I Reincarnated to Another World as a Woman-Chapter 274: Past, Present, and Future

"No?" Maeve blinks.

"Yes, Maeve. No. I’m not going back to become the chief again. It’s not me. It was never me. I took the job because Alex wanted me to."

"No, that’s not right." Alicia stops, correcting herself.

"I took the job because I thought that was what Alex wanted me to do. To follow in his footsteps."

She sighs.

"I just found out that wasn’t it."

"Now I’m regretting why I did it. I wasted the last few months of my life doing the exact opposite of what he wanted." Suddenly tears well up in her eyes.

Maeve stops what she’s doing and fully focuses her attention on Alicia.

"You need to stop thinking like that. First, you didn’t know, Alicia. You didn’t know what he wanted. Second, you did what you thought was best under the circumstances, and you did it beautifully. You were the chief your brother could be proud of."

Alicia looks at Maeve, lost.

"You really think so?"

"I don’t think so. I know so. Otherwise, why would Captain Chambers, Lieutenant Kerr, Lieutenant Cole, and I’m sure many others too, want you back so badly? I mean, Captain Chambers even stood up to us, Rhaenas, for you."

Alicia chuckles.

"He’s not that bright, that Chambers."

Maeve chuckles too.

"His heart is in the right place."

She takes a deep breath.

"You did the best you could, Alicia. I even heard from Captain Chambers that some officers think you were a better chief than Alex Lutherford."

"And I think you owe it to yourself to do things you want to do. Not what Alex wanted, but what you want." Maeve points at Alicia, emphasizing her words.

She smiles.

"And now you seem to have realized that and immediately are doing something about it. That’s what matters, right?"

Silence falls.

Maeve goes back to preparing lunch while Alicia sits quietly, thinking.

"And besides," Maeve suddenly adds.

"If you didn’t become chief, you wouldn’t have entered the St. Lucas dungeon, and you wouldn’t have learned what Alex truly wanted. You would never have known."

Alicia lifts her head and looks at Maeve.

"You know about Alex and Thea?" she asks.

Maeve glances at her.

"Not the whole story. Thea just told us that Alex was the one who saved her."

Alicia’s mouth drops slightly open.

"You know about Thea’s magic?" she whispers.

Maeve smiles.

"We all do."

Alicia’s entire body language changes. Just moments ago she looked unsure, sad, almost lifeless. Now she looks completely awake, alert, and excited.

"Oh my God! Really? Magic, Maeve? Really?"

"Thea telling you means she trusts you. And telling you about Alex saving her also means she told you everything. Including magic. There’s really no other explanation," Maeve says, grinning.

"Yeah, okay, thanks I guess for the trust. But magic, Maeve?" Alicia is practically vibrating with excitement.

"Don’t you want to do it too? Magic, I mean. Thea summoned fire to make me believe, and I still can’t believe it. Even until now my logical brain refuses to accept it."

Alicia shares her thoughts openly.

Maeve moves to wash her hands and dries them on the apron she’s wearing. Then she walks around the counter and gently pulls Alicia toward the open living area.

"Come on. Come with me."

Alicia quickly finishes her pancake, hops down from the kitchen stool, and follows Maeve.

They stand face to face in the middle of the living room.

Maeve raises her right hand, palm facing upward.

The next second, a small floating flame appears above her palm.

Alicia gasps.

"You too?!"

"Like I said, Thea trusts you. And if she trusts you, then I trust you too. The sooner you know, the better."

"Oh my God."

"Oh my God."

Alicia keeps repeating the words, her brain temporarily refusing to function.

After a few moments, Maeve lets the fire disappear.

Alicia stares at her.

"Wait... don’t tell me they can do it too. The men. Arthur, Liam, and Julian. They can do it too?"

Maeve only grins.

"Holy shit!"

Alicia drops onto the sofa.

"No wonder Rhaenas is that powerful. At first I thought it was because of Julian’s gadgets. But looking at how fast you clear dungeons, it never made any sense."

She stares ahead, stunned.

"It was because of magic," she whispers to herself.

A whole new world has suddenly opened in front of her, and for some reason she finds herself incredibly drawn to it.

"Well, I suppose anyone would be, right?" she murmurs, thinking out loud.

Maeve simply laughs at her reaction and heads back toward the kitchen.

She pauses just before stepping inside kitchen area.

"That’s right. I haven’t seen Julian since sunrise until now. Does he really not feel hungry? I’d better go check on him."

Maeve glances back at Alicia and sees that she’s still sitting on the sofa, deep in thought, mumbling quietly to herself.

Maeve says nothing.

Instead, she quietly leaves the apartment to go find Julian.

Leaving Alicia alone in the living room.

------------------------------

Julian is typing frantically on his keyboard.

His fingers fly across the keys, his eyes locked onto the screen, his mouth mumbling something under his breath.

One moment he frowns, the next he smiles.

Anyone watching him would think he’s mad.

He’s been stuck in his lab for days now, not even returning to the apartment to eat. Someone always has to deliver food to him.

No one asks what he’s doing, or what he’s researching, or what he’s working on.

He is simply being Julian.

This was also how he was back in the Montrose Estate.

The difference is, in the Montrose Estate, his mother, Leila Montrose, gave him a single rule that could not be broken.

He had to return home to eat at least once every twenty-four hours.

"Or else..."

Not once has Julian ever found out what "else" means.

He says he’s not stupid enough to try to find out.

Maeve knocks on the door, but Julian doesn’t hear it. He’s on the verge of a breakthrough.

But according to Arthur, he’s always on the verge of a breakthrough.

When no one answers, Maeve opens the door carefully.

She sees Julian sitting in front of his computer, typing furiously.

Is he inventing something or typing a novel? Maeve wonders inwardly.

"Erm, Julian?" she calls softly, afraid of startling him.

No answer.

She tries again.

"Julian?" A little louder this time.

Still no answer.

Maeve sighs.

So this is what he’s really like in his lab.

She approaches Julian quietly and is about to tap his shoulder when he abruptly jumps up, raising his fist in the air and shouting,

"Eureka!"

It startles Maeve.

"Ah!" she yelps.

In a chain reaction, her yelp startles Julian. He whirls around to face her and shouts,

"Ah!"

"Stop scaring me!"

"Don’t do that!"

They both speak at the same time.

They blink at each other.

Then they laugh together.

"I’m so sorry, Maeve. I didn’t mean to startle you," Julian apologizes.

"I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to surprise you," Maeve says.

"I came to ask if you want some food. You haven’t returned to the apartment since... yesterday? Did you sleep here last night too?" she adds.

Julian chuckles awkwardly.

"Looks like it."

A loud grumbling noise fills the room.

Both of them look down at Julian’s stomach.

"Well, at least your stomach knows that you’re hungry," Maeve grins.

Julian grins back.

"Let’s go. I’m starving. What are we having?" he asks casually.

"Carbonara for lunch."

"Yum."

Both of them walk to the door, heading back to the apartment.

As the door clicks closed, a faint beeping sound comes from the computer.

------------------------------

Liam stretches and yawns.

"Ugh, this has got to stop. It’s only noon and I’m already sleepy. If this continues, I’ll turn into a fat old man soon. When am I going to clear a dungeon again?"

But his eyes dart to a corner of his room, where the boy is throwing darts.

"This is fun, Liam. I wish we got to play this when I was still alive. It would’ve been fun."

His dart lands on the outermost circle.

"And hard," he adds, his shoulders slumping.

"Hey! I got a great idea! Why don’t we play now? It still counts as playing together, right? Even though you’re already twenty-four and I’m still twelve."

His eyes widen suddenly.

"Whoa, it’s been ten years already. Time flies, doesn’t it, Liam?"

He turns his head toward him and sighs.

"You really have to stop ignoring me, you know. It’s not healthy. You know that seeing things is not healthy. The sooner you acknowledge me, the sooner I’ll be gone. And the sooner you’ll feel like you’re not crazy. It’s a good deal, right?"

"So, talk to meeeee."

He whines, pouts, and begs like the twelve-year-old boy he is.

Liam’s jaw muscles tighten. He closes his eyes and takes several deep breaths.

It is obvious that he does not welcome the boy’s presence, but the boy did say one thing Liam knows is true.

He has to deal with him.

He has been ignoring him for a while now.

Liam shakes his head as his brain comes to a decision, but his heart rejects it.

He suddenly whips around, facing the boy, and asks through gritted teeth,

"What do you want?"

Liam’s question startles them both, though it startles the boy more than Liam. The darts the boy is holding slip from his fingers and fall to the floor with a loud clatter.

The boy’s eyes grow wide, like a car’s headlights, and his mouth hangs open.

He stares at Liam in complete disbelief.

"Y – you – you’re – t–talking to me?!"

The next second, his face breaks into a huge smile. His eyes shine brightly, clear signs that the boy is extremely happy.

That expression stuns Liam.

It pulls something from deep inside his memory.

Memories of his best frenemy.

Matthew Richton.

The boy who died on his twelfth birthday.