3. Before the Beginning Begins - 02
3. Before the Beginning Begins - 02
"Miss, do you happen to remember your name?"
Shake shake.
"Hmm, what about where you're from?"
Shake shake.
"You don't remember your age either?"
Nod nod.
Elena fired off question after question at the white-haired girl, and the girl answered by nodding or shaking her head like a well-trained puppy.
After chatting with the white-haired girl for a long while, Elena finally turned to look at me.
"Hmm. It seems Brother was telling the truth. This lady says she doesn't remember why she was there or who she is. Although I am curious as to how she managed to sneak into Brother's bed, if her claim of having no memory is true, we can hardly interrogate her about it now."
"...Hmm."
After Sarah stormed out of House Estel with a face full of rage, I could only stare at the white-haired miss lounging comfortably on my bed and let out a sigh. Thanks to this woman, my relationship with Sarah hadn't just crumbled—it had been completely and utterly annihilated. Still, I figured it couldn't be helped. Since Sarah Sernad was a woman destined to break off the engagement anyway, the shock was less than it might have been. At worst, what could possibly happen besides her breaking it off one more time? Once you've broken off an engagement twice, it starts to feel surprisingly familiar.
...Well, to be honest, things like my engagement to Sarah weren't what mattered in this situation. Going through this series of events, I had clearly realized that everything I was experiencing right now was reality. I had never heard of an illusion like this being cast on a human, and it was far too vivid to be a dream. Only one thing could clearly explain my current situation.
That I had regressed ten years into the past. I didn't know why, but if this situation had occurred because I'd returned to ten years ago, then it explained everything neatly.
In fact, I even had a vague idea of what might have caused the regression.
"Elena, I have a favor to ask."
"Yes, say the word, Brother."
Elena nodded, her eyes sparkling at my words. I stroked her head once and spoke in a low voice.
"...Yes, thank you, Elena. Could you step out of my room for a moment?"
"Huh? Why is that?"
Elena's eyes widened at my sudden dismissal.
"I'd like to have a private chat with this miss."
I glanced and pointed at the white-haired woman who was still looking around with eyes like a rain-drenched puppy. The conversation I needed to have with her from now on was a highly delicate matter, so I had no choice but to dismiss Elena.
"...Hmm, understood. If you need me, please call for me anytime, Brother."
"Alright."
With that, Elena silently and quietly withdrew from my room. It was a neat exit befitting the young lady of a noble house. It made me think that perhaps the most noble person in House Estel was none other than Elena.
But that wasn't what mattered right now. I turned my head and stared blankly at the white-haired woman still sitting quietly on my bed. No matter how I looked at her, no matter the angle, that delicate and beautiful face only reminded me of a face I knew very well.
Indeed. How could I ever forget that face? Purple eyes. A beautiful face that gave no hint of her age. Although I was uncertain at first because she looked much younger than the face I remembered, staring at her this long made it easy to guess the true identity of this white-haired woman.
'...The Winter Witch.'
Yes. The one who wove winter at her fingertips, the woman with white hair. A being whose power alone equaled that of an entire expedition force, undoubtedly one of the pinnacles of humanity.
In a world bleached pure white, the witch standing amidst the falling snowflakes had appeared poignantly beautiful. To be honest, you could say I was smitten by that sight. It doesn't mean I loved her. She simply looked beautiful.
In those last moments, as she looked at me with a desolate expression and fell into my arms, she seemed so pitiful. Even though I knew full well she was the witch who brought endless winter to the world and killed countless people, I couldn't forget.
'Thank you.'
I simply could not forget her, smiling brightly at the man who had just plunged a sword into her chest and expressing her gratitude.
"......"
I lifted my head and looked at the white-haired woman, the Winter Witch.
"...Ah, uh..."
The moment my gaze landed on her, the witch flinched and shrank back. This was a completely different demeanor from the witch I knew. The witch I remembered was not like this. She was dignified. It's laughable to pretend I knew her well when I only faced her for about half a day, but still. The witch I knew had maintained her dignity even with the whole world as her enemy.
"....Hmph."
Elena's words seemed to be true. The Winter Witch really had lost her memory. Honestly, watching her tremble like that was so absurd I felt like laughing. But it also made me think that looking at me with that scared, youthful face suited her quite well. Have I gone completely insane? Or am I the type who gets bolder when faced with someone weaker?
I let out a sigh—I'd lost count of how many I'd released today—and quietly asked the woman before me.
"Is there truly nothing you remember?"
At my question, the white-haired woman nodded timidly.
"...No."
"Hmm."
Elena seemed to be right. No matter how I looked at it, the woman in front of me maintained a dazed attitude, as if afflicted with amnesia.
'...Amnesia?'
It was a condition I'd heard countless times in old stories, but to see an actual amnesiac appear before my eyes felt somewhat novel.
However, it was safe to say there was no need for the notoriously fearsome Winter Witch to pretend to be a harmless ordinary civilian in front of me, so her words were highly likely to be true.
I looked the witch up and down and sank into thought. The matter was simple.
What to do with the witch. To be precise, whether I should kill her right here and now.
"....."
Now that the Winter Witch had lost all her memories and become a harmless ordinary person, killing her would be incredibly easy. She wasn't the terrifying witch who would bring the endless winter to the continent ten years from now, but merely an ordinary wench. If I thrust a sword into that frail-looking neck, everything would end.
The endless winter would not come, and I would not end up rotting in an underground prison. I wouldn't be dragged off to the expedition force and bullied like a dog for a year, nor would Bianca grind the main castle of the Estel Duchy to dust. Unlike before the regression, everything would surely end happily.
But I shook my head. Killing her was undoubtedly the simplest method, but it wasn't the best one. Because there were a few reasons I shouldn't kill the witch.
"....?"
"No, it's nothing."
When I stared at her, the Winter Witch blinked and tilted her head. Yes, that was it. The reason I returned to the past was undoubtedly connected to this witch. I had no logic or evidence, but I was certain. To put it metaphorically, it felt as if she and I were connected by something unknown.
And that feeling was whispering to me. That I must not kill her. If I kill her, this time something truly irreversible might happen—
"....."
Thus, I won't kill her. In the worst-case scenario, if I kill her, there's a possibility I might return ten years into the future again, isn't there? Well, the assumption that killing the witch would fling me back to the future seemed ridiculous, but then again, wasn't it equally ridiculous that I had returned ten years into the past just because I stabbed a sword into the witch's heart?
No matter how I weighed it, staying in this era—even if it meant embracing the witch as an unstable element—seemed a hundred times the better choice.
And second, this was actually the most important thing.
"I have one more thing to ask."
"...Yes. Ask me."
The Winter Witch replied quietly, still seemingly terrified of me.
"Do you have a place to return to?"
Shake shake.
"Family? Relatives? You truly remember nothing at all?"
Nod nod.
Good. This was utterly perfect. The witch currently had no connections or blood ties to anything—figuratively speaking, a state with no threads attached. On top of that, she had even lost the memory of who she was. In other words, if the witch were kicked out of House Estel, she would be a vagrant with nowhere else to go.
And if someone were to offer her a helping hand in such a situation, acting out of sheer goodwill, well, wasn't it obvious what kind of feelings she'd develop?
Hiding those insidious intentions deep in my heart, I plastered on a look of apparent deep consideration and spoke in a grave tone.
For a seasoned regressor like the Duke of Estel, who had been through hell and high water ten years in the future, sweet-talking a naive woman like this was truly effortless.
"If that's the case, would you perhaps consider being employed by House Estel?"
"...Huh?"
"If you have nowhere to go, I would be willing to formally employ you at House Estel. What do you say?"
Thus began the grand scheme to make the Winter Witch my loyal subordinate in this life.