Generally, there was no way to escape.

Alice and Leo had taken advantage of the chaotic moments within and outside the palace to infiltrate it. In the end, however, they had been captured without properly escaping.

But I was different.

If I rewound time, I could go back before I even entered this place.

Thanks to that, I might not be able to write anything down, but right now, the most abundant resource I had was time.

The study was quiet.

Perhaps it was because it was deemed “nonexistent”? While it was likely known that someone had slipped inside and alarms were going off throughout the palace, it seemed no one was aware that I had made it this far.

As soon as I emerged from the vent, I headed straight for the door and secured the internal latch.

Originally, this mechanism was designed to buy time in case the palace faced a dangerous situation, but I had no intention of going outside anyway.

I turned around.

Dust was thickly settled everywhere. Just standing there felt like it could pose a health risk to my lungs.

A dim light illuminated only the center of the circular room.

In the spot where the light from the mana stones fell, there was a box filled with nails tightly packed inside.

However, the heads of the nails were not irregular. They seemed to be aligned flat at the ends, designed to look like a plate. In truth, anyone who had never seen it operate would likely find it a curious structure.

I approached it directly and pressed on that “screen” randomly.

A portion of the nails was pushed inward, shaped like my fingertip. When I lifted my finger, the surface returned to being flat, and then the heads of the nails rose collectively from the vacant space.

The surface became uneven. Yet it was far from random.

[Please enter the title of the book you wish to access.]

The slight rise of the nails resembled letters. The brass nails had risen to form characters, as if expressing something on the screen.

Clunk.

I opened the drawer beneath the screen.

Inside was something akin to a typewriter. However, there was no slot for inserting paper. Each letter was connected to thin metal plates leading downward to the screen.

I fully opened the drawer, letting it make a soft clacking sound before I slowly began typing.

Clack, clack. With each key I pressed, a loud sound reverberated through the dimly lit study.

[04-08]

The registration number of the prophecy book.

Typically, it wouldn’t be known. It wasn’t listed in the thick catalog hanging beside the screen.

That said, it wasn’t protected by a password. Very few were allowed to enter this far in the first place.

Creak, creak, the sound of rusted machinery moving filled the air, and a brass pillar behind the screen opened up to reveal a slender metallic arm.

With a clattering sound as if something were fitting into place, the arm moved.

As the arm extended, a cylindrical mechanism began to rotate.

The arm reached high, pulling down a book from a shelf near the ceiling.

The machine returned, and the arm lowered itself.

It presented the book to me, showing the cover clearly.

[04-08]

The title on the book cover was all there was to it.

I pulled the book closer to me. The mechanical arm didn’t let go of it. More accurately, the tip of the arm was firmly attached to a metal part embedded in the spine of the book.

However, it didn’t stop me from opening the book.

In fact, as I opened it, the top part of the book glowed softly as it was illuminated by the mana stone’s light.

“......”

I flipped through the pages immediately.

[I have written what I saw of the future, not to avoid that future, but to prepare you.]

The meaning was clear: The future was set, so there was no need to try to evade it; instead, prepare your hearts.

“Bullshit.”

I muttered to myself.

Thud.

A sound echoed from the door. It seemed they had finally realized I had gotten this far.

Quite fast, indeed.

If I were to estimate, I would have only about five minutes to read the book properly.

If I had to read every prophecy book here from start to finish, it was far too short a time.

But, well, what I had in abundance was time.

I placed the book down and murmured.

“Again.”

*

“Your Highness.”

“Sir Ford.”

It was a peaceful day like any other.

I was neither crawling through a vent nor fighting bizarre creatures. Of course, I wasn’t asking some grotesque mechanical librarian for a book in a dust-filled, musty space.

At least, that’s how it would seem to others.

As I walked through the palace corridors, I encountered a single person.

A knight with a friendly face and a fashionable Kaiser mustache bowed his head to me.

Dressed in heavy plate armor that seemed too cumbersome for modern times, he wore a sword and a firearm at his waist.

A revolver much larger and longer than the one I carried.

I thought to myself that perhaps that man’s armor could be pierced by his own weapon.

“I heard about the achievements you established, Your Highness.”

“Is that so?”

I nodded at the friendly gentleman’s words. Well, there was nothing to hide.

What happened in Northwood was a secret from others, but the events on the Winterfield battlefield were widely publicized by the royal family. It would help raise the morale of the soldiers and promote the royal family itself.

Normally, no one would believe such ridiculous rumors, but the soldiers on the battlefield all received long vacations and generous bonuses as rewards. They would all return home and spend time there, and naturally, stories about me would be circulated vigorously.

With so many witnesses and the assurance of “Winterfield,” there was no one who would disbelieve the tale.

“It is a pity that our knights could not accompany you to protect you personally, Your Highness.”

“......”

The knight’s initial words were not praise for my achievements but an apology.

“It's impossible for palace knights to be present at such places. And it wouldn’t make sense for the order to accompany a single soldier to battle.”

“......”

For a brief moment, he wore a look that suggested he had much to say, but the knight said nothing. It was likely due to the knightly decorum not allowing him to act recklessly before his lord.

“...However.”

That said, I felt a bit uneasy leaving him like this.

After all, he was one of the few people I had known since I was very young, seeing him around the palace.

To converse with a princess required more than just being in proximity. There had to be a good reason for it. Rank, title, age, and many other considerations had to be taken into account.

In that sense, this Sir Ford was sufficiently positioned to do so.

“Thank you for your concern...”

At my words, Sir Ford raised his head.

And, just for a moment, he looked at me as if he had seen something strange.

Well, it was a bit unusual for me to speak like that.

And once again, a gentle smile spread across Sir Ford’s face.

“No, it is nothing. We are merely doing what we must.”

Had he mentioned that he had recently had a child?

As I gazed up at the kind-faced Sir Ford, I thought.

If the firstborn had lived, he would have been around my age. If I were a ‘normal princess,’ a marriage proposal might have been discussed with this man’s child. Even if it wasn’t a marriage proposal, at the very least, he could have been on a list of noble bloodlines to consider.

However, I lost my child shortly after I entered the palace. It seemed it was an accident. I had not heard the exact story, but I hadn’t seen this man’s face for a while. It seemed he had been occupied with the funeral and trying to recover.

People whispered about how it was hard to believe that such a diligent and good person could suffer such a tragedy.

As I pondered whether to say a few more words to him, I decided to simply nod again and continued on my way.

Footsteps began to echo behind me, slightly delayed.

If that man were to die, only his wife and child remaining in his territory would be left. Many would be engulfed in sorrow.

Wasn’t it possible to turn back time and erase such things before they happened?

...I was sure that just half a year ago, I would have thought that way.

The longer I stayed here, the more I realized that shooting someone I knew, even if I knew I could invalidate it, was... 

Perhaps it was because I had come to recognize that my ability to turn back time could disappear.

There had been incidents where the outcomes of actions I had carried out thoughtlessly might change the lives of countless others, and that thought felt too vividly real.

“......”

Suddenly, I remembered Mia Crowfield, who had looked at me with confused eyes even on the day we finished the first semester.