The flow of time. (5)

"Please take a seat over here, Young Master Woodime."

The maid bowed politely as she gestured towards the gazebo that was surrounded by a moat-like pond. The Crown Princess was already sitting by the table, her head slightly tilted as she smiled at him.

"Thank you, Guvernica, you can take your leave."

Abigail waved her hand lightly, the maid bowing and taking her leave. Now that it was just them, Abigail allowed herself a moment to look at the man in front of her. Short black hair and dark pink eyes that seemed to pierce straight through her. She could see him again after all that, thank the gods. But before she could be completely relieved, there was something she had to do.

"Caine, this may hurt a bit, but grit your teeth like a good boy, alright? Kaisel, do it."

Her spirit appeared in front of Caine as she spoke, its wings fluttering as a small finger stretched towards him. He knew it was coming, but he still acted surprised when its finger touched his forehead.

"GHH!"

He grunted and clutched his temples, lurching forward. Normally, this would be when his memories would come flooding in to tell him which turn they were on, but now he already had all of them so there was naturally nothing to show him. But he still had to put on that stupid act, the cracks were too small to handle any large changes from him right now so he would have to follow most of the usual path for the time being.

"Ahhh… I swear, Abby, you've gotta give a man time to prepare for that stuff."

He rubbed his temples as he straightened his back again, leaning back in the chair with a relaxed smile, a twinkle of joy in his eyes. With his memories 're-awakened', he could at least drop the act of not knowing Abigail. He would like to embrace her right here and now, but they were currently just kids so there was a limit to what they could do, especially before their engagement was set in stone. Abigail also looked rather anxious, more-so than was usual for the third turn, so he did her a favour and skipped the pleasantries.

"Your Spirit Awakening Ceremony, it took place earlier this time?"

Generally, unless there was some big outside interference, Abigail would have her spirit ceremony and mana affinity test done at the same time to make it that much more dazzling. The same should, SHOULD, have been true for this third turn. And yet, the ceremony had been done ahead of time, and Alice had even had hers at the same time. She even signed a contract with two spirits he had never seen before, in any of his turns.

He knew that it wasn't Abigail who set things up, she used a different plan in the third turn. So someone, someone other than him, was interfering. He couldn't help but rub the spinning octopus mark that covered almost his entire neck. He did mention that there may be a back-up plan… But why was the supposed Plan B changing things this drastically?

"Yes, it was around two years ago. Alice was also there, and Leonardo is already dead this time around. Something… Someone, is changing things, and they're doing it too fast. If they keep going like this then our knowledge will quickly become obsolete… We'll be stumbling blindly again."

Abigail couldn't help but gnaw on her fingernail as she spoke. She knew the events that would, that should, happen. But what about the events that required Leonardo to start? What if another one was taken out of the picture by the interlopers? Slowly but surely, the things she knew would become worthless, she would become worthless.

"Stupid question, but have you checked for Azuras? Perhaps he's already hanging around Alice."

It really was a stupid question. Azuras was the greatest threat so there was no way Abigail wouldn't have already looked for him in the usual spots. He really only said it so that she wouldn't descend into a depressive and anxious spiral thinking about the things that had already changed.

"He's not. I had the maids questioned, but she only has one of the kids from the orphanage left. Kaisel, show him."

Abigail was the Crown Princess, unless one of her four brothers pulled off a miracle she would end up becoming the empress. Making the maids of a ducal family talk was quite easy with her position so she already knew about the people around Alice. But well, as Caine expected, she was anxious after things started to change so she even had Kaisel check things out.

The spirit's wings fluttered for a moment before the air at its side warped and turned into a segmented mirror. The inside of Alice's room was reflected in the mirror, each segment showing a different time that Kaisel had been there.

"There's just that kid, but he doesn't have the right spirit or magic affinities so I can't even suspect him of being Azuras in disguise."

Abigail's finger pointed to the young child that was helping Alice get dressed. Speckled brown hair and pale blue eyes, just as the maids had told her. The appearance was different, but she was so anxious that she even had Kaisel carefully dig into his mana affinity and what spirit he signed a contract with.

"Low-grade water spirit, Waraya, Karas, Akasha affinity, no magic used to alter his appearance. I really hoped so, but it's not him. He's out there, Caine, Azuras must be out there right now, sharpening his blade, I just know it. He's going to strike us when we least expect it, he'll light it all on fire!"

Abigail's finger trembled as she pointed at the reflections, her voice a hoarse croak. She had already lost everything twice, she couldn't let a third one come to pass. Caine naturally looked at the same reflections that she did. Silvery-white hair and dark purple eyes, like freshly harvested grapes. The mark on his neck hurt, the tentacles seemingly curling around his throat for a moment before everything returned to normal.

"I don't know. What if he isn't?"

He looked away from the reflections, flashing Abigail the same relaxed smile he always showed her, even as he strode to his death for her. It was what he came to this world with so it was what he left it with, at times it was all he had.

"What if…? It's Azuras, Caine, Azuras! He must be plotting our deaths out there somewhere, gathering enough fire to burn everything to ash again!"

Abigail knew that a time would come when Azuras regained his memories of the previous loops. The cracks would naturally widen as that thing outside tried to break in, and as they changed things the cracks would only grow larger. Eventually, the other parts of the loop would bleed into this one properly and Azuras would regain his memories. The cracks shouldn't be that large yet, but with some outside force interfering she couldn't even be sure of that anymore.

An Azuras that regained his memories much earlier than usually… She wanted to clutch her pillow and cry just thinking about it. But luckily, the Caine sitting in front of her still wore that calm and relaxed smile that allowed her a semblance of ease.

"I don't know. Don't you think he looked tired when we last saw him? Fighting to burn the world, living to reduce it all to ruins, doing it all again and again, don't you think that it might be wearing him down? What if he's just tired and wants it all to end?"

Alice was only on her third turn but the anxiety was already getting to her, and things would only get worse in the future. With a life like that, it wouldn't be strange if people just up and broke one day. Luckily, it had never happened to his Abby, but he wasn't confident that they could keep doing it into perpetuity. They should be allowed to have their happy ever after now, they should be allowed to rest properly with this turn.

"…"

He expected it, but the dumbfounded look on Abigail's face as she looked at him like an idiot was still a sight to behold. He was finally unable to hold himself back and leaned forward, planting a quick kiss on her lips.

"We'll be fine, Abby. There won't be a third time. This time we'll manage it."

————

"My Lady, if you keep being stubborn then we'll never get anywhere."

Gabriel stood at the side of Alice's bed, speaking with a sigh. He was trying to shake her out of the bed, but she was just sprawled there while refusing to move. As time passed, she slowly got to take over more and more of Leonardo's property, now that she was turning 15 she had already received almost everything he once had. As such, in the duchy, she was one of the 10 most powerful people, at least in wealth. And yet, she was acting this childish just because she was pouting.

"Then lift me. And bring along the covers, the mornings are too cold. And do a princess carry, if you sling me over your back like a sack of potatoes then I'll reduce your salary."

Her hair had grown longer and her eyes deeper, the slightly curled violet strands reaching all the way down to her chest. Gabriel sighed once more and then bent down, one arm going under her legs while the other went under her back. He picked her up from the bed, her arms curling around his neck so that she could lean against him.

"Yes, this is the warmth needed on these pointlessly cold days. Away we go."

Her expression almost seemed to melt, he knew that she was just one step away from falling asleep again, it wouldn't be the first time. As such, he quickly carried her out of the bedroom and into the hallway, bringing her to the washroom where Teresa was already waiting.

"Come now, My Lady, let's get you nice and clean."

Alice rolled her head when Teresa beckoned her over, looking at Gabriel with upturned eyes. But he simply dropped her into the prepared bathtub, nightgown and covers still wrapped around her. He bowed politely afterwards, but it wasn't as if that could undo what he just did.

"Now then, my Lady. I must go and prepare the carriages with Lawrence and Trisha. Teresa, I'll leave her to you for a moment."

He left the room shortly after, Alice huffing out some air as she sat up in the tub. Looking at her resting her head on her hand, not even removing the wet covers or nightgown, Teresa couldn't help but giggle.

"Come on now, my Lady, I'll make sure to do at least half a good a job as him, I'll even make it quick so that you can get down there."

Yes, that was the sole reason behind Alice's pouting, the fact that Gabriel wasn't the one taking care of her bath like he usually did. But today it just couldn't be helped. Looking out the window in the bathroom, Alice could see the carriages that were getting prepared, Lawrence already checking some of them.

They were going on a trip to the northern duchy, an annual exchange to foster relationships between the great families. And now, for the first time, Alice was chosen to go. There was a lot to prepare and check before they left so Lawrence dragged in Gabriel, he was Alice's servant so it was only right that he helped. Naturally, as her servant, he would also be joining her to the north.

Alice continued to look out the window as Teresa peeled away the nightgown and bedsheets. Gabriel had arrived there now and was greeted by Lawrence and Trisha, the old man giving him a violent pat on the back. Trisha mimicked his actions, her tied up chestnut brown hair swaying as she slapped Gabriel's back with a smile.

Lawrence had tried to avoid it, but in the end Trisha followed in his footsteps and was working towards becoming a knight. Since Gabriel was technically doing the same, it was only natural that they met quite often while training.

"Yes… It's only natural…"

Alice looked on as the two of them walked along the carriages, checking every inch to make sure that nothing was out of place. It was natural, of course it was. Really, it was just natural, it was normal, nothing to be worried about.

"Teresa, marriage between a noble and a commoner is forbidden, correct?"

Alice knew the answer to that question. Of course she knew, she had checked it up several times, she had even asked Teresa the same question several times. But she had to voice it, that was the only way to quiet down her insides.

"Still is, my Lady. Having a tryst is frowned upon, but not necessarily forbidden. But to go further… You would need to get the commoner a noble title for that."

Noble titles… they weren't just hereditary, people could easily be rewarded them. Alice was one such example, she would gain the Viscountess title the moment she had her coming of age ceremony. As such, there was a precedent for granting peerage if someone's spirit or mana affinity were high enough.

"But of course you're still hiding it you damn…"

She wanted to spit curses at him through the window while waving her fist. If he just stopped hiding Nergal and his mana affinities then things could be solved just like that, it would be over before he even knew it. But just like she was still hiding her own mana, even with the Crown Princess revealing two of the fused magics to the world last year, he too was hiding his own magic. As such, she could only rely on the other precedent.

"Still no war going on?"

War. If you racked up enough achievements during times of war then you would get a noble title. The northern ducal family had gotten their title like that all those years ago in the war against the demon hordes.

"I'm afraid not. The Dead Lands are quiet, no dangerous World Fissures have opened, the Kasarias kingdom and the Yverial Empire are both quiet, and the demons up north have yet to advance."

Teresa had already memorised the answer, speaking it with a soft chuckle. The Earhart Empire was in a wonderful period of peace right now. The Dead Lands to the east were quiet, and the small occurrences there were all taken care of by the eastern family. The demon hordes in the frozen lands to the north had been cowed by the northern duchy so they stayed quiet within their mountain ranges most of the time. The Kasarias kingdom just beyond the southern border wasn't showing signs of gearing up for war, and neither was the Yverial Empire that sat beyond the ocean to the west. Everything was quiet and peaceful, so there was no chance for Gabriel to earn a title.

"Tch."

Alice clicked her tongue, a slender finger tapping against the side of the bathtub as she looked down at Gabriel and Trisha. She obviously didn't mind the peace, it was horrible when war broke out and people died. But it was annoying how hard it was to grant him a title without going against his wishes and revealing his secrets. It was annoying, but there was nothing she could do about it so she could only mutter to herself while looking out the window.

"Earl… It has to start with at least an Earl title… We'll aim for duke afterwards…"