Chapter 42
"…If you uphold the spirit you mentioned."
"And Cadet Alice?"
"I will join as well."
"Ugh, finally! Thank you, Cadet Ekinesia, Cadet Alice! I'll do my best!"
Fatima jumped up and down with joy before pulling out two sheets of paper from her chest. Club application forms. She fluttered her braided hair as she ran to grab a quill and ink from Eki's desk nearby. It was as if she was in a hurry to get their stamps before they changed their minds.
"You were carrying around application forms?"
"It's basic, basic! Here! Read it carefully and sign quickly!"
Fatima excitedly handed over the quill. Eki and Alice each accepted an application form. The club's terms and conditions were written simply. Just as Fatima had said, it was a simple agreement with no special rules other than a weekly meeting.
As they skimmed through the application forms, Fatima spoke as if she had forgotten something.
"Ah, I almost forgot to tell you about the big news. On May 30th, the day of the all-Cadet Ranking match, there will be a Cadet Representative election."
"Isn't that obvious? The position of Cadet Representative has become vacant."
Alice tilted her head, looking puzzled. Fatima waved her finger as if that wasn't it yet.
"Yeah, that's not really big news. There's a strange rumor attached to it, but it's just passing news anyway. The really huge news is something else."
"A strange rumor?"
"Um, um, it's about the former Cadet Representative, but it's not good. There were things found while cleaning out the room. Among them, there was quite a bit of evidence that they had done bad things. A little… nasty, they say. It's better not to know. It hasn't been confirmed yet, and it's still under investigation."
Alice's eyes widened, and Eki clicked her tongue. Considering that Ian Pelletro had brought her a guy like Bread, she could guess what kind of bad things they were talking about.
Fatima smiled awkwardly and clapped her hands as if to change the atmosphere.
"More importantly, now you have to hear the really, really amazing news."
"What news is it?"
Alice asked, handing over her signed application form. Fatima replied in an excited tone.
"Don't be surprised, but the captain of the royal guard is getting married soon! And his fiancée is arriving in Ajenka soon!"
Eki's hand slipped as she was signing the application form. The ink from the quill smeared messily on the paper. She blankly raised her head.
"Who's getting married? Which captain of the royal guard?"
"Is there another captain of the royal guard in Ajenka? Of course, it's Azure Knights Captain Yurien de Harden Kirie!"
Her mind went blank. While she was dazed, Alice and Fatima exchanged words.
"That's amazing news. When will his fiancée arrive?"
"She's arriving tomorrow. To be exact, she's coming for the engagement ceremony."
"Huh? Then she's not his fiancée yet."
"Hey, she's coming to get engaged, so she's his fiancée. I wonder when the wedding will be? It'll be splendid, right?"
"He's an imperial prince before he's the Azure Knights captain of the royal guard, so it will be grand. What kind of person is his fiancée?"
"Um… I definitely heard, Dia, Dia, Dia, what was it, the family name."
"Could it be Diassant?"
"That's right! Diassant! They said it was Princess Diasante."
Diassant. The most powerful Duke family in the current Kirie Empire. And, the family that produced the Crown Princess. Hearing a familiar name, she barely regained her senses.
Eki handed the signed application form to Fatima. Fatima was horrified to see the ink smeared all over the application form.
"Ugh, what is this! It's all smudged! Here, sign a new one with this."
"Ah, yes."
Eki quickly signed a new application form and handed it over. Then, she looked at Fatima and Alice and said.
"Um, Alice, Fatima. I'm a little tired…"
"Ah, I was too loud in front of a patient. Okay, get some rest."
"I'll be back around dinner, so don't worry and rest, Eki."
"Thank you, everyone."
They each said a word of greeting and left. Alice even took the stew tray with her.
As soon as the two were completely out of earshot, Eki jumped up from the bed. She staggered for a moment due to dizziness, but she endured it with Mana. She sat at the desk and pulled over a blank parchment and quill.
[Hey, did Yurien get married? Even in the past?]
"No, that never happened before."
Eki rubbed her throbbing forehead. Before the time regression, Yurien had never even been engaged, let alone married. Not even until the time of his death before the regression, which was three years from now.
He was a man who never had a single scandal. It wasn't for nothing that so many imperial ladies had romantic fantasies about him. He was so popular because he was a dignified captain of the royal guard who had never kept anyone by his side until now.
But, an engagement? Getting married? A groan escaped her lips. Her insides ached, and her head spun and became a jumbled mess. Eki bit her lower lip and gripped the quill.
[Master, what are you trying to do now? Are you going to write a letter?]
"No. I need to sort things out."
[Huh? Sort out what?]
"The things that happened before the time regression, and the things that are happening now."
Something was changing. She needed to know what was causing it and how it was changing.
The Lakiageosa, which might come after the changes caused by the Kairos Giosa due to the regression, and the Node that might be created as a result, came to her mind.
She felt like even the last bit of strength left in her already tired body was disappearing.
'First, first… let's write it down. From the beginning, until the time Yurien died.'
Eki moved the quill across the parchment. She began to write down the erased past and the changed present side by side.
-1. March 17, 1629, dawn, Demon Sword discovered in the Roaz mansion kitchen
: At the same time, only an empty bundle was found
-2. Demon of the Demon Sword appears, massacres occur in the surrounding territories, starting with the Roaz family
: Demon of the Demon Sword does not appear, no deaths
-3. Spring 1629, Azure Knights Monster subjugation, Specter raid incident, multiple casualties including the death of Squire Baraha Islaff
: Specter pre-processed, Node occurs in the camp, Ian Pelletro dies, Baraha Islaff survives, no other deaths
After writing that far, she took a deep breath. The first line of number 4 was left blank. Because it was an event that didn't exist at all in the past. And on the line below that, she wrote about the incident that happened today. 'Yurien de Harden Kirie, scheduled to be engaged to Princess Diasante.' The letters wavered as if reflecting her feelings.
Eki stared at the wavering letters for a while. Who was Princess Diasante? She knew that the Diassant ducal family had produced the current Crown Princess, but did they have another daughter? She couldn't quite remember.
Before the time regression, Ekinesia Roaz, at the age of twenty, knew quite a bit about high society as a countess's daughter. But the current Ekinesia was someone who had spent 15 years completely separated from high society. She had long forgotten information related to high society that was not very important in that life.
'…The VIP that Nicole is escorting must be Princess Diasante, judging from the circumstances. Then I can ask Nicole. Yes, let's do that.'
Eki tapped the name with the end of the quill before finally taking her eyes off it. It was a waste of time since she couldn't think of anything even if she kept looking at it. She wrote the number 5 on the line below that.
- 5. Elgiosa discovered (Saintess murder case)
From here on, these are events that have not yet happened in the present, so they may change differently from the past. Just like the events so far have changed.
The case of Elgiosa, one of the three missing Giosas, being discovered.
Another of the three was the Divine Sword Lakiageosa, whose whereabouts no one knew, and the other was Bardelgiosa, which was clinging to her right hand.
Elgiosa was discovered by the Azure Knights around the time Ekinesia was being controlled by the Demon Sword, which was around this time.
It was an unfortunate and terrible incident in which the Owner was murdered and then the Giosa was discovered. Elgiosa's Owner was the most powerless of the Giosa Owners, so she could not protect herself.
Since Eki was not affiliated with the Azure Knights, she did not know the exact time the incident occurred, the location where it was discovered, or the details of the incident. She just knew that such a thing had happened. So she doesn't know where Elgiosa is at this point in time.
Of course, after the Saintess murder case occurs, the Azure Knights will recover Elgiosa and store it in the Giosa Hall.
From then on, Elgiosa's whereabouts become clear. That was why Eki before the regression was able to find Elgiosa.
If she knew where Elgiosa was in the current timeline, she would have gone to find it before coming to Ajenka.
'…No, Elgiosa is a Giosa that I can't use anyway. There's no point in finding it in advance. I don't know anything about the Saintess murder case, so I don't know how to stop it either.'
Eki smiled bitterly.
The Healing Sword Elgiosa, which makes blades with human compassion and adds decorations with human love, chooses its owner regardless of swordsmanship.
Only those who have never hated anyone in their life can become its Owner.
You can't kill or hurt anyone with Elgiosa. You won't even get hurt if you stab your heart with that sword. The only thing you can cut with Elgiosa is Elgiosa's Owner.
A sword that cannot harm anyone but oneself, and a sword of benevolence that loves and heals all humans.
It was a Giosa that Eki could not possibly hold.
She focused on the Saintess murder case, shook her head, and wrote the next events below it.
-6. Winter 1631, Imperial Monster Subjugation Unit formed, all annihilated by the Demon of the Demon Sword.
-7. Autumn 1632, Ajenka annihilated by the Demon of the Demon Sword, all Giosa Owners die (Yurien dies)
Both were events that happened in the past but would not happen in the present. Because Ekinesia is no longer the Demon of the Demon Sword.
The quill lingered for a long time on the last letter of the last line. The word 'death'. How deep something was condensed beneath that simple word. The ink spread like a drop of blood from the area touching the parchment.
She put down the quill and let out a long sigh. Considering only up to the time of Yurien's death, these were the major events that came to mind right now.
Already, many things had changed. Which of these events caused this incomprehensible event of Yurien's engagement? There were so many changes that she couldn't grasp it. Or, in fact, Yurien's engagement is not a butterfly effect that appeared as the events changed, but…
'Yurien also remembers the erased past, so that might be the reason. For example, he had someone he loved but regretted not confessing before he died. So this time, he immediately confessed and got engaged… or something.'
As her thoughts continued, her dizziness worsened. Pain gathered inside her chest and flowed down. It must be because of her body aches. It had to be because of her body aches. If she saw it again with a healthy body and a clear mind, she would have different thoughts.
Eki put down the quill, rolled up the parchment, and hid it where it couldn't be seen. Then she went back to bed and lay down again.
Her body seemed to sink under the soft cotton. It felt like falling into deep water. She breathed out softly and closed her eyes.
Inside her closed eyelids, the expression he had when she came out of the Node came to mind. An expression as if he had seen a lover he thought was dead come back to life. A face that looked like he loved her.
