TRVLT 10

Chapter 10

Arillety stood once again in front of the castle gate.
On the opposite side of the drawbridge, the snowstorm still raged with tremendous force.
It felt as if she were trapped inside a pure white blank sheet of paper. If she were to get swept away by that whirlwind, she would be carried off for three whole days and nights, buried in the snow.

Due to the merciless snowstorms that swept the area two or three times a day, the Hezate territory was cut off from the outside for half of the year. That was the geographical limitation of this isolated territory.

‘If only the wind would stop, I could clear a path.’
Then life in Hezate could be more abundant.
‘We could bring in outside supplies, and news from the capital would reach the territory faster.’

After all, one must have ears to hear in order to prepare for the future.

To begin the work, she first needed to get as close as possible to the target on which she would cast her power. With the tremendous snowstorm, she could not even stand properly on her own.

Arillety hesitated until the last moment.
‘I didn’t want to show it… but I have no choice.’

When Arillety tugged at Glenn’s pants, he immediately scooped her up.
“Hold on tight, or you’ll fly away.”
“Of course, little lady. I trust only you, uncle.”

It felt like a sturdy support had appeared beneath her.

Arillety muttered softly,
“Needle.”

• Ah, no! Why are you calling me again!

“This is the last time.”

• Liar! Liar!

How did he know?

Arillety sent the three trembling needles flying into the air.
The needles’ flight paths were jagged, resisting their master’s will.

‘I want to do at least one good thing in this life.’

• ……

‘I did nothing but bad deeds before.’

If she thought about it, the reason this territory became impoverished without hope of recovery was all because future Arillety had planned it.
She deliberately reduced the official stipend allocated to Hezate and planted spies here to provoke the monsters living in the northern mountains.

Arillety was a villain.
If she counted all the sins from her two lives, she could have bought a first-class ticket on the express train to hell more than ten times over.

So what she was doing now was not only a strategy to leave this place but also her own form of atonement and repayment.

It was now January.
The snowstorms that struck Hezate reportedly began every year in October.

‘First, let’s turn back three months.’

Arillety snapped her fingers, and the clock’s hands began to move backward.
The hands, moving slowly at first, gained speed until they spun so fast that the snow could no longer be tracked.

At that moment, Glenn Hezate witnessed a miracle.
His pupils widened in shock.

The raging snowstorm changed direction.
Snow and hail the size of fists, which had been falling from the sky, all shot upward at once, creating a breathtaking spectacle in every direction.

The clock that rewound the day kept turning backward.
One day, two days, three days, four days.
One week, fifteen days, one month.

“……!”

Amid the blinding snowstorm, shapes gradually appeared.
Blue fir trees, buried under the wind and hail, slowly revealed themselves.

Another month, and another.
Snow that had piled up as high as a grown man floated into the air, becoming part of the pale sky.
It was a fantastical sight, as if the entire snowy field had risen to its feet.

After a total of ninety days had been rewound, Arillety grasped the air.
‘Stop.’

The wind that had clawed at her cheeks and hair moments ago immediately subsided.
The path, previously buried in snow, was now visible.
It was the road leading to the nearest city from Hezate territory.

Normally, no one could traverse this path until spring, yet it stretched clearly across the snowy plains.
By the time the road had become distinct enough for horses and carts, the miracle stopped.
The clock, halted in stillness, shattered into countless tiny particles of light.

This was the power of the White Forest that Arillety Kadis, a time sorceress, possessed.
After summoning the clock hands to declare a domain of time, she could rewind time as freely as she wished.
It was the true face of the absolute power desired across the continent.

A voice, colder than ever, echoed in Arillety’s mind.

• This is your first time. Only one opportunity remains.

Three lights seeped back into Arillety’s chest. She coughed as if they had been waiting.
Cough, cough.
A bitter lump rose in her throat, striking harder because of her small child’s body.

Glenn did not dare speak. He was overwhelmed.
The power that could perform such a miracle was the force of nature itself, beyond human reach.
In this world, only one had such power: the White Forest.

When he bit the inside of his lip hard, the coughing child spoke calmly:
“Pay me for two weeks’ meals, plus my life’s worth.”

The baby’s words, slurred yet audible, brought Glenn back to reality.
Arillety loosened her hold on him.
“This is our farewell.”

Arillety leaped from Glenn’s arms to the ground.
Glenn, staring blankly at the child, knelt without a word.
“I did not recognize the sage.”
“I’m not a sage.”

Arillety rubbed her damp nose with her maple-leaf-shaped hand.
“How should I express my gratitude…?”
“You’re given because it’s deserved. No need to thank me one by one.”

Suppressing a sneeze, Arillety forced her voice to remain dignified. She had been treated as a sage, so she had to act accordingly.

‘Those princes never spoke to me with respect in my life.’

Anyway, Glenn Hezate.
May he not mistake kindness given in goodwill for a right.
And may he not waste this opportunity.

‘Although seeing him kneel in front of a child, it doesn’t seem likely.’

Given his reputation for integrity, it was very likely he would do well.
In fact, among those who had made Arillety taste defeat in her past two lives, Glenn was the only one.

Arillety adjusted the bag on her shoulder.
“May the blessings of the White Forest fall upon Hezate and His Highness the Third Prince.”

This was their farewell.
Now, Arillety’s task was simply to walk along the revealed path and quietly prepare for the end at an appropriate place.
Come on, let’s go!
She had to leave before Glenn recovered from the shock of witnessing a miracle for the first time.

Arillety began moving at full speed.

She marched steadily along the dirt road, glancing back from time to time to see if Glenn was following.
“Cough, cough.”
It had been a while since she had done the insane act of rewinding three months, so the coughing persisted.
This selective regression, which designated a specific area, consumed a lot of energy.

Still, walking the open path made her feel proud.
‘Yes, yes. If I make full use of this path to expand my influence, I can gain the strength to oppose the princes.’

Count on me, frontier count, to crush those bratty fools and place the Third Prince Rasian on the throne.

Arillety hummed a tune while coughing and moved quickly.
‘Ah, right. I almost forgot to emphasize this.’

She thought of the Third Prince.
Rasian Federka.

By now, he was probably being pressured by the First and Second Princes at the capital.
Glenn would likely go to collect him soon.

The Third Prince she remembered was a tall, thin young man, like a twig.
Though his bones were fairly thick, he had no fat or muscle, giving him a delicate, pretty impression.

The Third Prince suffered lifelong coughing due to toxic pneumonia in his childhood. He had numerous underlying conditions, making him extremely sensitive in temperament, earning him the nickname “Pretty Mad Dog.”

Though she never considered him a rival, she remembered how hysterical he had been.
‘All because he never received proper treatment as a child.’

Arillety picked up a fallen branch and wrote large letters on the dirt ground, a testament to her diligent practice of writing.

But why was it so dizzying?

Drip, drip.
Blood began flowing heavily from both nostrils, an ominous sign.

“Oh?”

She wiped it casually, used to nosebleeds from her past life, but the amount falling to the ground was unusual.

Her vision flipped.

Wait. Already?

• Already? Do you hear my warning with your nose?

Needle scoffed.
Someone in the distance shouted in shock:
“Sage—no, Arillety!”

Oh, she can’t be caught like this!

But the world was already tilted.

Clatter.
Arillety tumbled with a loud noise and passed out.