Aurora put on her clothes and went downstairs, where she immediately saw Rosabelle sitting in a chair reading a book.
She looked very much like the little girl from Aurora’s memories—only now she had grown taller, more beautiful, and far more serious.
And it seemed she had completely forgotten about her.
“Lady Holy Knight,” Aurora greeted.
“This place is…?”
Rosabelle glanced up and saw the two of them.
She closed the book and removed her single-rimmed glasses.
“This is my home,” she explained.
“I had originally intended to leave you at an inn temporarily, but I had some questions I needed to ask you. Given my position, it’s not appropriate for me to appear in places like that. So I brought you here instead.”
Aurora understood and gave her a small bow to express her gratitude.
“There’s no need for formalities,” Rosabelle said.
“After all, I did have some selfish motives for bringing you here.”
“If I had handed you both over to the Law Enforcement Hall, I wouldn’t have been able to investigate this matter further.”
This wasn’t the first time cultists had appeared within the city.
Rosabelle had already reported the situation to the Law Enforcement Hall, expecting them to increase patrols and protect the townspeople.
But the old men at the Hall had decided to wait for the cultists to fully reveal themselves, planning to eliminate them all in one strike later.
That approach, however, would come at the cost of countless civilian lives.
Rosabelle refused to let that happen.
That’s why she patrolled the streets herself each night, searching for clues.
And last night, during her patrol, she ran into this panicked little witch.
After speaking with her, she learned that cultists were already active in the city—and rushed to the scene.
But now, more than the cultists, Rosabelle was focused on the elven girl before her, the one named Aurora.
“…That’s everything, Lady Holy Knight,” Aurora said after explaining how she encountered the cultists.
“We were merely passing through—we are not cultists.”
“Exactly, exactly! Aurora and I are both good people! We’re definitely not cultists or their accomplices or anything like that!” Avila chimed in from the side, eagerly nodding in support.
“I understand,” Rosabelle said.
“But I still have a few more questions.”
“I saw your magic, as well as the traces of battle in the alley. At first, I thought it was the human she mentioned fighting with the cultists—but now I see, it was your doing.”
“Tell me: what kind of magic did you use, and who exactly are you?”
Rosabelle believed that anyone capable of using such terrifyingly potent magic couldn’t be an ordinary elf.
While it was true that elves were naturally more magical than humans—and she had slain her fair share—this was the first time she’d encountered an elf who was both this beautiful and this powerful.
“I’m sorry… but I’m not entirely sure myself.”
Aurora admitted honestly.
She normally only used that magic for small, everyday tasks—like cleaning up spilled cups, restoring a smashed-up room after the noble girl had a tantrum, or reversing a shattered windowpane by a few seconds.
Aurora stretched out her palm.
A small golden magic circle appeared above it, etched with a clear twelve-hour dial. Each mark was drawn in delicate golden lines.
“This strange magic was something I discovered by accident,” she explained.
“When the hour and minute hands point to twelve, I can summon a bow and arrow. If I shoot someone with it, time freezes for them.”
“When it points to one, I can see what will happen 1.5 seconds in the future.”
“When it points to two, I can rewind time in a limited area by three seconds.”
“At three o’clock, I can accelerate time in the surroundings—but I can’t control the exact rate or duration, and it doesn’t affect living beings.”
“At four o’clock, if I come into contact with a living being, I can see everything they’ve seen throughout the day.”
“I haven’t gone beyond that. I’ve only ever used the magic up to the fourth hour.”
After finishing her explanation, Aurora looked at Rosabelle.
Rosabelle’s expression was one of complete disbelief.
As a Holy Knight, she’d seen all kinds of magic—elven magic, witchcraft, spells from sorcerers, even large-scale incantations—but time-manipulating magic?
She had never seen it.
Never even heard of it.
“You mean… you can control time?!” Avila couldn’t hold back and blurted it out.
Aurora nodded.
“Only in a very small area… and it consumes a massive amount of mana.”
“Wait, are you… like a sentient pocket watch or something?!” Avila gasped.
“A sentient… pocket watch?”
Aurora blinked in confusion.
That was certainly a novel comparison.
“Because after you passed out, you turned into a pocket watch. It was Her Excellency the Holy Knight who poured her magic into it—only then did you return to your original form.”
“I turned into a pocket watch??”
Aurora stared at her in disbelief.
The words sounded utterly absurd—so much so that she even wondered if Avila was mocking her.
But thinking more carefully, there was no reason for Avila to joke at a time like this.
“Is that true, Your Excellency?”
Still unable to believe it, Aurora looked toward Rosabelle for confirmation.
Rosabelle nodded.
“Yes. After you lost consciousness, you transformed into a pocket watch. If I hadn’t noticed the faint signs of breathing from the watch, I might have thought you’d fled.”
“There was a lingering trace of magic in it. I assumed that this might be your true form… and that your current body is something you maintain through magic.”
“But it seems even you don’t know the full story. You carry many mysteries within you, Miss Aurora.”
Rosabelle stood from her chair, walking over to pull open the curtains.
Dawn light spilled through the windows, casting its glow across the corner of the table.
The long and harrowing night had finally come to an end.
“Crap! I’m gonna be late for the school ceremony!”
Avila suddenly jumped up from her chair.
She looked toward the clock on the wall—6:10 AM.
“Oh no, oh no! If I’m late, Professor Beatrice is going to kill me!”
She slung a bunch of bags onto her back, hopped on her broomstick, and made for the door.
“Wait.”
A white, diamond-shaped barrier suddenly appeared in front of the entrance, and Avila smacked into it headfirst.
“Ow! My head…”
She collapsed onto the floor, clutching her forehead and groaning.
That was the second time she’d hit the exact same spot today.
“Miss Avila,” Rosabelle’s icy voice came from behind.
“The interrogation isn’t over. It’s still too soon for either of you to leave.”
Avila bounced up in frustration, about to yell—but when she saw Rosabelle’s sharp gaze, her confidence instantly shriveled.
Her voice dropped to a barely audible whimper.
“I-I-I’m sorry…”
“But if I miss the entrance ceremony… I’ll get punished…”
Her tone was full of grievance, like someone being unfairly scolded.
“Your Excellency, please allow me to stay behind. She knows very little about all this—this matter has nothing to do with her.”
Aurora didn’t want to drag Avila into trouble.
After all, she was the one who had gone after the cultists—it had nothing to do with Avila.
“Fine, fine. Miss Avila, you may leave.”
“But Miss Aurora,” Rosabelle continued, her voice regaining its usual authority, “there are far too many strange things about you. As a Holy Knight of the kingdom, I have a duty to keep you by my side for further observation.”
As she spoke, Rosabelle deliberately avoided meeting Aurora’s gaze.
She didn’t want Aurora to sense the sudden, inexplicable emotion within her—this flicker of selfishness that had quietly taken root.
If Aurora hadn’t cast some sort of curse on her, then why… why did she feel so restless every time she looked at her?
She had to get to the bottom of it.