“What on earth is that…?”
Sylvia, clinging tightly to me, was trembling as if she was terrified.
I, too, was so shocked that I couldn’t find words for a while.
“Well, I just swung it because I felt like I’d realized something… but instead of Aura coming out, why did that appear…?”
In the center of the office, a massive crack had formed.
Inside the crack, astonishingly, was a reflection of this very office.
However, the furniture arrangement and the atmosphere were markedly different.
When I cautiously took a few steps to check from another angle, my breath caught in my throat.
“…!?”
Sitting at the desk in the crack was none other than the former Count Vermont, Aslan Vermont’s father.
He looked exactly as he did in Irene Vermont’s memories.
However, it seemed he couldn’t see us from the other side, as he showed no reaction.
Soon, he abruptly stood up, left the office, and slammed the door behind him.
The crack now revealed an empty office.
Acting on impulse, I reached my hand into the crack.
To my surprise, my hand slipped in effortlessly.
I could go inside?
“Sylvia, open the sixth drawer of the cabinet.”
“Yes. There’s nothing in here.”
“That drawer has never been used before.”
If this isn’t some kind of illusion…
If this isn’t a parallel world but is truly connected to the past…
Then my actions here could affect the present.
I pulled a pen from my pocket.
I reached through the crack and placed the pen into the sixth drawer.
After withdrawing my hand, I nodded to Sylvia as a signal.
Sylvia opened the drawer and turned pale.
Her trembling hands pulled out a pen identical to the one I had just placed inside.
“As I thought…”
“Yes… It really does seem to be… a passage to the past…”
This is bad.
Jacob, that guy…
Why did he have to go and make a time machine I never asked for?
“A passage to the past!? Wow! Wooowww…!”
“So does that mean time travel is possible? …Really?”
The shocking revelation turned the Vermont estate upside down.
And understandably so.
We could actually change the past.
The mere thought sent waves of exhilaration through me, my heart racing with anticipation.
“But what do we… do about it?”
“…”
Yuri’s question brought a brief silence to the office.
What should we even do with this?
The realization that the past could be altered brought countless possibilities to mind.
Writing a note about which stocks would skyrocket and sending it through…
Undoing tragic incidents from the past…
The kind of thoughts anyone might have when imagining traveling back in time.
“I don’t plan to make any major changes to the past. I believe every hardship we’ve endured has contributed to bringing us here, and I can’t bear to touch any of it. What about you?”
“Me neither…”
“Even though life in the orphanage was tough… I don’t want to change anything. …Yeah.”
But when the chance to change the past was right in front of us, it was impossible to decide.
Sure, there had been many painful and difficult moments, but without them, we wouldn’t have met everyone here or built the relationships we now share.
Since I had no regrets so profound that I’d trade everything for them, I couldn’t bring myself to interfere with the past.
Who knows how the present might change as a result of such meddling?
“Though if there’s one thing I could change…”
“…?”
“It would be the day Sylvia suffered Mana Corruption. I wish I had gone with her.”
“Ah…”
Sylvia’s Mana Corruption is one event I’d want to prevent, even by going back in time.
Since it happened only a month ago, fixing it wouldn’t cause significant changes to the present.
And more importantly, this phenomenon was likely triggered by Sylvia’s subconscious wish and the sword’s response to it.
It makes sense to think her desire to undo her Mana Corruption caused this.
“What do you think, Sylvia?”
“Well, but… changing the past… It feels scary… And there’s no guarantee we’d be able to return…”
Sylvia trembled, looking reluctant.
And it was understandable.
What if we couldn’t come back after venturing into the past?
That would be catastrophic.
Trying to fix her Mana Corruption only to be trapped in the past forever…
On top of that, it’s now impossible to reopen the crack using the sword.
The crack had appeared when the sword’s essence shifted into the past.
To travel back to the moment of Sylvia’s Mana Corruption, we’d have to jump into the crack ourselves.
“If you’re scared, I’ll go with you.”
“C-Count…!”
“Sir, me too! I’ll go with you!”
“I’ll join—”
“You will stay behind. It hasn’t been deemed safe yet. In case anything happens, I need you to stay and protect the estate.”
“…”
I couldn’t let Sylvia go alone.
When I declared I’d accompany her, Charlotte and Yuri immediately raised their hands, volunteering to come along.
But I shook my head firmly and refused.
The possibility of us getting lost in the past hadn’t been ruled out.
If we all went and got trapped, it would be a disaster.
The risk needed to be minimized.
“Yuri, stay here and guard Charlotte and Julia. I’ll return soon. If we don’t come back within a week, send this to Irene Vermont.”
“Yes…”
Just in case, I wrote a simple letter.
It authorized Irene to act as the interim Count if I didn’t return for over a year.
I need to leave this behind to ensure Irene can manage the family without clashing too much with the elders.
Of course, this was just in case the worst happened.
Since it could frighten the children, I decided not to mention that I had written what essentially amounted to a will.
If everything went smoothly, I’d return quickly.
That’s what I told the children.
“Mister! Knight Sister! Please stay safe and come back!”
“I’ll get mad if you don’t return… so you’d better come back quickly!”
“I’ll keep watch over the estate, so don’t worry and go.”
Leaving behind the children’s heartfelt farewells, I held Sylvia’s small hand and stood before the crack.
The office visible through the crack was completely empty at the moment.
If we were going to step through, now was the time.
“Just to confirm, our strategy is to leave as little trace as possible in the past. Avoid contact with people and don’t touch anything. We can’t predict how it might affect the present.”
“Yes!”
With Sylvia’s spirited response, we stepped into the crack.
A chilling sensation swept over my entire body as we passed through.
When we finally set foot on the floor of the office, the crack we had entered from had disappeared.
Looking around, the room’s layout confirmed it was indeed my office.
However, the atmosphere and smell were entirely different, unmistakably indicating we had traveled to the past.
“We… we’ve arrived!”
“Shh, quietly. First, draw the sword from my mouth. Let’s try moving directly to one month ago, to the time of your Mana Corruption.”
“Yes, understood.”
Sylvia whispered her response as she moved to draw the sword from my mouth.
The moment she pulled it out—
“Hah. How many times a day does the master insist on cleaning…?”
“…!?”
The door suddenly burst open, and Sylvia and I quickly ducked behind the desk.
Through the doorway stepped a young maid.
Wait… was that the head maid?
Seeing the head maid as a younger woman without her signature wrinkles was surreal.
Judging by her attire, it seemed she wasn’t the head maid yet.
It was an odd feeling.
‘Use your stealth and loop around when she moves to the other side.’
Silently, I told Sylvia what I wanted.
Her eyes widened, and she flustered for a moment before realizing she had no other choice.
Closing her eyes tightly, she lifted me into her arms.
“Hum Hum Hum~”
The young maid, humming a tune, approached the desk.
Sylvia, without making a sound, slipped into the shadows and concealed herself.
The maid walked behind the desk, glanced briefly in our direction, but didn’t notice us.
It seemed Sylvia’s stealth had worked flawlessly.
As soon as the maid turned her attention away, Sylvia darted silently to another shadow, repeating the process until we finally escaped the office.
“Phew…”
Only after reaching the corridor did Sylvia set me down and let out a small sigh of relief.
We had barely made it.
However, I quickly noticed that the hallway was too narrow for Sylvia to swing the sword and create another crack.
Reluctantly, I let Sylvia carry me again.
We leaped from shadow to shadow, avoiding detection by the staff, until we managed to exit the mansion entirely.
“Hah… Please come down already.”
“Was I that heavy? Your younger self must have been weaker than I thought.”
“It’s not that you’re heavy, but the size difference made it awkward to carry you. If I tried to carry you on my back, your feet would drag on the ground, making noise…”
“…”
Regardless, we’d made it to an open area safely.
Now, all that was left was to create another crack and move to the right time period.
“Well then, excuse me.”
“Hold on—ugh!?!”
“What? Did you say something?”
“Wait a moment!”
“….”
[The Evil God ‘Kali’ is frantically urging you to look over there.]
Just as Sylvia was about to draw the sword again, I turned my head and froze.
“Sister…?”
It was a younger Irene.
Her face was exactly as I had seen in her memories within the other world.
Seeing her in person left me utterly frozen, as if paralyzed.
