I Start with a Bad Hand!

“…What did you steal?”

“It’s not really stolen… I just borrowed it for a moment….”

I couldn’t bring myself to meet the eyes of the person in front of me and gave a vague smile instead. As I vividly watched the green eyes, which had initially been filled with shock, gradually turn sharp, I recalled the conversation from earlier.

“Oh, I don’t know! I can’t go with you. I’m still awkward with our senior.”

Agnes shuddered and quickly ran away from me, and I desperately chased after her, asking.

“Then you’re saying I should go ask the senior by myself? Why are you awkward with them?”

“Ah, ever since we fought over the time magic confidentiality, we haven’t really talked. And now you’re saying I went into the ducal house to steal it? Senior might really never want to see me again.”

Ah, why is she so fast? I barely kept up with Agnes’s almost running pace.

“What? Why haven’t you made up yet?”

“It’s not that I didn’t want to. I couldn’t. The senior has been too busy, so I haven’t had a chance to see them. Hey, I’m leaving! I’ll investigate more about the orphanage.”

I watched Agnes’s disappearing figure with frustration.

What I asked Icarus for was a list of time mages who were not officially registered and, more importantly, not yet affiliated with the empire. The list was ordered by the strength of their magic.

‘Since the Crown Prince got engaged to the ducal house, it’s difficult to ask time mages related to the royal family. And if their magic is weak, they can’t handle the task.’

The person at the top of that list was Irene. In fact, I hadn’t considered her before. Irene had never mentioned her magic abilities herself, and moreover, she had said she would never work as an officer using time magic.

‘Klaus’s name isn’t even on the list.’

That’s why Irene was even more suitable. Above all, she was trustworthy. But the problem was that she was so strict that she wouldn’t take on the task without a good reason.

I clutched my throbbing head.

‘How am I going to explain how I got that blue-gray gem… and how do I ask her to use her ability?’

“You don’t have to say anything. If it’s really necessary, I’ll do it,”

Seeing me agonize, Icarus offered to step in, but I shook my head. She wouldn’t be swayed by that.

“…Our senior is so rigid that if something doesn’t fit her standards, she won’t cooperate even if she’s threatened. You should have seen her arguing with Prince Elius in the student council.”

I recalled a strong memory from my short time in the student council. Elius and Irene had clashed over whether a student could occupy two spots in the stables. Irene argued that one spot per person was the rule, while Elius believed exceptions could be made if there were valid reasons.

“Even Elius eventually conceded to her.”

…Maybe I started liking Irene from that moment. Remembering the intense but respectful argument they had without any harsh words or raised voices, I clutched my head again.

Irene, who hated pointless trouble, illegal activities, and irrational or inappropriate actions, always handled things cleanly and without leaving any loose ends. I liked her because of that personality, but now it was a bit of a tricky situation.

I had to ask her to use her time magic ability, through an illegal and suspicious method, with a gem obtained through dubious means, and she wasn’t even officially registered as a mage.

‘Knowing her personality, how can I possibly ask her for this?’

In the end, after much deliberation, I went to see her and carefully brought up the subject. Irene immediately refused.

“I may be a time mage, but using that ability is a different matter. I’m not even officially registered as an officer, and more importantly, that task requires more than one time mage. If you need a time mage working in the civilian sector,”

“Well, that’s… um…”

When I explained that what I was trying to uncover was something that absolutely could not be revealed to anyone else and why I had no choice but to seek out Irene, her face turned to shock. Irene asked in disbelief, looking at me who had mumbled a response.

“Where did you… steal this from?”

In the end, I kept my mouth shut. Oh, I probably shouldn’t have said anything. Just as I was about to hastily tell her to forget about it, Irene said something I didn’t expect at all. A question I had heard several times just that day.

“But why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“…What?”

I was stunned. …What are you talking about? I just told you everything. But Irene, who was looking at me, had an expression I had never seen before. Seeing that face, I tried to explain, but the deep green eyes that seemed to sink blocked my words.

Interpreting my silence in her own way, Irene’s face grew even darker.

“Your plan. Why didn’t you tell me about it?”

“That’s because….”

Because I was afraid she would stop me. There was no way Irene would accept a plan that even I thought was unreasonable to the last moment. And….

“Is it because you thought I was completely part of Elexion now?”

“…What?”

As I was organizing various explanations in my head to explain slowly, Irene again gave an unexpected response. What?

“What do you mean by that now?”

“If it’s not that reason, I can’t understand why you proceeded with such an absurd plan without discussing it with me.”

“…I couldn’t bring myself to tell you first, because,”

“Because I’m Cedric Elexion’s fiancée?”

That question left me speechless.

“You thought I would side with him instead of you.”

“That’s not it, Senior. We are.”

The expression on Irene’s face interrupted my urgent explanation. It was an expression I never thought I would see from her, one so hard to name and describe. All I could do was barely hold onto her back as she turned away from me.

“Let me pass.”

At that moment, someone lightly brushed past us, causing me to lose my grip on her hand.

‘Who on earth squeezes through people having a conversation in a wide hallway,’

When I turned to look, there was Hayden, wearing his usual robe.

“Sorry. Irene, and… Dietrich.”

As soon as she saw him, Irene’s already poor expression grew even more rigid. The normally emotionally neutral person now displayed an uncharacteristically cold and disdainful attitude. Not answering the question, Irene turned her body to shield me from Hayden’s view.

Seemingly a bit embarrassed, Hayden shrugged once and greeted me with his eyes, but I could barely see his face as Irene’s position blocked my view. Watching Hayden walk away, I could see from Irene’s expression that she no longer had any intention of continuing the conversation, and the strength left my outstretched arm.

“…I have a meeting soon. Let’s talk later.”

I looked at the closed door and dragged my feet that felt glued to the ground.

But the ‘later’ Irene mentioned did not come easily.

***

‘Why isn’t anything going smoothly?’

Despite several attempts to catch a moment to speak with Irene by visiting the student council room, it was difficult to even see her face. Even when I occasionally had a chance to see her, it was hard to ask her to spare some time because she always looked exhausted.

Each time I lingered around the student council room, I ran into various student council members. Naturally, Roxanne and Elius were among them. Roxanne now noticeably avoided me, her face stiffening whenever she saw me. Elius, on the other hand, made it abundantly clear what it meant to glare daggers at someone.

‘So what? What does it matter?’

Given the commotion I had caused at the family birthday banquet, their reactions weren’t surprising. But those two weren’t important. They had never been a significant part of my daily life, so how they treated me didn’t matter. My focus was entirely on Irene. And more infuriating than those two was Aiden.

From the moment I saw Aiden approaching me with a beaming smile near the student council room, I felt uneasy.

“Give up.”

“What are you talking about? Give up on what?”

Aiden’s expression turned serious, but he couldn’t hide the glee in his voice.

“On Irene. Just leave her alone.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“She doesn’t seem to want to see you anymore. Pursuing her like this is only making her more uncomfortable.”

Among the students, there’s talk that you’ve been dumped by Irene. Aiden whispered, lowering his voice. I felt like I had been hit in the head.

‘I can’t believe I’m hearing this from Aiden.’

The biggest shock was that I couldn’t refute his provocation. Even if I ignored his nonsensical words, persistently seeking out someone who didn’t want to talk was inconsiderate. It was obvious. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t considered what even Aiden had thought of.

From that day on, I lost all motivation.

“How did it go? Still no meeting?”

Agnes asked, her eyes wide, as she looked at me lying dejectedly.

“…You should have gone, even if it was awkward. Oh, I shouldn’t have said anything unnecessary.”

“Why did you answer her questions so truthfully? How could you say you got it from the ducal house?”

You should have been more vague. Agnes retorted as she sat next to me on the bed. After poking me a few times, she added.

“Hey, cheer up. If it really doesn’t work out, you can ask one of the other people on the list the Prince gave you. They might not be as skilled and trustworthy as Irene, but…”

“…Are you trying to cheer me up?”

At my words, Agnes flopped down next to me, muttering.

“I’m worried too…. If things get awkward between you two, how am I supposed to talk to her again?”

“You’re making me feel worse.”

Knock, knock.

Just then, a knock on the door of my dorm room broke the despondent atmosphere.

***

The priest who had called me through someone still had a tired and pale face. He skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point, answering an old question.

“You asked me before, didn’t you? Why this book containing your soul, Lady Dietrich, is written in Lucero, and why it contains a fable and play similar to the life of the body’s owner, ‘The Lame Liar’.”

I looked at the desk he was pointing to. On the desk were neatly arranged books and stacks of papers stretching out in a line.

“So, I searched the international library for all the books and documents that contained the same aura as Lady Dietrich’s soul. These are all of them. From here to here, I have arranged them in order from the strongest to the weakest sense of the soul’s aura.”

As he explained, he pointed to each book lined up in a row. On the books and scripts were the names of the countries where each work originated. Behind the name of the Kingdom of Lucero was an explanation: “At the end of the continent.”

“But look. Don’t you find something odd?”

Most of the books were written in foreign languages. Among them were some in languages I had never seen before, so I was flipping through the pages. I put down the book I was holding and asked back.

“Odd? What do you mean?”

“The proportion of the soul’s aura is inversely proportional to the distance from the Empire. In other words, the farther it is from the Empire, the weaker the soul’s aura feels. And the less important Lady Dietrich’s role becomes in the stories.”

At that moment, the priest straightened up from leaning on the desk.

“You wondered why you ended up here, of all places.”

“Yes. Dietrich’s wish was simply to change the past. But,”

“There was a condition, wasn’t there?”

Suddenly, I remembered the ending of the play containing Dietrich’s soul.

Me: If that legend is true, please pity me and change the past. (Jumps.)

My heart ached. A simple wish to change the past. Dietrich couldn’t fulfill that wish because she didn’t meet a single condition. The condition of the wish was simply this: to be ‘pitied.’

“How did you know Dietrich’s story? From your original world, I mean.”

“I….”

I hesitated for a moment. Should I tell the priest that this world was a novel?

“I knew it through a novel….”

But the priest continued without much concern.

“Another form of story. I, too, was curious. Why a play, a fable, and a novel? The fragmented soul could have been contained in other forms.”

The priest sat at the edge of the desk and paused for a moment before speaking.

“Actually, we don’t really understand lives we haven’t experienced, do we? Much less feel empathy. So, in a way, I believe the books and stories containing pieces of the fragmented soul were the clock tower’s attempt to fulfill Lady Dietrich’s wish.”

Is there a better way to understand someone than through a story? Thinking about it, it was strange that ‘The Lame Liar’ story didn’t exist in the Empire or the Kingdom of Sereti. The books the priest brought were all written in foreign languages. But if you think about it, it makes sense. In the Empire and Sereti, people could hear rumors about Dietrich directly, so there was no need to convey it to people through such indirect methods.

“But the soul can’t be infinitely fragmented. So the farther from the Empire, the less significant the pieces became.”

The priest fiddled with the note labeled “End of the World” at the very end of the desk. But conversely, that meant….

“…So, they haven’t found anyone in this world who meets Dietrich’s condition.”

It seemed Dietrich wasn’t the only one who didn’t pity herself.

Unable to find anyone in this entire world who met the condition, the fragments of the soul had flowed into my world.