my mind had suddenly aged by decades. But just then, a servant hurriedly opened the laboratory door and came inside.
“Madam! Are you alright? I heard some loud noises coming from inside.”
“Servant, I don’t believe I instructed you to enter the laboratory.”
Vientin glanced at me with a worried expression. My voice sounded so hoarse that it seemed to scrape against my throat. But there was nothing wrong with what I had said. My husband, standing beside me, would provide an entirely logical and reasonable explanation for that.
Just as I expected, Vientin glanced at the clock beside the side table and spoke firmly. “My wife is correct. The current time is moving from 5:00 PM to 5:01 PM on June 25th. Which means this is our crucial ‘research time.’”
“T-That’s be-because something good happened!”
…For him to suddenly say something good had happened made me feel even more ominous. Instinctively, I looked at the watch, or rather the Butterfly Effect Meter. The only hand was pointing at nine o’clock.
It moved. And by quite a lot too. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to have gone all the way back to 12 o’clock, but… what on earth changed? Something that wouldn’t have that big an impact on this world.
At that moment, the servant bowed flat to the ground and said, “I apologize for entering without direct orders. However, the duke issued an order. That, the duke’s older brother…”
“…My brother-in-law?”
Why was Areson suddenly being brought up? Growing impatient, I urged him to continue, and the servant stammered.
“Yes. You ordered that if Lord Arseno returns, or rather, if even a clue appears, we are bringing it immediately.”
In other words… the world had changed.
“So, I believe you should take a look at this newspaper.”
“…I did that.”
“Yes! It’s very good news!”
[Heir of the Former Kalinos Family: Missing, Not Dead?]
[Traces of ‘That Person’ Discovered in a Cave, Causing a Sensation]
[Has That Person Returned?]
…Looking at the chaotic headline about Arseno’s traces in the newspaper, I bit my lip. We had definitely not changed the future. No, to be precise, we weren’t supposed to change it in the first place. And yet…
“There was clearly a restriction that prevented us from changing the future.” Vientin swallowed a low groan and spoke to me. “In the end…” He quietly gestured toward the servant. As soon as the quick-witted servant left, Vientin turned to look at me. “There’s something I want to discuss with you, Giselle.”
Inside the laboratory where only the two of us remained, the atmosphere sank strangely. Vientin called my name once more, his eyes clearly suggesting that he knew something. “Giselle.”
“Yes?”
“Did your experiment succeed?”
“…Huh? Succeed? I don’t know.” I pretended not to know anything and played innocent.
Vientin blinked his red eyes as though unsure how to phrase his next words, then spoke. “You conducted an experiment on my older brother, didn’t you? Ah, of course, when I say experiment here, I don’t mean something unpleasant or merely out of curiosity. I mean something that a researcher is duty-bound to carry out.”
…Ah, he’s still obsessing over the definitions of words even now.
Vientin seemed to know everything I had done. Slightly flustered, I raised my eyebrows and spoke. “You’re quite perceptive.”
At that moment, Vientin took a pair of glasses out of his pocket and held them up. “Let me begin with a proper explanation now.”
W-What is this? Is he going for the mad scientist concept or something?
It was right when I turned to face him, flustered. He raised the newspaper and spoke softly. “Time will return to the moment when my older brother first became aware of my existence. Am I correct?”
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