Chapter 10
Alkydes Lafmen finally admitted that his patience had completely melted away—leaving nothing behind.
He turned his head and looked at his mother, Ijansel Lafmen.
She looked as she always did—confident and composed, enjoying wine with her attendants.
How many times had that same mother collapsed onto the cold banquet floor during repeated regressions…?
Sweeping his gaze across the hall with hollow, cynical eyes, Alkydes ran a hand roughly through his hair.
He had always maintained a neat appearance—
But now, he didn’t even have the strength for that.
‘How long do I have to keep repeating this…’
Even repeating time to save his mother had its limits.
As a child, Alkydes had once repeated time endlessly to save his father.
He tried everything—again and again—but every attempt ended in failure.
The young Alkydes had been utterly exhausted by watching his father die over and over.
So just once—
Just once—
He turned away from his dying father.
The price was brutal.
Time, once missed, could never be turned back again.
And his father never opened his eyes again.
Young Alkydes endlessly blamed himself for that choice.
That was why—
On the day his mother first died at her birthday banquet—
He completely lost himself.
A crushing sense of responsibility to save her—
And the despair of having failed to save his father—
Those two emotions strangled him at once.
Even this time, Alkydes tried desperately.
He did everything he could to save Ijansel Lafmen.
He canceled the banquet, changed the time, replaced the guests, increased security—
But perhaps fate could not be defied.
He failed.
Again and again.
He refused to admit it—
That his mind had long since been eroded by guilt.
That in trying to save his mother in that broken state, even his remaining sanity was being consumed.
He gritted his teeth and endured—
But in this, his fifth regression—
He finally realized it.
‘I’m tired. I want it all to end.’
At some point, he had become too broken to recover.
Even if he would drown again in guilt and regret afterward—
He wanted to escape the regressions.
‘This is the last time.’
Even if he failed to save her—
He would not turn back time again.
Time flowed both fast and slow.
The moment of Ijansel’s death was approaching.
His hands trembled—whether from anxiety or emptiness, he couldn’t tell.
And then—
“I judge the sinners who attempted to assassinate Ijansel Lafmen!”
A clear, ringing voice yanked him out of his despair.
Alkydes widened his eyes and looked toward the center of the hall.
There stood a woman.
Artificial-looking brown hair. Blue eyes.
Aigle Atlas.
A massive magic circle spread across the floor, centered on the orange spear in her hand.
Several people were engulfed in flames.
Alkydes watched the scene—and Aigle—with a dazed expression.
Just as Aigle seemed to know him—
Alkydes, too, had secretly been aware of her.
They had no real connection.
But from the moment he first saw her, she had felt strangely familiar.
Still, he wasn’t in a position to dwell on such things.
He had been curious—
But never approached her.
‘And yet…’
What was she doing now?
He stared at her in shock.
Aigle turned—and their eyes met.
In that instant—
Alkydes felt something indescribable.
As if his heart were being tightly squeezed.
As he stood there, confused by the unfamiliar emotion—
Aigle spoke.
“I-It’s been a while, Alkydes!”
His eyebrow twitched.
“As you requested, I caught the ones who tried to assassinate Lady Ijansel Lafmen! Hahaha!”
At those words, Alkydes glanced at his mother.
“The banquet is over!”
She stood strong—commanding the knights.
Unlike all the previous loops where she collapsed, bleeding—
This time, she was alive.
Seeing that—
Relief surged through him.
He knew it instinctively.
She would not die.
And that meant—
The cursed regressions would finally end.
He turned back to Aigle.
She was smiling at him.
And that smile—
Made his chest tighten again.
Alkydes quickly walked toward her.
Then, without realizing it—
He pulled her into an embrace.
“W-Wait? Huh?!”
Aigle’s flustered voice rang in his ear.
He whispered quietly:
“Thank you.”
At those words, she froze.
Then—
As if comforting him, she gently patted his back.
His heart pounded violently at her touch.
The warmth against his back made his eyes sting.
* * *
Chirp chirp—
The sound of birds woke me up.
When did I fall asleep?
‘Right… I came back from the Lafmen estate, washed up quickly, got interrogated by Lily… and then went straight to bed.’
As I sat up, a notification window appeared with a chime.
Congratulations!
You have completed the first main quest given by the Divine Messenger:
<Before today ends, meet the Duke of Lafmen and stop the regression!>
The second main quest is being prepared.
Rewards for the first main quest are being distributed.
Reward: Plausible Fabrication
The moment I finished reading—
A ring dropped out of thin air.
Catching it instinctively, I muttered groggily:
“What is this…?”
The main quest was completed?
Then—
“…The regression really stopped?!”
I jumped to my feet.
Rushing to the window, I threw it open.
“Hello! Finally—new sunlight! New birdsong! Fresh air that clears your soul!”
At last—
My tomorrow had arrived!
…Though, honestly, it wasn’t as emotional as I expected.
I sat down on the sofa and replayed yesterday in my head.
For a brief moment, the Duke of Lafmen had leaned into me—
Then quickly regained composure.
He efficiently restored order to the ruined banquet.
He handed interrogation over to the furious Ijansel, dismissed the nobles, and then—
Looking at my dazed self, said in a tired voice:
“I’m occupied right now. I’ll arrange a proper meeting later. We’ll talk then.”
He had looked utterly exhausted.
‘Well… he’s watched his mother die countless times.’
I understood.
Still—
I didn’t expect him to hug me just to say thanks.
Even now, the shoulder he leaned on still felt warm.
‘I thought he was going to cry.’
If he had—
Would I have become the woman who made the Duke of Lafmen cry?
…Ugh. Just thinking about it was uncomfortable.
Yawning, I rubbed my shoulder.
‘I barely slept.’
All because Lily followed me home and interrogated me for hours.
What happened today?
What’s your relationship with the Duke?
Why did you hug him?
She was so intense that my uncle and aunt didn’t even get a chance to speak.
‘Right… Uncle and Aunt. What excuse do I even give them?’
Last night, things slid by because it was late and Lily was furious.
But today—
They would definitely question me.
And I had no idea what to say.
‘“So, one day started repeating, and I tried to stop it, and a divine messenger gave me quests, and I completed them, and… this happened!”’
Summarizing it like that somehow made it worse.
I couldn’t possibly say that out loud.
I brushed Lily off with “you don’t need to know,” but that wouldn’t work on them.
‘I thought I’d feel happier once this endless day ended…’
But I just felt… calm.
Maybe it had been too long since I felt anything intense.
Letting out a small sigh, I looked at the ring.
‘The second main quest is being prepared, right?’
What exactly was the Divine Messenger’s goal?
At first, I thought it was helping me stop the regression—
But now there’s a second quest?
So there’s a bigger plan?
‘Couldn’t they at least tell me what it is?’
Staring at the ring, I pressed its button.
A familiar window appeared.
Plausible Fabrication
A toy created by the Guardian of the Moon for amusement.
Effect: Grants the wearer’s words a strange persuasiveness.
Can be used multiple times if charged with ancient mana.
Duration: 2 hours
Cooldown: None
Has never been used. The first use will have triple effectiveness.
