Piece 23 (part 1)

Hypothetically speaking, different realities do exist.

A different world, different timeline, different universe. It's a level of knowledge that goes beyond space and time itself, and it's not something that I was able to learn until many-many years after. It's not something even my parents are that well aware of, despite them having capabilities at the level of deities.

However, one thing is always certain. For every occurrence that happens in this world, a different reality will exist where that specific event did not happen.

For example, I'm sure that somewhere out there, a world where my parents did not turn into stone existed. A world where I lived and genuinely grew up as a princess. A boring world where it's all just money and riches with no challenges at all.

Thinking about it now, I wouldn't be the person I am today had my parents never turned to stone. I probably wouldn't appreciate all the things that I have in my life right now, and despite all the terrible things that happened to me, I'm glad that I went through all those hardships.

However, if there's ever one hardship that I genuinely… utterly regretted, and truly despised, it will be during that time.

It was not long after my parents had returned after being turned into stone. It was something that happened when they weren't around, and I was forced to do something that forever changed me.

The moment I unsheathed the red blade, a gift that I received from my master for my twelfth birthday.

And when I sliced down… all of those bandits. 

"What are you writing?" From behind, a heavy manly voice was heard coming from the door.

I was so focused on writing that I didn't realize the bedroom door behind me was open, and I turned around to find an adult man with spiky black hair and a pair of round glasses wearing a very clean butler outfit. His stern gaze stared at me as he entered my extravagant empress bedroom, and I just fixed my sitting position to face him.

"Just my… personal notes. I'm writing about the events that happened in my earlier life, so I can always remember them as I grew older." I explained to him about what a diary was, and the glasses guy folded his hands as he approached me.

"Such a pointless thing. It's not like you're having memory loss. Why bother wasting your time?" He said with his annoying and stern voice as usual, and I found his cold demeanor to be relaxing.

"Perhaps it's not for me, but for others who might wish to know me better. Of course, this 'Diary' is something I wish to keep a secret for as long as possible. But once a hundred years has passed, or even a thousand years, there might be people out there who discovered these notes of mine and learned better regarding my life." I explained the thought process and reasoning behind writing diaries, and he understood the big picture right away.

"I see. So, let's just say it's for the future generation."

"A part of the reason. Most of the time, I just write because I enjoy it."

"How boring. What can be so interesting in the life of an ordinary human, anyway?" He asked as he sat down on my gigantic bed, and I chuckled while staring at his face. His looks are exactly that of a young adult man, but he isn't at all a human on the inside.

"It's definitely something you'll learn more as you go, Harry." I said softly to him, and the sharp-toned guy only snorted.

DEG!!!!

At that moment, my heart felt like it took an extra heartbeat.

A really… powerful heartbeat.

I lifted my hand and placed it onto my chest, trying to understand what the hell just happened to me. I couldn't exactly figure out what the issue was, and I started to panic as I tried figuring out the problem.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked as he stood up from my bed, but I only looked so confused.

I lifted my hand and held my head, but no matter how hard I tried figuring out what happened, I can't really tell. My body is doing just fine, and I don't find anything wrong with anything. However, that powerful heartbeat is most definitely important.

"I… I don't know."

"Millis." Harry pointed his finger towards me, and I turned around in a careful manner.

By the time I looked at the book, I found that the writings I've done on the book are shining golden. It seems that some sort of magic is being activated into the writing, and I noticed that the things that I wrote are being rewritten.

"T-This is…"

"What is it?"

"Time magic." I uttered as I stood up from my chair, staring in awe towards my diary.

The things I wrote are being changed word by word, and I realized that the story it is telling is completely different from what I remembered. I realized that the reasoning behind it must be something to do with what the story was about, and I had a hunch that all of it came from inside my head.

My memories… are they being rewritten!?

"Harry!!" I shouted, and he hurriedly arrived on my right. "Freeze the book in time! Don't let the time magic continue to change the book!"

"As you wish. In fact, I can reverse the time magic from continuing." Harry said confidently as he placed his left hand above my diary, and he began activating his godly magic.

" 'God of the dragon race, hold this book for eternity.' "

Harry's mouth began uttering a powerful magic chant, and I can feel the shockwave of his godly magical energy being released into the air. In that instant, I can feel the world around me freeze as Harry's time magic began to activate.

The sound of wind disappeared, and the world has turned completely silent. Everything started to turn black and white due to the absence of time, which stopped even light from reaching our senses. 

My eyes studied the bright red aura that was flying from Harry's palms all the way until the book, and I noticed that the golden light coming from the book is indeed being removed. The original writing that I wrote began to return slowly, and once all of them returned to the original, Harry turned his sweating glare back to me.

"It's done, but I will have to keep the book frozen to stop the text from disappearing again." Harry uttered, and I realized how important this moment is.

"Then, I'll read out the text for you. I need you to remember everything that I've previously written, because I certainly won't remember it." I instructed as I hurriedly opened the page where the magic was activated, and I opened my eyes widely at what was written.

… This is…

"Hurry, Vermillis!" Harry shouted as he kept the time magic going, and it's certainly a draining magic, even for a god like him.

"T-The writing is as follows… 

'Saturday, 30th June 1176.

My elementary school is holding a study trip to a castle filled with knights. And I… 

I slaughtered one hundred and twenty bandits.' "

I… don't understand. I don't remember anything about that memory, at all. And yet, I wrote it. It was my own handwriting, and I wrote it only about an hour ago.

How did I forget about it? How did I…?

"I can't hold on anymore, Millis!! Just the important parts!!" Harry shouted from right next to me, and I can see the red aura he is releasing is gradually turning thinner and thinner.

"R-Right. 'That day, I slaughtered a hundred and twenty bandits that my first ever crush, Roy Russels, brought to kill another student.

I even killed him afterwards. And by the time the battle ended, my hair turned white, and I took my… own life.

My father then used his lifespan to save me, and I cannot help but regret that decision very much. My mother spent three years finding a way to return the life that was taken away from my father, but she ended up losing her own sanity in the process. In the end, everything became well again, but the price the two had to pay just to undo a mistake I've made is too large.

And they… both passed away ten years after.' "

My words came to a halt because the writing has ended. Harry couldn't hold back anymore, and he stopped inputting energy into the book.

VWUUNNNGGG!!!!!!!

Harry's magic was cancelled, and the return of the time magic that deletes my writing punched him backwards. His left hand was smoking badly, and I realized that it was all because he was fighting the time magic.

Incredible… I cannot remember anything about what I just read.

"Harry… what do you remember?" I asked while looking very confused, but the lizardman only stared at his smoking fist with a depth of confusion.

"Everything… But, it felt like the entire world had changed, Millis."

"H-How so??"

"I don't quite understand it myself. Time magic is a mysterious weapon, and it seems like someone has used it wrongly. I have immunity because I am a god, and I can sense that so many things about this world have changed immensely."

"S-Such as??"

Harry began to understand our situation better, and his gaze all of a sudden landed onto me. His eyes became even wider, and I noticed that he must think there's something very wrong about me.

"W-What is it?" I asked out of concern, and he lifted his right hand to point at me. Specifically, at my head.

"… Your hair. It's fully red now." He uttered with so much confusion, and I returned him with the same confused gaze.

Uhm… Okay?

"W-Was it not already red?"

"Millis. For the eight years I've known you, you only ever had long white hair."

W-White hair!?!?

"I-I don't understand."

"It seems that whatever time magic was casted just now, it changed simply everything. The flow of this world was very different compared to before, and yet for some reason, we are still here right now." Harry tried analyzing by himself, but I can't exactly hold on to my confusion any longer.

"Harry. What was written in that book? What are the things that I've read out to you??" I asked with genuine concern, and he returned me with a look that I never guessed would ever be directed at me from him.

A hint… of sadness.

"You… were dead once."

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