Chapter. Time Magic

KRAASH!

“You damn bitch! Where the hell did you crawl in from, just mooching off our food?!”

That day was no different from usual.

Sena simply kept her mouth shut and endured her father’s violence. If she resisted even a little here, it was obvious his rage would turn on her mother.

Collapsed on the ground, the child covered her head and curled up. And then, in that moment, her eyes met her mother’s.

Even as she watched her mother deliberately avoid her gaze, she did not particularly resent her.

“You vicious little—!”

THUD!

“Tsk, tsk.”

“There he goes again.”

The sight of the adults around them doing nothing but watching her father’s violence was no longer unfamiliar, nor was it strange.

Who would bother stepping into a situation that was obviously going to become a nuisance? And even if there was someone like that, it would not change anything.

People like that were usually one of two things: either stupid, or just helplessly good-hearted. So...

“Get out! I said get out!”

...all she could do was curl up quietly.

Perhaps because she did not even scream, her father seemed even more enraged than usual that day, his blows harsher than ever.

And so, just like always, he had grabbed her by the hair and was dragging her across the ground in front of the house when it happened.

THWACK!

“Ghk! Shit! What the hell?!”

Something came flying in and struck the back of her father’s head squarely.

Thunk.

What fell to the ground a moment later was a small shoe that looked extremely expensive.

Her father twisted his face and turned around, unable to hide his baffled expression.

“Let go of her.”

Probably because the one who had stepped forward and shouted was a girl who looked barely older than ten.

The adults, who had been standing around watching blankly as if it were none of their business, glanced over at her. Sena, too, could not take her eyes off that girl.

“And what the hell are you—!”

Her father was about to shout, then stopped short after seeing what the other person was wearing.

Elegant clothes, fine shoes, and a doll-like face. At a glance, she was clearly no ordinary child.

Realizing that she was a noble, her father muttered a curse under his breath. Then, in a voice unlike him, one that sounded as though he were forcing down his anger, he said,

“Mind your own business and move along.”

“I said let go of her!”

But the girl showed no sign of backing down. She shouted once more at the father who was still clutching Sena’s hair.

“You...! Damn it!”

His gaze flicked between Sena and the girl for a moment, and in the end, he let go roughly.

“Shit. Just my damn luck.”

Spitting on the ground for all to see, her father glared viciously at the little shoe that had just been used to hit him, then left.

The onlookers, seeing that it was all over, quickly dispersed as well.

Slide.

“......?”

Even after her father left, as Sena still sat on the ground, a neatly folded handkerchief was held out toward her.

It was that person from a moment ago.

“You’re bleeding on your face.”

She pressed the handkerchief to Sena’s cheek, where blood was trickling down from what looked like scrapes from being dragged across the road.

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

At that question, Sena gave a slight shake of her head. A wound this small could hardly hurt.

But at her response, the girl’s face twisted instead, as though she were the one in pain.

The child bit at her lips again and again, and only after a long while did she finally speak.

“Don’t endure it.”

“.......”

“If you do, you’ll really get used to it.”

Like I did.

The last part was so quiet Sena could not hear it clearly, but it sounded like that was what she had said.

“Camilla! What are you doing over there?”

Flinch!

At the sound of someone calling from far away, she jerked so hard that anyone could have seen it and hurriedly turned around.

A boy who looked to be in his mid-teens was staring at them with his brow deeply furrowed.

“R-Ravi, it’s nothing.”

The girl hurriedly answered, then looked at Sena in silence for a moment.

Her lips moved as if she had something more she wanted to say, but in the end, she let out a faint sigh and, instead of speaking, lightly patted Sena on the head.

“Camilla!”

“I-I’m coming!”

And just like that, the girl left.

“.......”

For a while, the child blankly stared at the handkerchief she had been given, then slowly lifted a hand and touched her own head.

A small trace of warmth, carried from the cold, hard ground.

“...Camilla.”

The child quietly repeated the name she had just heard.

*****

“She’s a girl.”

Even though it had happened 5 years ago, the moment she saw Camilla, Sena recognized her at once.

A beauty unchanged from childhood, and those distinct red eyes that belonged only to her. Would it not have been stranger not to recognize her?

[Do not get close to that woman!]

And then the loud voice that urgently burrowed into her head.

Unlike its usual smooth, coaxing whisper, its tone was full of haste from the very start.

And the content had changed too. Instead of repeating the same thing as always, saying it would give her power...

[Do not stay with that woman. You will not be able to gain power. The one who obtained power before also lost everything because of that woman!]

The one who obtained power before?

She could not understand a single word of what it meant.

[I will give you the power to rule the world. Find the contraband relic. Then all humans will kneel beneath your—]

Contraband relic?

What’s that supposed to be now?

Sena let out a short sigh. Ever since meeting Camilla, the voice had grown even noisier, to the point that her head ached.

[Power! I will give you the power to take revenge on those who trampled you—]

“Big sister!”

She had just furrowed her brow at the voice, which repeated the same things so endlessly it was exhausting, when Rio came running up to her, looking a little excited.

“Big sister! You can talk?”

Apparently, he had heard it from Camilla. The child’s eyes were sparkling unusually brightly.

“...Yes.”

“Wow!”

As she looked at Rio, his mouth stretched open as wide as it could go, Sena’s gaze quietly shifted past him to Camilla standing behind him.

Do... do you not remember me?

She remembered what had happened in the haunted house.

At her question, Camilla had looked a little troubled, then soon reached out again and gently stroked her head.

Had we met before?

...Yes.

I’m sorry. I couldn’t remember you as much as you remembered me.

It had been such a brief encounter that perhaps it was only natural she would not remember.

Still, that was fine.

She was still warm.

Because the warmth of the hand that stroked her head had not changed in the slightest.

“Big sister Sena, your voice is so pretty!”

“...What?”

This voice was pretty? Her father had always said he hated hearing it and told her to shut her mouth.

“Big sister, do you know the knock-knock-knock song?”

“The knock-knock-knock song?”

“Yeah! Let’s sing it together later! Doggy likes that song too! We all sing it together!”

Doggy?

When Sena turned her head, ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) a black wolf lying down beside Camilla glanced at Rio.

The wolf, who had been determined to feign ignorance, ultimately could not ignore the child’s earnest gaze. Soon, a silent sigh escaped from the wolf’s mouth.

“Knock, knock, knock, let’s plant the beans!”

Tap tap tap.

As Rio hummed the little song, the black wolf casually lifted one forepaw and tapped it against the floor.

A faint laugh slipped from Camilla’s lips as she watched Rio and Luna.

“.......”

Sena watched the scene quietly.

Something about looking at this warm, cozy scene, one that did not suit her at all, felt deeply awkward.

But still...

She did not dislike it.

*****

“So? Is that little brat staying at House Sephra for good?”

“Yeah.”

Camilla nodded at Ravi’s question.

Sena had truly done nothing more than open her mouth. If anyone asked about the place she used to live, she still remained stubbornly silent.

Arsian and the Duke of Sephra did not seem to care much about that either. True to their personalities, they acted as though if she did not want to say it, then she did not have to.

“And they don’t seem to have any intention of sending her to an orphanage?”

“It doesn’t look like either of them even considered an orphanage.”

“...Why, exactly?”

Camilla answered with a shrug. She had not told Ravi, but she had a rough guess.

Because Rio really likes being with Sena.

Even though he called her big sister, it seemed more like he thought of her as a friend.

“What did that little kid ever do wrong? Why are they making such a big show of punishing her?”

Ravi clicked his tongue repeatedly, looking dumbfounded.

Like everyone else, he could not understand the situation itself, the fact that Sena had ended up staying at House Sephra.

Under that gaze, as if she were some vile thing that had lured an innocent child astray, Camilla felt wronged and began awkwardly offering excuses.

“Sena said she wanted to stay too.”

Camilla had asked, just in case.

She had wondered whether Sena disliked it there and was only being forced to remain at House Sephra, so she had told her that if she wanted, they could look into somewhere else too.

Can I stay here?

But Sena had said she wanted to keep living at House Sephra just like now.

I’ll do anything.

She had not been brought there for adoption like Rio, only given a temporary place to stay, so Camilla had been troubled about it regardless.

“And she gets along well with Rio.”

In the end, after discussing it with the people of House Sephra, they decided to entrust Sena with looking after Rio.

There were already people assigned to care for Rio, so there was not actually much for Sena to do. They had simply attached her to him as a playmate.

With the problem of dealing with the Eva Faith remnants, the Duke of Sephra and Arsian were often away from the estate.

Since Rio would frequently be left alone in that great mansion, having Sena by his side was probably not a bad thing from their perspective either.

“But brother.”

“What?”

“What have you been working so hard on this whole time?”

“What kind of obvious question is that?”

Well, Ravi shutting himself in the laboratory and becoming absorbed in magical research was hardly anything new...

But today it feels like he’s even more focused than usual.

Normally, even when he grumbled, he always at least looked at her when she came by, but today he had not even turned his head once.

“What are you doing with the mana stones?”

“Something good.”

Still, perhaps that was fortunate. Even while busily carving something into the mana stones, he answered every one of her questions properly.

“What kind of something good?”

Only then, at her continued questioning, did he finally take his eyes off the mana stone and look at Camilla.

Letting out a short sigh, Ravi carefully set the mana stone down on the workbench.

“When this is finished, the number of people getting hurt will drop a lot.”

“What are you talking about?”

The number of people getting hurt would drop? Ravi was not a healer, so how exactly was he planning to do that?

As he looked at Camilla’s puzzled face, a smile more confident than ever curved at Ravi’s lips.