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Chapter 25
At first, he thought it was a dream.
It had already been several years since he graduated from the Talent Training Institute—there was no way he could have gone back this far into the past.
He had never even imagined that Tania could turn back time by as much as twelve years.
Up until now, even when time was reversed, it usually went back only a few minutes. No matter how far it was pushed, one or two months was the limit.
So he had naturally assumed that was the extent of her ability.
The reason he had been able to endure the repeated time regressions with relatively little complaint was precisely because the reversals were always short-lived…
What on earth was this situation?
Of course, if he didn’t activate his nullification ability, he wouldn’t necessarily be dragged back every time she used her power.
But he never deactivated it.
After all, wasn’t he curious?
Curious about what kind of sly scheme Tania had pulled off this time to make her rewind time again.
And if he hadn’t kept his ability permanently active, he wouldn’t even remember their first meeting.
Ever since awakening his ability as a child, Elysion had spent his life searching for an abiliter who could “turn back time.”
That abiliter was the savior of his life.
Of course, that person had probably reversed time purely for their own sake…
But still, he wanted to repay the favor someday.
Yet no matter how much he searched, the ability user never appeared—until one particular point in time, when they suddenly began showing themselves openly.
Snatching up only the most promising ore veins and winning the bids.
Becoming the major investor behind businesses destined for huge success.
As if declaring, “I’m the one you’ve been looking for!”
Elysion watched Tania from afar for a long time, hearing news of her exploits.
Watching the subtle changes in her actions each time time was reversed was surprisingly entertaining.
And when he became certain that Tania was an abiliter who could “turn back time,”
he deliberately visited a banquet she was attending and loitered nearby until she took interest in him.
Elysion knew very well how easily his face attracted people’s favor.
That expectation proved mostly correct.
“Wow… Is that a person, or a sculpture?”
There were plenty of people whispering while admiring his face from afar.
But Tania was the first person who openly stared right in front of him and voiced her admiration.
It was amusing, so he waited to see what she would say next—and the praise kept coming.
“The person who marries you will be so lucky. Getting to look at that face every day.”
At the very least, he’d expected her to apologize for staring or try to introduce herself.
Did she even realize how lovely her rose-gold hair was?
Did she know how irresistibly kissable the baby fat she hadn’t yet lost was?
Elysion watched her quietly, curious to see how far she would go, unaware of the thoughts running through his head.
And then…
After that brief admiration, she turned back time without a shred of regret.
As if she had never said a single word to him.
He was dumbfounded.
…Just moments ago she’d been boldly admiring his face—how could she rewind time without even trying to speak to him?
In the end, it was Elysion who approached her first and struck up a conversation.
But even after they started talking, Tania made no attempt whatsoever to grow closer to him.
It was as if she were treating him like a piece of art displayed in a museum.
Of course, that wasn’t limited to him—she treated everyone the same way.
It felt like she was deliberately keeping her distance.
And that only made Elysion more restless.
He visited her every day, talked with her, granted her various requests, and eventually succeeded in becoming close to her.
And yet…
“So you kissed me and then ran away twelve years into the past, is that it?”
In his mind, that kiss had already resulted in two imaginary, rabbit-like children!
At first, he was furious.
Wasn’t everything they had built together essentially reset?
On top of that, with a body this young, he couldn’t even engage in intimate skinship.
The age difference between them was three years.
Even waiting until she became an adult had been agonizing.
“But if Tania is seven years old now, how many more years am I supposed to live in abstinence here…?”
The legal age of adulthood in the Empire was eighteen.
That meant even if they married as early as possible, he would have to wait at least eleven more years.
It was despairing.
So after returning to the past, Elysion searched for Tania like a madman.
But just like in the past, Tania lived as quietly as if she were dead during this period.
In other words, there was no way to find her.
Then once, when he came to his senses, he found himself back in the time when he was an adult again.
Elysion immediately went to look for Tania—he was in such a rush that he didn’t even think to teleport.
But Tania wasn’t at her house, nor at the businesses she frequented.
With a sinking feeling, the last place he went to was the Papiope town house where he himself lived.
Astonishingly, Tania had come to the ducal residence of her own accord.
Hearing from the butler that she was in the reception room, he headed there at once.
“Tania!”
The woman who had suddenly rewound time twelve years with nothing more than a curt farewell stood right before his eyes.
Elysion strode toward her and firmly grabbed her wrist so she couldn’t run away.
“You—what on earth…!”
Her eyes widened in shock at his angry expression.
At that very moment, time mercilessly rewound twelve years.
The afterimage of Tania, who had been right in front of him only seconds ago, scattered like grains of sand.
It was the moment he realized that she was someone he could never grasp, no matter how hard he tried.
He felt like he was going insane.
“Why on earth is she doing something this absurd?”
The wealth she had accumulated so far was beyond imagination.
She could have lived doing absolutely anything she wanted.
“Did she rewind time to a point when someone who was practically family was still alive?”
But hadn’t that person passed away five years ago?
There was no need to go back this far.
As Elysion continued his various speculations, he came to regret having shown anger toward Tania when he finally met her.
He should have calmed himself and spoken carefully. At the very least, he shouldn’t have grabbed her wrist so roughly.
Then, the next day—
An astonishing rumor spread through the Papiope Talent Training Institute.
In a single day, three people had passed the entrance exam—and one of them had shattered every exam record in history.
Elysion immediately realized that Tania had intervened.
In the past, there had never been a day when three people passed at once, nor had there ever been an abiliter who obliterated all previous exam records.
He immediately dug through the institute’s documents to find out the names of the successful candidates.
Tania.
It was her.
Elysion thought it might actually be for the best. If she entered the Talent Training Institute, they would naturally have many chances to interact…
He believed he could persuade her slowly, over time.
Every day, he went to the institute’s reception desk, peering around to see whether Tania had come or not.
But nearly a month passed after the acceptance announcement, and Tania still hadn’t shown up.
It was the complete opposite of the twin siblings who had passed on the same day and enrolled immediately.
When Rosemary—who had been his younger sister when he was an adult—appeared with her biological older brother, he had been utterly flustered.
As the adoption tournament drew closer, Elysion grew increasingly anxious.
It seemed likely that the tournament had been moved up because of Tania’s influence.
Yet the very cause of it all—Tania herself—still hadn’t appeared.
Hadn’t she taken the institute exam in order to be adopted by the Duke?
Sighing, he headed to the reception desk out of habit.
And the moment he saw that lovely rose-gold hair there, he called out her name without thinking.
“…Tania?”
The gaze of the girl, who had been bowing her head, turned toward Elysion.
It was the reunion he had longed for so desperately.
Yet Elysion couldn’t say a single word, struck by a shock as if someone had slammed the back of his head.
A tiny body. Stick-thin limbs.
Remembering the adult Tania, he felt as though the child Tania would crumble and disappear if lightly tapped.
It was easy to guess that she, too, had endured a painful childhood like his own.
It wasn’t just because she was thin.
She had that uniquely ferocious look in her eyes—one only shared by those of the same kind.
People who struggle through childhood and later succeed usually don’t want to return to the past.
And yet she had come back to this point in time…
That meant there must be a reason worthy of it.
