“I don’t know the exact reason.
This is the first time I have encountered a situation like this...”
He tilted his head slightly as if he could not comprehend the matter at all, then added: “But my guess is that when I turned back time, perhaps a little of my power was attached to your soul as it moved into this world.”
Atha ignored his mutterings and asked eagerly; What mattered to her now was not the “why.”
“And what is my ability?”
The ruler answered indifferently, still tilting his head: [“The power of the saint, Atha Hermann, is to turn back time.
And this power has already been activated.”]
Finally, the information came that made Atha listen with all her heart.
“Can I turn back time?
How?”
I asked about the method; Because turning back time seemed to her a trump card that could be used in emergency situations.
But—
“You have to die”
Isis continued, looking at Atha's face, which had begun to freeze completely.
“If you die, time will go back.
It will go back to the moment you first came into this world.”
Here, let's pause for a moment—
***
Was Alisto completely ignorant of Atha's escape?
impossible.
He was clearly watching from the window of his room as Atha left Blossom Palace, got into the carriage, and set off.
His mind was filled with one question: “Why?”
If she had intended to do so, she would not have asked him to take her when they first met.
Or at least, when she asked him to lock her up.
She was the one who started talking about comfortable confinement and all those strange words, and then ran away in the end?
And for the second time?
This is really disgusting behavior.
'...Have you gone crazy?'
Otherwise, how could you even think of walking out of the imperial palace away from my sight?
Do you think that is possible?
As he followed the moving carriage with his gaze, Garnet, who had been watching silently, asked in a low voice: “Shall we stop the carriage?”
His follower's question made him feel sorry; Alisto did not really want to restrict the saint's freedom.
But if this is what you really want, there is no escape.
It will meet her expectations and narrow her scope of living.
“We will catch her once she completely passes the main gate of the palace.”
“Okay, I'll go now.”
***
What is one supposed to say in a situation like this?
“…an ability used with death, it's really useless.”
'It would be better if I could see the future for once.'
Atha sighed deeply, but the ruler had another opinion.
“I guess it's not bad, it's thanks to her that you're still alive.”
“...what?”
huh?
What did the governor just say?
'Thanks to that ability I'm alive now?'
As if he was saying that I had already used the ability...
In other words, as if he was saying that I had already “died”?
Can you imagine that for me?
Atha did not dare ask the next question, and the ruler read the horror that began to spread on her face.
The smile also disappeared from his face completely.
“What you're thinking now is probably true.”
Atha closed her lips, not knowing what question to ask anymore.
He looked at her, then exhaled a short breath, and began to recount what he had prepared seriously: “In the normal case, if I die, I can simply bring another soul and put it in the body, right?”
“……”
Atha was speechless for a moment in front of his words that made replacing the soul an easy matter.
“But this time, it doesn't work.
Once you die, time immediately goes back, and strangely you come back to life.
And you keep repeating a similar life over and over again.
You die and you live, then you die and you live...”
'Isn't this really weird?'
Normally, once a Saint's ability was activated, the Ruler's power resided in the soul, so it could not come back to life again.
It seems I made a mistake while bringing your soul.
The problem is that I don't know what exactly that error is.
I have a headache because of the lack of time progress; Because repeating the same time over and over again put me in a very awkward position as the one responsible for running this world.
The governor kept complaining nonstop, as if he had a lot to say.
“Ah, of course I'm trying many times.
Don't look at me like that, I want to end this boring time trap as much as you do.”
Atha felt anxious the longer he spoke.
“Excuse me, did you…”
“Yes, please”
She looked at him, who seemed naive in his expression, and expressed her concerns: “During the many times I died, what was my average lifespan approximately...?”
A slight shadow fell on his face, which had been bright all along.
He felt his chin hesitantly, as if he was thinking whether the answer would embarrass him or not, then he suddenly said: “Twenty-one.”
'Yes?'
'I'm twenty now?'
***
Atha's conversation with Isis was not at all pleasant.
The more she talked, the more she could only reach one conclusion, which was that her end would be a “short life.”
As if he did not realize how depressing it was, the ruler kept talking about trivial things:
“I'll give you good news too.
Until your previous life, Alisto had never gotten close to you or brought you to Blossom Mansion.
But now, everything has completely changed.
This is a very big change, and it's worth trying.”
Was it just a feeling that the good news didn't really sound good?
“Aren't you curious to know why?”
“N...no, what is it?”
“I'll tell you next time.
You learned a lot today.”
'Are you kidding me now?'
Atha's features looked extremely displeased, but Isis did not care.
“I have a good intuition this time.
I feel like this time trap will end soon.”
Atha turned her face from him completely now.
Of course, her ears were listening, and his voice continued to reach her.
Even though all he said were things you didn't want to hear.
After he finished, he muttered that it was time for him to leave.
“See you next time”
'Suddenly?'
When he announced his departure, Atha, who was maintaining a serious and gloomy expression, quickly asked: “Wait a minute!
I… before I came to this world, I read a book.
A book featuring Atha and Cedric—”
“Ah, that?
I was the one who sent it.
Those events were what the original Atha went through before you came to this world.
I showed it to you maybe it would make it easier for you to adapt, but since so much has changed since then, it doesn’t seem like it will do you much good.”
Atha's jaw dropped in shock.
“What, then... that novel was not a story of future events... but rather a recording of Saint Atha's previous life?”
The ruler simply shrugged his shoulders: “Hmm, can that be said?
Thinking about it, it is not accurate to call it a prediction of the future, nor exactly to call it the past.”
What a play on words.
However, Atha did not hold back his words; She was not in a state of mind to do so.
Because of him, the “book world” that she believed in and relied on for her secrets was shaken.
Atha’s voice began to tremble weakly: “In other words, this place is not a virtual world inside a book… but rather it is real and exists?”
Isis laughed as if he heard a funny idea: “Ah, did you think so?
No wonder you were so brave.”
After hearing his confirmation (which was not an explicit confirmation), her mind completely blanked.
What should she do now?
At that moment, Atha had a genius idea.
She quickly opened her mouth before the ruler disappeared: “So, if that’s the case…!
Can’t you, Governor, protect me a little?”
But, unfortunately.
“I can't protect you”
“Why?”
“Because you have a more important role than just surviving death now.”
At that moment, Atha fell completely silent.
A role more important than surviving death.
Obviously, it would be extremely annoying and really difficult to death.
She didn't want to know what an important role she had to take on.
A sigh rose from Atha's chest.
When that deep sigh was over, Isis opened the carriage window and shouted to the driver: “Turn the carriage around!
Let’s go back to Blossom!”
The voice that came out of his mouth was exactly that of Atha.
As soon as he closed the window again, Atha protested: “What are you doing?
Why, why...”
She stuttered in shock, while Isis shrugged his shoulders rudely: “You are trying to escape.
You will not succeed anyway, because Alisto has already placed people to monitor you.
You will be arrested as soon as you leave the Imperial Palace, and according to the confinement rules, you will be detained in Blossom.”
Atha's jaw dropped again.
But she quickly pulled herself together and objected: “I know that.
This is exactly what I was aiming for.”
“...what?”
While the ruler's face looked dull this time—the speed of the cart began to gradually decrease, and then it turned to change direction.
This was at a point only 50 meters away from the main gate of the palace.