Alisa held her breath. She didn’t know what to say. She was afraid that if she tried to comfort him and brought up her own story, he would tell her it was none of a child’s business, and that would break her.

That was when she felt warmth on the back of her hand.

Eden slowly pushed her hand away. He pulled his clothes back down and murmured:

“Just pretend you didn’t see it.”

“……”

“You didn’t see anything.”

Alisa took one step back from the boy.

The dim light settled between them.

Eden turned away. He pulled down the doublet and tightened the loosened belt. The sound of wind brushing through branches drifted over.

She felt like she might cry. But when she pressed the back of her hand against her eyelids, they were dry and rough. Alisa stared at him blankly.

Does grief too deep for tears exist?

Her chest felt full to the brim, swelling with something that made her stomach turn. And yet nothing was spilling out. That felt strange.

Then it came to her all at once.

For years after her mother disappeared, she had only managed to cry on rainy days. She had believed that holding back tears was what made her a good child, and she had pressed everything down deep inside.

“Haah……”

Eden let out a long breath.

It was the kind of deep exhale that gathers back what has slipped out unguarded. He rubbed his face for a long moment before turning back to look at her.

Alisa was staring at the back of his head, then dropped her gaze.

She should have pretended not to notice. Startling at the blood and lifting his clothes without asking — that had been a clear mistake.

Everyone has a bottom they want to keep hidden. And she had gone and dragged it out by force.

To Alisa, Eden was one of only two friends she had. But to Eden, she was someone he had met just twice.

What happens to us now?

Do we go back to the attic like this? Will we never be able to meet again?

“Alisa.”

The moment Eden called her name, Alisa’s head snapped up.

“Why do you look like that?”

“Wh, what do you mean?”

“From your expression alone, one might think I had stuffed you in a sack, flogged you, and left you under an arch bridge.”

“What a terrible thing to say……”

“Ha……”

The laugh that came from his lips was dry.

Eden shifted to sit properly on the picnic mat and rummaged through the basket. He pulled out a baguette and took a large bite.

Alisa slowly settled back into her spot. She sat a hand’s width further from him than before, pulled her knees to her chest, and rested her chin on them.

A scone was pushed in front of her face while she sat in silence.

“Alisa, here.”

She hesitated for a moment, then took a bite of what he held out. The scone, baked that morning, was a little hard, but nutty and good. Alisa was still chewing when she bowed her head.

These cowardly tears.

Look at them, only surfacing now that it seemed Eden wasn’t going to leave right away.

Alisa felt utterly petty and looked down at the ground. She couldn’t bring herself to meet Eden’s eyes.

Eden spoke quietly.

“A few days ago, there was a hunting competition.”

“……A hunting competition?”

“Yes. My escort was a knight who had served as my swordsmanship instructor for many years. He had been at my side since I was seven, I think.”

She had a feeling she knew what was coming next.

Alisa slowly raised her head. Eden was staring into the forest, where nothing could be seen in the dark.

“He led me outside the designated hunting area.”

“……”

“It didn’t take long to realize we had left the boundary. I hadn’t been paying close attention, but I had looked at the map the day before. Well, even without that…… the undergrowth was too thick not to notice.”

“So…… did you run?”

“No. I kept following. I didn’t even ask whether this was the right path.”

Alisa pressed her lips together.

Had he wanted to believe? Had he thought there must have been some misunderstanding? Alisa had never been in that situation, but she felt she could understand it a little.

If Roben asked her to go for a walk, she would probably trot along after him even at a late hour. If only to quiet the suspicion that had begun to stir in a corner of her heart.

“The surroundings grew darker and darker, and then he suddenly turned around…… and drew his sword. No — he spurred his horse and charged at me……”

Eden’s words cut off.

“When I came to my senses, he was dead. I can’t remember whether I was the one who killed him or not…… No, wait. I was the only one there, so it must have been me. It would be more accurate to say I can’t remember how I killed him.”

Alisa looked at him. Eden’s face was calm. Looking at him, you would never know anything had happened. She hesitated for a moment, then reached out and covered the back of his hand with hers.

Eden’s hand was trembling. Like someone standing alone in a forest in the dead of winter, who had already accepted that no one was coming to find them.

‘What do I do?’

She wanted to comfort him, but she didn’t want him to feel pitied. She didn’t want to say the wrong thing and push him away.

But Eden needed something right now.

While Alisa was still hesitating, his voice reached her.

“Alisa.”

“……Yes, Eden.”

“Is it all right if I stay here a little longer?”

“……”

“I don’t want to go back. There’s no one there except people who want me dead.”

Eden murmured it under his breath, then turned to look at Alisa, who hadn’t said a word.

She was looking quietly down at her own blood-stained hand. As though she hadn’t heard what he said.

Maybe she heard and is pretending she didn’t. That was what Eden thought, and he closed his eyes slowly.

Alisa Ludendorff was thirteen years old. An ordinary girl who knew nothing of what went on in royal courts. When that thought reached him, everything he had just said felt utterly foolish.

What was he expecting from this small girl who could barely look after herself?

Pathetic.

Eden was in the middle of silently reproaching himself, just about to shut the door on his own feelings, when Alisa shoved her hand through the gap.

“Then Eden, should I come there?”

“……What?”

“I think I have a rough idea of what the conditions are. I can’t be certain, but…… it’s worth trying.”

Alisa grabbed his hand without warning and jumped to her feet. Then she started running, just like that.

“W, wait, Alisa……”

She was running far too fast for someone relying on a single lantern. Eden didn’t know what he was doing or where they were going, but he had no desire to let go of the hand holding his.

The two of them broke out of the forest, passed the estate, and came to stand on the stone footbridge over the Montrau River.

The river wind wrapped around them both. Eden hunched his shoulders slightly, but Alisa seemed not to feel the cold at all.

Eden narrowed his brow and murmured:

“Alisa, do you really think this is possible?”

“Eden, trust me. The condition for controlling time is being in contact with water while wishing desperately. That seems to be all it takes.”

“Wait, you……”

Alisa turned her head. The hand setting the lantern on the bridge railing was full of certainty.

“Don’t worry, Eden.”

“……If you say so.”

Eden moved without hesitation, following Alisa as she climbed up onto the railing.

Starlight drifted over the Montrau River in the dead of night. His heart began to pound in time with the rushing sound of the water below.

This is madness. Reason whispered inside him. But Eden ignored it. To h*ll with reason. Right now he was in a world far in the future, holding the hand of a girl who believed she could stop time.

Alisa said nothing, but he knew what he had to do in the next moment.

One, two, and three.

The two of them leapt into the Montrau River in the middle of the night. Each raindrop could be seen passing alongside them. They glittered and shone like stars.

Even if the only thing he gained from jumping into this water was a terrible cold, he would have no regrets.

Just before hitting the river, Eden looked at Alisa.

Both her cheeks glittered in the moonlight, eyes closed.

In the rain that had begun to fall once more, time turned back.