◇ ◇ ◇
I stood by the window of the room given to Marius, the current head of the Claudel family and older brother of Sophie and Selma-san, gazing outside while recalling the events from before the time rewind.
In the previous timeline, I had made contact with Christopher Downing, the president of the Downing Company based in the Hitia Duchy, in order to regain my lost memories. At the same time, I learned that Tsutrail was under attack by the Cyclamen Order and immediately returned there.
What awaited me was collapsed buildings, the screams of people echoing through the air, the metallic stench of blood piercing my nose, and my disciples lying lifeless.
When I saw [Rakshasa] Stieg—the mastermind behind it all—I charged at him in a blind rage, only to be beaten back. Right before my eyes, he slaughtered a large number of my comrades from [Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky].
I had been defeated by the Cyclamen Order, my sworn enemy.
When I was drowning in despair after losing so many precious things, Grandpa sacrificed his own life to rewind the world's time. During that rewind, I spent time in the netherworld—a separate spacetime—with Shion and August-san, the [Hero of the Fairy Tales]. In the end, I regained both my memories and my power.
Now that the time rewind had finished, I had returned to this "second today."
I knew what would happen next and who would do what.
To prevent that despairing scene from happening again, I had to fight back. I would use every tool at my disposal to seize the ending I desired.
Even if that meant every single person living in this world became my enemy.
As I was thinking that, I sensed two presences approaching. I turned my gaze toward the door just as it opened, and Fuuka and Hart-san stepped inside.
"I've answered your summons, Your Majesty."
Hart-san spoke in a half-joking tone. He had called me "Your Majesty" several times before, but now that I had regained my memories, I couldn't help but smile wryly.
"Being called 'Your Majesty' feels pretty awkward. It's true that I'm a direct descendant of the Hitia Kingdom's royal family, but the country abolished the monarchy long ago. Besides, I'm not a monarch, and I have no intention of becoming one."
The Hitia Kingdom was the nation founded by August-san, whom I had met in the netherworld. Because of that, he was known not only as the [Hero of the Fairy Tales] but also by the title [King of Ability Users].
And I was his descendant. The fact that August-san and I both possessed the same ability, [Shinra Bansho], made that obvious. After all, abilities could be inherited.
That said, once August-san disappeared from the public stage, the Hitia Kingdom became the Hitia Duchy, and he remained its first and last king. So even though royal blood flowed in my veins, it held almost no meaning anymore.
"...Orun, you don't mean…"
Hart-san froze like he had been shot with a peashooter.
"Yeah, I got my memories back. One of the reasons I called you here was to tell you that."
"W-Wait a second! Yesterday after fighting the [Doctor] you didn't seem any different at all. So why all of a sudden…!?"
Hart-san clutched his head in confusion.
Well, that reaction was understandable. From his perspective, today was simply the day after battling the Order executive known as the [Doctor]. In his eyes, there had been no sign whatsoever that I might regain the memories I had lost due to [Recognition Alteration].
"It probably feels sudden to you, Hart-san, but a lot of chaotic things happened before I regained my memories. I'll definitely make time later to explain all of that properly. For now, just bear with me a little longer."
"…All right, fine. So? You didn't call me here just to tell me your memories came back, right?"
Hart-san accepted my words with a complicated expression but seemed to understand.
"…Yeah. I don't want to waste any time right now. Could you just hold my hand without asking questions?"
Now that I had regained my memories and heard about the world from August-san, I could interfere with the art principles to a limited degree.
The world's time had been rewound.
But the previous events hadn't simply been erased; the facts remained recorded within the art principles.
Right now, by making contact with someone, I could access what that person had seen and heard in the previous timeline.
This morning when I woke up, I had already gone through everything Fuuka had experienced via her.
The series of events from when I left Daruane until the time rewind in the previous loop had all been part of Grandpa's plan. Fuuka and Hart-san had both been involved in carrying it out.
Fuuka had fought the [Battle Ogre] in the previous Tsutrail and extracted as much information from him as possible. Hart-san had surely seen many things to fill in the gaps I couldn't see, probably even using his ability [Bird's-Eye View] to gather as much intel as he could on the forces the Order had sent to Tsutrail and their overall movements.
"…Well, there's no point in me overthinking it. You just need to hold my hand, right?"
"Yeah. That's all."
Hart-san took the hand I extended. At the same moment, I accessed the art principles and pulled the information I needed.
◇
After obtaining the previous timeline's information through Hart-san, I responded to Princess Lucilla's summons just as I had before. I met up with Fuuka outside after she had received the support supplies from the Downing Company intended for the Nohitant Kingdom, and together we headed to see the princess.
"Excuse us."
"Good morning, Orun. I'm sorry for calling you so suddenly."
As we entered the room, she greeted me upon noticing our arrival. Inola, Princess Lucilla's personal attendant who had escorted us here, bowed once and immediately left the room.
In the previous timeline, she had been reluctant to leave. There were already small differences from before.
August-san had warned me about this in the netherworld. Something about the butterfly effect?
Since my words and actions were already different from the previous loop, it was impossible for events to unfold exactly the same way. I needed to keep in mind that over-relying on information from the previous timeline was dangerous.
"No, I actually wanted to speak with you as well, Princess Lucilla, so I'm grateful you called for me."
My words caused Princess Lucilla's expression to soften.
In contrast, Fuuka shot me a cold glare from beside me.
"If you keep fawning over the princess like that, I'm telling Shion."
When Fuuka spoke, her voice was as cold as her gaze.
"I'm not fawning over anyone. Don't say weird things to Shion and make it complicated, okay?"
"I have no intention of helping with any cheating. I'll just report exactly what happened."
"Cheating…? I'm not getting carried away at all…"
"In other words, you're serious about me! I see, so Orun has finally noticed my charm. I'm happy to hear your feelings. However, as a member of the royal family, I cannot give you an immediate answer here. I'm sorry…"
Princess Lucilla jumped into our exchange. Her eyes were clearly teasing me.
"Please stop… This is only making things more complicated."
I raised both hands in surrender.
"Fufufu, I got a little too carried away with the joke. Your atmosphere is completely different from yesterday, which surprised me, but it seems your core self hasn't changed, so I'm relieved."
Princess Lucilla wore her usual smile, but behind it I could see a hint of relief.
(Different, huh… Maybe I do seem that way.)
After everything that had happened in Tsutrail and the netherworld, it was only natural she might see me as a different person. Especially since I had also regained my memories.
Still, just as she said, my core hadn't changed. I was still me.
As I thought that, Princess Lucilla's soft expression suddenly turned serious.
"That aside, the 'Shion' Fuuka mentioned earlier—is she referring to the [White Demon] of Amuntsars?"
"..."
The room fell silent as I considered how to answer.
…How did she know about Shion?
The [White Demon] of Amuntsars, a criminal organization, was well-known to the public. However, very few people knew that the woman called the [White Demon] was named Shion.
I planned to move boldly from now on, but I had no intention of publicly revealing names other than my own.
I wanted to form a cooperative relationship with the Nohitant Kingdom—or rather, with Princess Lucilla herself—but it was also true that she possessed some unfathomable quality. On top of that, the enemy had Philly Carpenter, an ability user capable of [Recognition Alteration]. I wanted to keep as much information hidden as possible…
"Orun, Lucilla already knows a lot of things. For example, the relationship between Amuntsars and the Hitia Duchy."
Fuuka seemed to have read my thoughts and spoke up.
"...Does that mean the other key figures in this country know as well?"
In response to my question, Fuuka turned her gaze toward Princess Lucilla.
"No, I am the only one who knows that much. What the country knows is limited to the fact that Orun is not originally from this country."
"…Of course my background has been investigated."
"Yes. After all the activity you showed last year, the country had no choice but to look into you. That said, the investigation has been difficult. After all, there is virtually no information about you before you arrived in Tsutrail."
Well, that made sense.
There was no way a child of only nine or so could travel from the Hitia Duchy to the Nohitant Kingdom without any support. At the time, Oliver and I had used long-distance transfer from the Dawn Village to reach Tsutrail.
Since they couldn't trace my footsteps before Tsutrail, there was no normal way to follow my movements. Yet she had still reached the answer?
"Is it really all right to tell me that directly?"
"Yes. I've already inferred quite a bit from your conversation with Fuuka. From here on, the country and its people will be forced to make a choice, won't they? Whether to side with you or with the Order."
Princess Lucilla looked straight at me with clear eyes.
…Just how far could she see? This woman was terrifying.
"That possibility is quite high. But is that really okay? If you can see that much, then you must also understand that almost no one will choose to side with us."
"…Yes, I am aware. Naturally, I am not letting personal emotions influence this decision. To be honest, it is a choice driven entirely by calculation. If we do not choose now, we risk losing that right even before we can make the decision."
"War with the Empire?"
"Yes. We have done everything possible to win against the Empire. Unfortunately, the odds are still heavily against us. …I must protect the citizens by any means necessary. That is the duty of one born into the royal family."
Her words carried real weight.
The duty of the royal family, huh.
She was seriously putting the people first.
That might be something I was still lacking.
"…That is a welcome offer. I was hoping to receive your assistance as well, Princess Lucilla."
"In other words, our feelings are mutual!"
The serious atmosphere from moments ago vanished as Princess Lucilla smiled happily at my reply.
Beside me, Fuuka once again looked clearly displeased.
"No, our interests simply align."
I cut her off sharply, deciding it would be dangerous to let her keep controlling the pace of the conversation.
"Muu… You don't have to deny it so strongly…"
My response seemed to dissatisfy her, and Princess Lucilla puffed out her cheeks. Combined with her youthful face, the expression made her look very childlike.
That said, she was the same age as Selma-san…
"My apologies. …Then, once again, I look forward to working with you."
I extended my hand as I spoke.
Princess Lucilla looked at my outstretched hand, her face breaking into a smile as she took it. At the same time, just like with Hart-san, I accessed the art principles and pulled the information they held—the things Princess Lucilla had seen and heard before the time rewind.
(The [Hero] will attack the royal capital in coordination with the assault on Tsutrail, huh…)
For better or worse, among the information I retrieved was exactly what I had been looking for.
"…Thank you."
I released her hand and offered my thanks.
"It's nothing at all. So, shall we move on to a hug next?"
Her voice was light and playful.
"Your suggestion is very tempting, but I'd like to save that for another time. For now, please allow me to speak seriously."
"…I was trying to lighten the mood, but from your expression, it doesn't seem like good news."
"No. To put it plainly, if things continue as they are, the war between the kingdom and the Empire will end with the kingdom's complete surrender."
At my words, the smile vanished from Princess Lucilla's face.