How much time has passed?

After piercing through the cold air for quite a while, Ania arrived in the northern region.

The westernmost part of the Northern Kingdom.
The Duchy of Yerchevitz.

Seeing the grand palace and estates, it wouldn’t be strange to mistake it for a kingdom.

Ania landed directly on the terrace of the top floor of the grand palace, followed by Anya, who gingerly landed after her.

“Welcome.”

Welcome indeed.
How courteous of a kidnapper.

Suppressing such complaints internally, Ania followed Anya.

Anyway, Anya knew about her necklace.
About the identity of this thing, she had vaguely thought of it as an item reversing time.

Ania walked heavily into the grand study and sank into a chair.

“Make yourself comfortable.”
“I have a question.”
“What?”
“Please tell me about this necklace.”

As Ania spoke, Anya tilted her head.

“Let’s take our time. How about a cup of tea? It’s a precious tea grown only in the North. You quite like it, don’t you?”
“How do you know that?”
“I grow and supply it. I know the Bronte Duchy bought quite a lot.”

Ania sat with a dumbfounded expression and sipped the tea.
Then her eyes widened.

“The taste is different.”
“Of course it is. The tea leaves are different, and the aging method I developed personally is also different.”

Ania slowly sipped the tea before putting it down.

Surprised by the tea’s taste, she had to hear the story.

“Now tell me.”
“You want to know more about the necklace, right?”
“Yes.”

Ania chewed on the prepared pastries, nodding her head slowly.

“Did you say you’ve rewound time 19 times?”
“Yes.”
“I see.”

Still sipping her tea, Anya rose from her seat and approached Ania.

She took the necklace hanging around Ania’s neck and held it in her hand.

“I mentioned it before, but this isn’t an item to rewind time.”

A hint of green flickered in Anya’s eyes.

“Of course, it may seem that way… but this is a necklace that changes fate.”
“Fate…?”
“Fate.”

Anya lightly brushed the tabletop with her hand.

Immediately, blue crystals floated into the air, weaving a tangled thread in the space.

“Things have been predetermined since the creation of this world. They cannot be altered, like the pages of a book with a predetermined beginning and end.”
“So you’re saying this necklace can change that?”
“Well, yes, but there are conditions.”
“Conditions?”

Anya tilted her head at Ania’s question.

“If you already knew, it wouldn’t be as fun, so let’s wait a bit. Changing fate isn’t as easy as you think. Have you learned nothing from rewinding time nineteen times and creating different worlds?”

Different worlds.

As Ania, she couldn’t understand the meaning of those words.
She couldn’t grasp their significance.

Her memories of rewinding time were fragmented, something she couldn’t recall.

But…she had returned by rewinding time.
In the end, she had to leave without saving Edward.

That much she knew for certain.

And so, she rewound time again and again.
After rewinding, her memories were vague.

Though there was a sense of deja vu, she couldn’t recall rewinding time.

It was only long after realizing she had rewound time that she became aware of it.

Sometimes, it was three years.
Other times, two years.
Occasionally, one and a half years.
Two and a half…

However, by the time she realized she had rewound time, it was already too late.
Time and fate were not on her side.

After realizing this, Ania and Edward were already racing toward their predetermined end.

Ania’s death.
Edward’s death.

A predetermined conclusion.
An unchangeable fate.

However, there was one more thing that didn’t change.

Love.
Ania’s feelings for Edward.

That feeling remained unchanged.

Despite time resetting, Ania loved Edward every time.

She fell in love with him.
But she couldn’t afford to love him.

Ania’s love killed Edward.

So she decided not to love Edward.
Even so, Edward met his death.

As the pain of witnessing his death grew…

Ania made a decision.

Instead of witnessing Edward’s death, she decided to end her own life.
Choosing her death over the agony of watching his final moments was far more bearable.

After all, she could always go back.

“You’re thinking like that, aren’t you?”

At Anya’s words, Ania’s eyes widened.

“If you rewind time so meaninglessly, it will be your heart that tears first.”

Facing Anya, who seemed to peer into her heart, Ania asked,

“But… you said this necklace changes fate. Then why hasn’t it changed?”

“It’s not that it hasn’t changed.”

Anya gestured towards the space.

The tangled blue threads, seemingly alive, began to gradually unravel.

“It’s that we couldn’t make it change.”

Anya smiled as if amused, then took out a piece of paper and a pen.

After writing something down, she nodded satisfactorily.

“Wait. I’ll tell you the way when the man you love comes.”

***

Right after learning that Anya had taken Ania away, I headed north.

Anya Yerchevitz.
If she took her, it must be her territory.

But what’s her intention?
What is she really aiming for?

“My Lord.”

Lorendel called me.

“Why.”
“Please rest a bit.”

It takes three days by carriage from the imperial Capital, Khaledvar, to the Yerchevitz territory in the north.

It was quite a long distance.

“I might be able to sleep.”

However, even after two days, I couldn’t sleep a wink.

The things I saw in the deepest recesses of my memory.

Ania’s death.
Edward’s death.

And their words, as if repeating countless times.

Perhaps Ania and Edward have experienced numerous deaths.
If so, do they have to forever witness each other’s deaths?

If that’s the answer…
Wouldn’t my and Ania’s fate ultimately be death as well?

If we were to die… would I have to repeat this time?

Not remembering the time before death and running towards death once more.
No matter how much I thought, nothing changed.

Yet I couldn’t stop thinking.

As the vicious cycle began filling my mind, sleep eluded me even when I closed my eyes, and my heart raced as I breathed.

Curiosity and anxiety consumed me.

I wanted to see her.

Ania.
The woman I love.

I pictured Ania’s face.
I recalled her scent.
Her voice and expressions.

Then, as if a stone thrown into a pond, the restless waters of my mind gradually calmed.

“How much longer?”
“About one hour.”

For that hour, I continued to think of Ania.

I held the brooch she gave me and pondered our fate.
If there is a predetermined end, can it be changed?

I don’t know.

With such thoughts, I passed the time for a while.

The carriage arrived at the estate of Countess Yerchevitz in the North.

The guards initially blocked my path but obediently opened the gates after showing my face.

Perhaps Anya had spoken to them beforehand in anticipation of my arrival.
It seemed as if they knew I would come here in advance.

“Wait for me here.”

I crossed the estate, leaving behind the knight and Lorendel.

Straight to the entrance of the mansion, I ascended the circular staircase.
The very top of the mansion.

Surely, Ania would be there.

“Anya.”

No matter what the predetermined end may be, it doesn’t matter.

“Ania…”

Even if our end is destruction.

“Ania!”

Even if Ania played with Edward’s heart.

“Ania.”

Even if Edward’s heart forever turns like a faulty wheel.

“Ania.”

I will love her eternally.

“Edward!”

Ania’s face appeared.
It wasn’t a hallucination.

“Edward!”

Anya’s golden locks, as if fluttering, swirled around as she turned her head.
Her eyes welled up with tears in an instant.

And she runs towards me.
With an expression, I can’t tell if it’s crying or smiling.

Just seeing that expression puts my heart at ease.
As if washing away the anxiety that had gripped my heart, it disappears.
Color finally returns to the once monochrome world.
A ray of light shines through the dark world as if breaking through the clouds.

“Ania.”

I embrace the running Ania.

Her beating heart.
The sound of sobbing.
Her shallow breaths.
Even the gentle touch of her arms and the scent of her hair.

Everything was here.
Just that was enough.
I can love her.

“Edward…!”

“Ania.”

They looked at each other.
Tears glistened faintly in their eyes.

Without anyone having to say it, their lips met.

Knowing that they were both running towards a predetermined end,
They held each other tighter, not wanting to let go.

How much time has passed?

When the air on the rooftop of the mansion seemed to stand still as if time had stopped.

Their lips finally parted as if reluctantly acknowledging the inevitability.
And as if it were fate…

“”Let’s get married.””

Their mouths echoed the same words.

It was as if the predetermined end was gradually changing.