6-2 Marius
If Selina is reading this, it means you’ve been given another chance at life.
Wonderful. I’ve succeeded in altering the world. Now I can proudly say that I’m a magician worthy of the Seven Stars.
However, Selina, you probably don’t remember me.
It’s understandable. Magic always requires a price. The cost of changing the world far exceeds mere magical power.
To cast this spell, I had to offer my very existence as payment. In other words, I had to give up my own existence to the world.
Do you understand what I’m saying? If you’re still the Selina I knew, I’m afraid you might throw this book away at this point, but I hope you’ve grown as a person in your second life.
In short, in the world you’re in now, I no longer exist.
Let me introduce myself. I’m Marius Ravenwood. Well, I’m your only friend.
Our first meeting goes back to when we were about three years old.
There was an incredibly annoying gathering where noble children of the same age were brought to the Rosenberg Duke’s house to interact with you. After all, you were an uncontrollable monster full of selfishness. You were like a ‘living nuisance’ created by the Duke, who indulged your every whim, and the Duchess, who refused to deal with you.
So, with each meeting, the number of participants decreased, and finally, only I remained.
This is quite an achievement. It proved that there are things impossible even with the power of a Duke’s family.
The reason I alone continued was that I was allowed to read one book from the Duke’s library each time I visited. In other words, my thirst for knowledge was held hostage. Although my family had many books, the Duke’s family had even more.
As a result, during these gatherings, you would hit me, kick me, and use me as a horse.
Moreover, when you ordered me, I had to kneel and obey.
It was like, “Who do you think you are?”
Also, every time I went, the servants assigned to you had changed. Taking care of you must have been tough. I felt sorry for them.
But when I became your only playmate, you seemed to have had a change of heart.
After indulging your selfishness for a while, we started reading books together. At first, I thought it was a nuisance. You started following me even during my reward time.
But strangely, you were quiet only during that time.
Looking at the book I was reading, you’d say,
“Hmph, looks like a boring book,”
and then you’d read a different book yourself.
I heard from a servant I became friendly with that after I left, you’d pick up the book I had been reading and start reading it yourself.
The books I read were quite difficult, mostly about magic, so I heard you’d throw tantrums there too.
But Selina, you were competitive, so you’d ask your tutor, study hard, and manage to read them.
Then the next time we met, you told me,
“The book you were reading was easy.”
It was funny. Some of those books were so difficult that even adults couldn’t read them. They weren’t something that you, who hated studying, could read.
That’s why your tutors were very grateful to me.
“Thanks to you, the young lady has started studying!” they’d say.
You know, it’s thanks to me that you became somewhat proficient in magic and barely passed at the academy, right?
Selina never thanked me though. In fact, I’ve never seen you say “thank you” to anyone.
Our relationship continued for a long time. Your behavior improved little by little. Like a crystal that takes a hundred years to grow by a fingertip’s length.
But from a general perspective, you were still selfish and bossy, and not very well-liked by other noble children.
And I thought that was fine.
I started to think that I was all Selina needed.
I may have said a lot of bad things about you, but I wasn’t much of a person either.
The truth is, I didn’t really mind meeting you.
Selina, you were beautiful. I was surprised when I first met you.
Eyes like black jewels. A face in miraculous harmony. Soft, silky white skin.
Your long black hair was so delicate and beautiful, like a work of art, that I even took home some fallen strands once.
“I can’t believe such a beautiful girl exists!” I was moved. You were like a princess straight out of a fairy tale.
Well, even with all that, your personality was bad enough to drive others away…
You know, I wanted to monopolize you. I thought it was fine if I was your only friend.
But the truth is, as a friend, I should have said things to you that needed to be said.
I entered Rosewood Academy when I was thirteen.
The magic class here is where every magician aspires to be, but I was able to enter three years earlier than the usual age of sixteen.
This might sound impressive. Indeed, I was somewhat talented.
But not to that extent.
On my thirteenth birthday, you said to me,
“Happy birthday, Marius. I’ve prepared the best present for you. You’ll be able to enter Rosewood Academy’s magic class next year! I asked my father. How about that? Isn’t it amazing?”
…It was so amazing I almost fainted. I realized the Rosenberg Duke’s power could make even this possible.
Of course, I couldn’t refuse. It would damage the Duke’s reputation.
Even though it was my birthday, that night, our house was filled with a heavy atmosphere as if ten relatives had died.
And my father, with deep wrinkles between his brows, said to me,
“You’ll have to work as if your life depends on it.”
I can say it now, but it was really troublesome!
From that day on, I studied as if my life depended on it. After all, all my classmates were three years older than me. If I couldn’t keep up with the classes, it would cause trouble for the Duke and affect the reputation of the Ravenwood family.
And above all, you would be criticized again.
“Ah, the Rosenberg daughter is causing trouble again,” they’d say.
I wanted to avoid that at all costs. I didn’t want you to be spoken ill of because of me.
So, I tried desperately.
I worked hard to be the best in both practical skills and academics. When you found out that I had become the top student at the end of the first year, you laughed innocently.
“As expected of my Marius.”
I hated it. You were smiling happily without knowing how I felt.
But even so, I wanted you to keep smiling.
I continued to maintain the top position in the magic class until graduation.
When I graduated, I felt relieved. I thought the burden had been lifted from my shoulders.
As I graduated, Selina, you entered Rosewood Academy.
Shortly before your enrollment, when you proudly told me,
“I’m engaged to Lord Edward!”
I felt a little pain in my chest. Just a little, though.
Considering the position of the Duke’s family, I thought it was a natural course of events.
After that, I started working as a magic researcher.
I devoted myself to researching “time magic,” which I had been interested in for a long time.
The research went well. After all, I no longer needed to deal with you.
I felt a little lonely, so I threw myself into research to distract from that feeling.
And this book is what I completed.
It’s an artifact that, by fixing the time axis, is unaffected by any external interference.
It’s a book that could serve as a stepping stone to the world’s memory, where all events, thoughts, and emotions from the beginning of time are recorded.
Of course, it’s just a tiny step forward.
Your reaction when I showed you this great achievement was rather lukewarm.
“What’s that? It’s not impressive at all. It’s meaningless.”
That’s what you said to me. Well, it can’t be helped. To understand its greatness, you needed a certain level of knowledge about magic.
But a few days later, you came up with something outrageous again.
“I recommended Marius for the Seven Stars.”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
“Wouldn’t it be amazing if my friend became one of the Seven Stars?”
You smiled innocently, and my mind went blank.
Recommended for the top seven magicians in the country? Me?
“Just because you don’t have other friends doesn’t mean you should recommend your only friend for the pinnacle of magicians!”
I almost blurted that out, but somehow managed to hold back.
There’s a limit to how unreasonable the duke’s family can be. You really should consider the trouble you cause others.
Although my research was fairly well-regarded, I was still just a novice researcher.
I really wanted to decline such a title as it was too much for me to handle.
But I had no choice. At that time, the rumors I heard about Selina were quite terrible.
“The Duke of Rosenberg’s daughter is abusing her power at Rosewood Academy.”
“The young lady is harassing the saint, who is a national treasure.”
“Even the crown prince, her fiancé, is at a loss with the young lady’s selfishness.”
Having already graduated from the academy, there was nothing I could do.
However, I couldn’t allow the addition of another bad reputation like “She recommended an incompetent personal friend for the Seven Stars.”
So I rushed to complete the magic called [Reset], which I had been researching in parallel with [Record].
[Reset] is a time magic that activates upon the target’s death, rewinding time to start over from the beginning. Moreover, it comes with the bonus of retaining knowledge from the first life. Without this bonus, it would be a meaningless magic that just leads to the same outcome.
However, this magic required one person as a price. And not just anyone – it needed someone with the “will to become the price.” It couldn’t be just anyone.
In fact, this is the result of maximizing efficiency. After all, it allows one person to change the world. Actually, it’s rewriting the world, but it works by making the world misunderstand the magic’s purpose as [giving a person a chance to redo their life], thus minimizing its scope.
In the few months leading up to the Seven Stars selection, I devoted myself to research, forgetting to eat or sleep.
It was even more challenging than when I entered Rosewood Academy three years ahead of my peers.
My father, friends from the academy, and fellow researchers all helped me.
Everyone was kind enough to lend a hand. They sympathized, saying, “You must be having a tough time.”
Everyone knew about my long relationship with Selina.
Your bad reputation came in handy sometimes.
And so, I managed to present the basic theory of [Reset] in time for the selection, and I was chosen for the Seven Stars.
It was just a theory, but it was groundbreaking magic. I think it was evaluated along with [Record]. Both were research theories that dealt with the principles of the world.
The duke’s family might have had some influence, but I was relieved.
I thought I could show the world that Selina wasn’t wrong, that she at least had an eye for people.
But you were charged with a crime at the academy’s graduation party. Under the pretext of attempted murder of the saint.
At first, I didn’t take it too seriously either. After all, you were a duke’s daughter, and I thought that even if you were charged, the punishment wouldn’t be too severe.
Of course, what you did was unforgivable, and some atonement was necessary.
However, the sentence passed on you was death.
I don’t know why it turned out that way. Maybe the duke’s family’s influence had waned, or perhaps the saint was a more important figure than we thought, or your behavior had been worse than expected.
In any case, my judgment had been too naive.
I should have confronted Selina more directly. Even if it meant being disliked, even if it meant arguing, I should have corrected you. I can’t regret it enough.
That’s why I went to see you in the prison tower where you were confined.
“I’m not wrong!”
“You’re one of the Seven Stars, right? Help me with your magic!”
“Why is everyone abandoning me?”
When I met you, you were crying and screaming pathetically, refusing to acknowledge any of your faults. It was as if you had grown up without changing from the selfish princess you were at three years old.
That’s the problem, Selina. If a white knight saw you in that state, he would pass right by and go look for another princess.
But I wasn’t a righteous prince. I was an evil wizard captivated by you.
Because there was a guard, I couldn’t say much, but I secretly picked up some of your fallen hair.
And in my drawer, I had your hair that I had collected since childhood.
Enough to serve as a catalyst for the ritual.
All that’s left is… for me to perform the ritual before you’re executed.
As a result, I will become something that never existed in the first place. No one will remember me, no one will know me. That’s the price required to alter the world.
You were known as a bad duke’s daughter, but I don’t think I was that bad. Maybe I’m the only one who thinks so.
So I’m hoping that if you get another chance at life, you might turn out a bit better.
After all, don’t people mellow out as they get older?
Please, don’t hold a grudge and try to kill the saint, okay?
The saint, you see, is a person burdened with a difficult role of her own.
I’m resetting your life at the cost of my existence. I’m not asking you to become like the saint, but I hope you’ll remain just a slightly bad duke’s daughter.
Well, by the time you’re executed, you’ll have completely forgotten about me.
But you know, I thought that was a bit sad.
I’m giving up everything for you. I have no regrets about that.
Still, I want you, at least, to remember me.
That’s why I’m using [Record]. Other researchers might get angry at me for using the miraculously created single artifact for a personal message. But it shows that I had something more precious than this.
You might have a happy marriage with the crown prince in your new life, but I hope you’ll think of me from time to time.
I can’t forget reading books with Selina in the duke’s library.
My life was quite challenging because of you, being forced into Rosewood Academy and pushed into the Seven Stars recommendation slot, but thanks to that, I was able to work this hard.
If it weren’t for you, I might have ended up as just a slightly talented magician.
I’m a little grateful. Just a little, mind you.
Well then, this is goodbye.
Selina, I loved you. I wish for your happiness.
TLNOTE : While waiting, I implore you dear readers to read other masterpiece novels that also written by the same author :
- When the Monster Meat I Ate Led Me to the Throne
- Who killed the Hero?
- The Suspects of Necromancy
- The Exiled Merchant Saves the World with the Power of Gold (translated by my friend meerkat)
Also check out my friend Localizermeerkat for more LN translations!
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