Laying everything on the table

Heilke’s gaze changed.

“In all actuality, that purple aura had a lot to do with what tortured the kingdom for years,” August said, looking for ways to describe it. “Like that monster you stopped there. That magic was in it.”

Come to think of it, how did she know the wolf was there?

“So, was it you…?”

Heilke stared at what remains of the creature.

“That purple magic was mine. But I did not summon the monster,” she replied.

“I see.”

Heilke peered into August’s eyes, as if trying to find something he saw.

“What future did you see?”

Heilke’s earnest eyes convinced August to explain everything. How he was supposed to be in the military already, how monsters would start to overrun the country in 2 years, how he seemed to die, and how he woke up to a past he was unfamiliar with.

“This might not be believable, but—”

“I believe you,” Heilke interrupted. “In fact, I’m in a similar situation.”

“Really?” August replied, relieved that Heilke believed him. Following the relief, he processed what she said, thus realising he had asked an all encompassing question. A similar situation. Someone other than himself had their time shifted.

“Yes. Would you please let go of my hand first?”

August let go of her hands in a panic, putting his own hands up in the air, like a crook caught in an act.

“Sorry…!”

“Listening to your story, it seems you come from the future of a different timeline.”

August nodded.

“I came from the 387 of this timeline. Everything is familiar to me, except for you.”

Except August.

Now it was Heilke’s turn to explain. She told him about the future August she witnessed. He had many flings, even after he got engaged at 21. He never enlisted, and acted as a spoiled child for his entire life. Harassed many women, Heilke being one of them.

“Six days before being engaged, at the graduation dance, you would attempt to place your arms in uncomfortable places.”

August’s eyes widened, appalled that he would ever have done that. This August seemed even more of a bastard than he originally thought. No wonder she seemed to hate him for so long.

“I’m sorry I did that to you. No apology would be enough." August seemed to shrink, then knelt in a way a knight does. “I won’t interact with you ever again.”

“No no, you didn’t do anything.” Heilke gestured for August to get up. “Not interacting is going a bit far, after all you did after you regressed. Besides, I think we can work together to prevent that disaster.”

It was not a situation for him to blush, yet he did. It may have been her accepting him as someone she would not mind working with.

“Alright. But if you didn’t cast the magic, who did?”

“You know how magic is hereditary?”

“Yeah?” August said, innocently. Then, it hit him. Heilke had a family as well. “Oh, yeah.”

“It’s either my grandfather, my father or my older brother. Though my brother keeps telling me my purple aura is the closest to Father’s.”

Purple aura. That’s right. Heilke usually used a light turquoise aura. Did that mean she could duel wield?

“So your father may have been the one to summon the monsters.”

Heilke nodded.

“That reminds me. The only way someone could ever do that was if they were one of the wizards that had contracts with the most royal of royals. Does that mean…?”

“That is correct. My grandfather with the emperor, my father with the crown prince, and my brother with your father.”

“Mr. Crowell is our number one suspect. In turn, the Crown Prince may be involved.” August pondered. “Really? The Crown Prince? Why would he want to hurt the kingdom?”

“I too, wonder why,” Heilke said. With a snort void of joy, she continued, “Maybe he wanted to fabricate trust for the country’s army. Like a sort of propaganda.”

August squeezed his lips between his fingers as he thought about the Crown Prince’s motives. Then diverged his thinking to how the two ended up in a past.

“Any more questions, Marquess?”

“Of course.”

“Go ahead.”

“Do you know how you regressed?”

“I have a guess.”

Heilke watched August passionately about to hang onto every word she was about to say, like a puppy. She decided to tell him the less technical cause of her regression.

“Perhaps you’re looking more for what situation I was in. It was on the evening of the 15th. Roughly 16 days after your perceived regression. There was an overload of monsters summoned. Just moments before, maids were in the mansion, alerting of Father’s sudden death. Then Brother’s. I believe soon after it was mine. By then it must have been midnight. The spell to turn back time I had researched and tried on myself probably worked then. I thought it was a failure, even when all the calculations should have been correct.”

August was astonished. The time magic they were researching for years was actually possible, and was achieved by a student. Heilke would not stop impressing him.

“That spell might become a clue as to how I regressed. Could you tell me more about it?”

“Sure. It requires two forms of magic, powerful magic like my father’s, and precise magic like my mother’s. I calculated it six y…when I was nineteen for a thesis and tried to apply it. It did not seem to work then, but when I regressed to that point. And then most things progressed the same as it did before until last year, where ‘August’ started acting strange.” Heilke cleared her throat. “Excuse me for earlier. I fumbled on my words. I forgot that six years ago is not when I was nineteen anymore. It’s either eight or two years ago depending on how you calculate it.”

She showed a surprisingly ditzy side to August. He was completely absorbed in her voice to even notice her mistake, until she had pointed it out. Heilke felt very humane then. It was unexpectedly cute.

“So how do you think I regressed?”

“There’s a chance it was an incomplete spell for time magic that made you jump timelines. But if it follows a similar theory then…”

Heilke’s voice trailed off.

“Lady Heilke?”

“When did you say you returned?”

“On the 31st of the 7th month, right before my birthday.”

“Sorry, I asked the wrong question. Can you tell the whole scenario?”

“I was in a battle against the 4th type of monsters, when I saw a purple light. I went to see and that’s where I discovered the crystal. I died there, I think.”

“A crystal…”

“Why?”

Heilke glanced at August, then grabbed his wrist and started running. August was so caught by surprise that he stumbled on his first steps.

“Why are we running?”

“Let’s go and get this over with.”

Heilke flashed one of her brightest smiles. Her eyes were in the shape of the crescent moon, her ears raised subtly. Her cheeks were filled with a soft pink from the upturned corners of her mouth, complementing her teal hair. It was the most beautiful thing August had ever seen.

“Let’s meet the caster, shall we, August?”

This was an extremely quick succession of events for August. Not only did he manage to find suspects for the curse on the kingdom, he was also about to meet Heilke’s parents after she called him by his first name.

“What excuse am I supposed to give if I’m showing up unannounced? That I came for your hand in marriage!?”

“Sure.”

Heilke laughed.

“As long as you aren’t that scummy Marquess August Vin Gardner.”

August cringed at the mention of the previous August. He did not want to be associated.

“Last question,” August said.

“What is it?”

“May you continue to call me August?”

Heilke contemplated for a moment.

“Sure. You may call me Heilke as well.”