Book 17.5: Chapter 13
“Puah!!”
Inard crashed into a pillar. The intense collision made him feel as though all of his bones shattered. Every single organ screamed in pain. His tears obstructed his vision, while his blood dripped down in front of him. He weakly slid down onto the ground. He struggled to raise his head. He looked at Elizabeth with mixed emotions.
“She’s my wife, my most beloved. She’s the woman I wholeheartedly love. I still remember the time we shared in the forest. I still love her; in fact, the warmth of her hand not long ago still lingers in my hand. Why, though, why is she trying to kill me? Why does she want to kill me?” wondered Inard.
“I must say, your swordplay is similar to how it was in the past. Your swordplay is superb, my dear husband. Nevertheless, sorry, but I’m no longer my past self anymore. Do you still remember when we went to save those children in that castle? That was when I noticed I was pregnant. By the time we left the castle, it was almost time for us to separate. My nation was attacked, and I couldn’t take my son with me. That was the most painful decision I had to make in my life. That’s the memory I’m most reluctant to recall. You took our son back and had Vyvyan raise Troy. I’m grateful for that. I made a mistake. I was too weak. I love Troy so much, yet I didn’t keep him with me. That’s why I was emotional when I saw Troy by my side this time despite him being fake.”
Inard watched his wife approach him. However, he felt less and less love. Instead, he grew increasingly confused. He understood the first part of what she said, but he didn’t understand the part that came after.
“What’s this about Vyvyan raising Troy and Elizabeth’s nation being attacked? Didn’t Elizabeth take her son back and claim the throne? Didn’t she then form a friendly relationship with elves? What’s going on? What happened after the castle…?” Inard asked himself.
Terrified, Inard tried to recall the event, only to discover that he couldn’t recall it. He couldn’t recall the appearance of the castle, the sunlight that day and what Vyvyan and Elizabeth did. It was as though that day never existed. There was a big chunk of his memory missing. The memories of that day had vanished. He didn’t notice it in all those years.
“What exactly is going on? Why have I forgotten about that day? Why didn’t I notice it? If the events of that day didn’t unfold, what happened to my life up until now?” silently questioned Inard.
“Have you noticed that you can’t remember the events of that day? That’s because you don’t want to recall it for what came after it was the beginning of our eternal separation!! It was then that my pregnancy was revealed. Then, I gave birth to Troy one year later. Sadly, I went home alone in the end. Vyvyan and you raised him. You eventually died in the desert in the Northwest; hence, you never returned, and we never met again. We killed Vyvyan and Elizabeth, but there are no signs of this world collapsing, which means you’re the culprit as I suspected. You’re the one who controls time with magic. You didn’t want to face our future and deleted that day, thereby altering the flow of time. That’s why our timeline has gone awry. That’s how you have you have your current lives!!”