The Elasticity of Fate

It was Erkel who pulled me out of the lethargy I’d been suffering from since the Crown Prince’s shocking “falling-in-love” incident. He proposed a single hypothesis:

Can we use keywords to build relationships with the original main characters that differ from the original work?

I wasn’t entirely sure what the Crown Prince had originally thought of me. At best, I was probably just a friend of his younger brother, the younger sibling of his escort knight, or perhaps just a bothersome brat. I wasn’t the only one who felt a sense of wariness bordering on antipathy rather than affection. In the Crown Prince’s case, feelings that had been buried at rock bottom were forcibly surged to the surface as the original plot took hold—to the point where even he was bewildered by the sudden outburst of affection. At the time, I couldn’t help but feel frustrated, as if the massive, absolute presence of the “Original Work” had blocked my path like destiny.

But questions remained. That supposedly absolute Original Work had allowed a subtle crack for Erkel and me. Unlike the original, I didn’t go to the Academy—Erkel went instead—and I had even intercepted Gredore’s diary.

If so, what about the emotions toward the main characters, which act as the most crucial element in the novel?

If, instead of a radical shift from minus to plus like the Crown Prince, one maintains a certain level of intimacy right up until the keyword is achieved? Could that, under the permission of the Original Work, transform into a different shade of emotion?

At first, I barely understood half of what Erkel was saying. I had to leave several mental question marks just to shove the concept into my head.

The conclusion I reached by racking my stiff brain was that while nothing is certain yet, the Original Work is like a rubber band. If you pull it hard, it snaps back hard; if you just nudge it, the recoil is small. I suppose an author really is an author—it was a perspective I never could have come up with on my own.

To verify this, I needed Luke.

The Crown Prince was already a lost cause since his part of the story had begun. Cedric Klein—that bastard was too insolent, so I’d skip him. Karwyn Dimension was far away in the North, likely swinging his sword in a frozen castle. Even if Leo had been stationed there, he wouldn’t have taken me along. That left only one person.

“Hmm…”

As if asking if that was all I had, Luke ignored my grip and repeated flipping the brim of my hat up and down. I was putting a fair amount of strength into it, but it was useless. My pride stung, and I subconsciously bit my lip. I tried to soothe myself by saying it was the age gap, but even considering that, the difference was too much. After my sparring with Blodgett, I thought I’d become quite capable, but I realized once again that my initial goal of “becoming moderately strong” wasn’t enough. Recalling the letter I’d sent to change the course of events, I tried to act shamelessly.

“You said you were interested in me.”

“Right, I did.”

“Since you are… do you have any intention of keeping that interest going a bit longer?”

At that, Luke let out a laugh as if he’d just heard something incredibly amusing. He laughed at least as much as he had when I vowed to kill Berinon.

“You want to get close to me?”

“Well… it’s always better to have many connections. There must be plenty of people who want to be close to you. And I’m also… interested… in you.”

The last part felt so uncomfortable and awkward that I almost had to force the words out. It must have been obvious that I was lying. Surprisingly, Luke answered readily.

“Fine, Rin. Since I like you.”

Luke scanned me from head to toe with narrowed eyes, as if appraising me, and added:

“I’m busy today so I can’t hang out. Go back, and I’ll see you in two days. Do you know the grocery store in the third alley?”

Fortunately, it was a place I remembered.

“The shop with the brand-new sign?”

“I’ll come find you if you’re there.”

The third alley was closer to the central street than to Nox. It was a place where I wouldn’t have to keep moving to avoid lingering stares. There was no reason to refuse. I nodded, pushing away his hand that was still obsessively toyed with my hat.

Elliott returned soon after. He hadn’t been able to put down the ledgers he’d been clutching until the very last moment.

When he first boarded the train for the East, he’d been bouncing with excitement at the thought of traveling. But habit is a frightening thing; he simply couldn’t let go of work. He personally scoured the streets, comparing goods at every shop and checking prices.

While his mouth lamented that he just wanted to play, his body looked ready to manufacture work if there wasn’t any. Watching him—the future pillar of the Empire’s commerce—I felt a fresh sense of admiration. As most of the peers we grew up with left for the Academy, I naturally ended up comparing my life to Elliott’s.

It’s not that I’m living lazily, it’s just that he’s living too hard. Is this the sorrow of a student who lives next door to the top-ranked student in the school?

Grateful that there was no one nearby to compare me to that “Number One,” I recalled the conversation we had at the station.

‘Did the thing you were trying to do go well?’

Elliott asked casually as he boarded the train. Wearing a sleek dark navy coat that suited him perfectly, he had naturally swept back his black hair, which contrasted with his pale cheeks. With his mature attire and that characteristic cold, expressionless face, it was hard to call him a child.

I nodded obediently. He really would have made a great actor. Seeing him this time, his acting skills weren’t half bad either.

‘Probably.’

The atmosphere of a melancholic movie protagonist was shattered as Elliott’s face crumpled in annoyance.

‘Probably? I suffered that much while hanging around with Kyle Berinon, and you say “probably”?’

For a moment, his composure slipped as if a long-suppressed resentment had burst out. He spoke sharply before catching himself and hurriedly regaining his cool, though his huffing breath hadn’t quite settled. Realizing my mistake, I quickly negated my previous words.

‘No. No, it all went well. Totally well.’

Elliott snorted but didn’t pry further. Wondering how to soothe the sulking fellow, I decided to leak a little “Author-Certified” information.

‘Soon, a personal portable communication device will be announced at the Academy.’

‘A communication device?’

It was already suspicious that a guy who just graduated from the Academy had snatched the position of Magic Tower Master—a title most only hope for when they are white-haired elders. Cedric Klein was a genius among geniuses. I sneered inwardly with a bit of spite.

In the original work, once he obtains Gredore’s letters, he fixes their flaws, adds new features, and creates a new item. Formed in the shape of a pocket watch, its function was limited to sending simple messages, but for the Empire, it was revolutionary.

Even if it could only send a single line of text, having it was better than nothing. Once something like this appears, something better will follow, and then something even newer.

Erkel was certain that by the time Llewellyn reached adulthood, the initial model—which required a mage to charge it manually—would be released, and within two or three years, it would be improved to use magic stones. Watching the confident Erkel, I honestly felt a bit stifled. Why does he remember these peripheral details so clearly while his memory of the main story is so thin…?

I still hadn’t a clue why the Crown Prince was roaming the capital in that mask, so no matter how lucrative the information was, I couldn’t fully welcome it. Still, I couldn’t let it show and just agonized internally. After all, the one feeling more stifled than me must be Erkel, who might die when he turns seventeen.

Anyway, Erkel decided that the communication device was absolutely necessary, and I agreed. The diary had to fall into Cedric Klein’s hands.

My heart thrashed even as I sent the diary I had to the Academy after checking the route several times. I even lost sleep worrying about what would happen if someone opened it and discovered its secrets.

It was a relief that Robenus was closer to the Academy than the capital was. A reply saying he had received the gift arrived quickly. Erkel boasted that he would make sure Cedric discovered Gredore’s diary “by chance.”

When he said that once it was in his hands, Cedric wouldn’t be able to resist analyzing every bit of it, the thought crossed my mind: What if he even uncovers the conversations we had? But Erkel seemed to have considered that as well, speaking nonchalantly.

[It’s not like it has a huge capacity. I’ll work on it before handing it over to Cedric, so don’t worry.]

Seeing Erkel’s repeated confidence, I suppressed my anxiety.

‘I don’t know what form it will take, but keep an eye on the student exhibits.’

Since the original plot has shifted slightly, I don’t know if it will be produced as a pocket watch this time either. But even this much of a hint would be enough for Elliott to find Cedric Klein’s idea and create an investment opportunity. If all goes well, he’ll be handling much more money than he did with the Eastern train. This should be a fair price to pay him back.

Elliott pulled the corners of his mouth down tight and nodded.

Now that he had returned to the capital, my free time at the hotel was over.

I moved into the mansion Leo had picked out. Seth Blodgett was delighted since it was close to the Blodgett estate. He treated me like a fairly close friend, and sometimes Berinon was with us. Even though his venom had mostly drained, Berinon still couldn’t mingle naturally with the group, but I made an effort to talk to him, even if it was forced.

It was embarrassing, but my influence among the Blodgett group was decent, and among young boys, being close to someone influential meant holding a similarly high position in the internal hierarchy.