“Just because I was bored. I was also curious about what it would be like if I developed the ability.”
“…….”
A pair of blue eyes followed her from behind. Having finished organizing the books to a reasonable degree, Rachel turned around.
“So, what brings you all the way here?”
“……Ah, well.”
After hesitating, Ilya finally managed to speak.
“I think I’ve done a lot of things wrong to you, Sister. I wanted to ask for your forgiveness….”
“…….”
“I also sternly reprimanded the butler who was rude to you. From now on, I’ll make sure you don’t have to go through something this serious alone again. So, Sister. Could you forgive me just this once?”
His trembling blue eyes were fixed on her. They looked so much like their mother’s, yet at the same time…
They were the kind of eyes that reminded her of a time when she had loved him.
For a moment, a surge of betrayal welled up inside her.
“If you forgive me, I promise I’ll never disappoint you again.”
“Liar.”
“……Pardon?”
Rachel, who had unknowingly spoken the word aloud, pressed a hand to her forehead.
Perhaps it was because she had been recalling memories involving her family lately.
It was becoming difficult to control the feelings quietly boiling inside her. The words she had heard from her parents before her regression and Ilya’s behavior kept circling through her mind.
“……It’s nothing. Forget what I just said.”
“Sister.”
“You haven’t done anything wrong. I’m simply the one who changed. I want to get married as soon as possible and leave Ingrave.”
“……!”
He was only thirteen.
He was far too young for her to hold him accountable for sins based solely on the memories she possessed.
……This was exactly why she had wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.
“So you don’t have to worry about me anymore, Ilya. Don’t bother yourself over a sister who’ll be leaving soon, and just live comfortably. It’ll be better for you that way.”
Rachel put all the remaining books back in their places and left.
She did not look back.
On the second floor, between the bookshelves, Ilya remained standing alone with both fists clenched tightly.
A long while later, he murmured softly.
“……How can you do that?”
She had been more of a mother to him than his own mother.
Instead of their busy parents, she had always been by his side.
Sometimes strict, sometimes gentle, she had cared for and educated him, even showering him with an overflowing amount of love.
And yet, how could she?
“…….”
Suddenly, Ilya’s gaze turned toward the bookshelf.
There, he found the book Rachel had been reading.
「The History of Ability Manifesters」
“…….”
It had been two weeks since his sister had begun to change.
He had heard belatedly that she had fainted while preparing for her wedding.
He had also learned that she had secretly investigated the fake Valencia on her own and had been so shocked after discovering the truth that he had gone to see her out of concern.
But his sister had never allowed him into her room.
At the time, he had thought she was simply so deeply shaken that she had become disappointed in him as well.
But after facing her in person, something felt strange.
His sister’s anger was far more intense than he had imagined.
……To the point that, in a way, it looked like hatred.
“…….”
After pondering for a while, Ilya began pulling out the books his sister had been reading and started reading them himself.
As befitted the Young Marquis, he had a sharp eye and had memorized the locations of every single one of those books.
‘I don’t know why my sister is reading these books, but….’
Ilya read every book Rachel had been looking through right there.
From beginning to end.
Every single one.
***
Several days passed.
Rachel continued visiting the family library, researching the ability and 「Records」.
She had made considerable progress.
First of all, the ability could be activated repeatedly as long as the conditions were met.
When the manifester’s desperation surpassed a certain threshold, the ability would activate and a door would open. Inside, 「Records」 allowed the user to choose the point in time to which they wanted to regress.
According to materials left behind by past regression ability users, 「Records」 contained information about the past, present, and future anomalies of the era in which the regression ability user lived. There was a passage suggesting that it served as a guide, helping them determine the most advantageous point in time to which they should regress.
The anomalies were usually major events.
Since someone capable of activating would normally have become involved in such a major event, the implication seemed to be that they should read the Records carefully and regress to the most favorable point in time.
That must have been how the first Marquis of Ingrave had been able to regress repeatedly to exactly the right point in time to seal the great demon beast that was now sealed in the mountains behind the capital.
‘And he ultimately succeeded in sealing the great demon beast.’
Looking at it that way, this ability really could be called a blessing.
But the lives of those who manifested were far from peaceful.
There were people who wanted to discover what had happened before their regression, people who feared the ability, and people who tried to exploit it.
For example, there had once been an ancestor who manifested the ability but had never actually managed to activate it.
— I manifested , but I’ve never actually activated it.
— Hmm, perhaps it’s because your desperation isn’t strong enough? Shall I help you?
— What?
That day, the ancestor was kidnapped.
After enduring all kinds of torture, they eventually regressed. With the help of 「Records」, they even succeeded in completely destroying the family that had kidnapped them.
But the trauma that had already been inflicted could not be undone.
There were other cases as well.
— Marquis! If I invest in this trade caravan, will it succeed?
— Move! I’m first. Marquis! How much money do you think I could make if I invest here?
— Marquis. The situation along the border has been rather strange lately. Do you think we should prepare for war?
They were constantly bombarded with all kinds of suspicions and questions at every ball and meeting.
There was even another ancestor who had nearly been forced into marriage with the Emperor.
With even the imperial family and great nobles watching them suspiciously, they had been forced to live their entire lives under constant scrutiny.
Fortunately, after several hundred years without a single ability manifesting and the Ingrave family eventually being listed among the families whose abilities had gone dormant, the era had finally arrived when people merely reacted with, Oh, they used to have an ability like that?
“……So if I want to live peacefully, I can’t even let anyone find out that I’ve manifested in the first place.”
There was no guarantee that such things would not happen again.
And then there was the matter of succession.
The imperial family, as well as every noble family, prioritized those who manifested their family’s ability when choosing an heir.
Rachel’s manifestation was the first in several hundred years, no less.
If this fact became known, she would unquestionably become the next head of the family.
For someone who wanted to become independent and sever ties with her family completely, it was the worst possible outcome.
‘I absolutely cannot let them find out.’
Never.
Before anyone discovered that she had manifested , she would leave this family.
Of course, the best outcome would be to keep it hidden until the day she died.
But even if it were discovered, she had to make sure she left this family first.
Even if the peaceful life she had dreamed of all her life disappeared.
She simply did not want to die while still bearing the name ‘Ingrave.’
Having learned everything she needed to know, Rachel no longer had any reason to visit the family library.
More than anything, she was concerned because Ilya seemed to have become interested in the books she had been reading ever since they encountered each other in the library that day.
Perhaps he might notice something now.
But still…
“…….”
There was no harm in being careful.
Rachel was just about to leave the library when—
“Ah, Lady.”
Becky, who had briefly stepped away, returned.
There was a letter in her hand, which was strange for Rachel, who had been refusing every invitation under the pretext of her broken engagement.
“What’s that?”
“Well, Lady…”
After hesitating for a moment, Becky handed her the letter.
“A letter came from Valencia.”
“……What?”
It was a sentence Rachel had thought she would never hear again.
And for good reason. A great deal has changed in the capital over the past few days.
First of all, Caé Savanio, her lover, and Paris had all been sentenced to death, and an execution was scheduled to take place in the square tomorrow.
Nathan Valencia had officially become the heir to Valencia.
There were also rumors that, this time, they intended to perform the sealing ceremony immediately in order to dispel any remaining suspicions.
In any case, Rachel and Paris’s broken engagement had been officially recognized under the name of the Imperial Family, so normally, there should have been no reason for her to become involved with Valencia again.
‘The Duke of Valencia isn’t someone who would easily break a promise….’
The moment she checked the sender—
Rachel’s eyes widened.
Nathan Valencia
It was the name of a man she never expected to hear from.
This matter should have been completely settled as well.
So why?
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