Chapter 17
“Wake up!!!”
Oh no… God help me.
After 12 years of strict routine in the detention center, Ryan woke up exactly at 6 AM, like clockwork.
Apparently, it was time for breakfast.
I forced my tired eyes open and was being dragged along when I stopped in front of the dining room bulletin board.
It was filled with random announcements and notices.
‘There it is.’
I found what I was looking for.
[105th Imperial Swordsmanship Competition]
The Path to Becoming an Honorable Knight!
‘My beloved Kali… I’ll be able to see you again soon…’
I tore off the notice and stuffed it into my pocket. Just as I was about to yawn and walk away—
“Huh?”
…Why is that posted here?
Suddenly, I was fully awake.
[-WANTED-]
Intelligent Monster: “Ratan”
There was a drawing of a huge horned beast. Below it, the details of the damage it had caused, its last known location, and the bounty were written.
Among the mindless monsters, Ratan was known as one that could talk—an intelligent beast.
No one knew what it really was or where it came from until it was finally captured… and its shocking true identity revealed.
Back then, my entire family had been thrown into chaos.
And now… I’m the only one who knows the truth.
‘Heh. Only I know that now.’
I had planned to find that monster anyway.
So I took the wanted poster too and went inside the dining room.
Ryan and Rivan were ordering food.
“I want an omelet!”
I quickly shouted for an omelet. I hate ham stew…
“I’ll have ham stew, pancakes, goose roast with bacon, and for dessert, butter stew .”
Ryan carefully read the menu and listed his order. Rivan placed it for him.
“Three omelets, please.”
“Hey!”
Ryan immediately protested.
“Are you kidding me? Who can eat just one plate of omelet?”
“We’re broke.”
“What do you mean broke? I brought child support money!”
“Ugh, you dummy. That’s literally for child care. Not to stuff goose in your mouth!”
Ryan, trembling with frustration, quickly added to the order.
“Then one ham stew too, please!”
“Ack!”
Rivan groaned and smacked Ryan’s shoulder.
“You food-wasting mooch! You’ve got nothing, and you still eat like a king!”
“Stop hitting me! That hurts!”
I watched the two of them argue and smiled as I wiped my nose.
‘They’re really close. It’s nice to see.’
We found a table and sat down to wait for our food. Rivan kept poking and complaining about the extra ham stew the whole time.
Then suddenly, he turned to me with a serious look.
“Hey kid, I’ve been wondering since yesterday…”
He lowered his voice and looked around cautiously. The dining hall was nearly empty since it was early morning.
“About that ability transplant experiment…”
“What exactly did they do? Wouldn’t you need other ability users to make that work?”
“Ah, I suppose so?”
“But no ability user would willingly help with that, right?”
I gave an awkward smile and shook my head.
“Sorry… I don’t really know about that part.”
“Oh no, don’t apologize. It’s okay.”
The truth is—I do know.
But I held back. Ryan and Rivan didn’t need to know that detail.
So, who helped with the experiment?
Shockingly, there was someone.
The former Duke of Bassenberg, Evan Bassenberg.
In other words, Ryan and I’s grandfather.
He passed on the dukedom and then disappeared.
‘He didn’t vanish. He went to make a deal with the royal family.’
It happened before I was born, so I don’t know the full story. But I could guess why he did it.
He must’ve been disillusioned by the family’s actions. That’s why he offered himself as a test subject.
So, with silent approval from the royal family, the professors from the Imperial Academy’s Magic Engineering Department used the former Duke in their experiments to transplant supernatural abilities.
That’s the truth of the project.
“Now that you mention it, yeah. You’d definitely need an ability user to make that experiment work.”
Ryan seemed to be thinking.
“Then maybe… it was our grandfather?”
“Pfft!”
I choked on my drink in surprise.
“You okay, kid? Wait—grandfather? You mean the previous Duke of Bassenberg?”
“Yeah. I was too young to remember his face clearly, but I know he left when I was about six. No one knows what happened to him since. Maybe he went underground or disappeared into the sky…”
“Wow. So he didn’t die but vanished. Then it’s possible he helped with the experiment.”
“Could be?”
Listening to their conversation, I nervously swallowed.
Even without me telling them, they were getting close to the truth on their own.
“If the experiment actually worked… that means there could be a regular person out there who received the former Duke’s powers, right?”
Rivan snapped his fingers and turned to Ryan.
“Hey, what was his ability?”
Ryan mumbled, trying to remember, then twirled his finger in the air—drawing a circle as if rewinding something.
“The Hour of Regression.”
“Huh?”
Rivan blinked.
“It’s a blessing in return. The power to go back in time.”
***
After breakfast, we returned to our room.
“Huff… huff…”
Ryan was doing one-arm pushups between the beds. His daily post-meal exercise—a habit from his years in confinement.
I sat on my bed, holding a towel, staring at his rising and falling back.
“Hey, tell me more about this regression thing.”
“It’s literally the ability to turn back time. What else do you want to know?”
“Come on! More details!”
Rivan’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.
“If that experiment worked, and someone out there does have that power, they’d be a major asset, right?”
“You idiot. How would you even find them? Even if that experiment somehow worked, if they’re not stupid, they’d never let people know they’re the ‘successful subject.’ They’d be hunted down by our family for sure.”
“…Yeah, probably. But I’m still curious, so tell me more.”
“I’m working out, remember? Ask her instead. She learned everything at home when she was a kid.”
Rivan turned to me.
“Ah…”
I promised I’d be honest, so I couldn’t pretend I didn’t know.
“The Hour of Regression lets you go back to any point in the past. Whether it’s a few seconds, hours, or even years—freely.”
“That sounds crazy overpowered! So you could just keep going back and reliving life again and again?”
“Probably. Other people wouldn’t know the time was reversed, but the one who regresses keeps all their memories.”
“Ohhh. So only the person who regresses remembers?”
“…”
I hesitated, then glanced at Ryan. He was still focused on working out, but I knew he was listening.
There’s no point hiding things. He’ll find out anyway.
“…You can also bring someone back with you. If you’re in contact with them when you regress, they can return with their memories too.”
“Seriously?!”
Rivan got excited. I added it quickly.
“But only if they’re also capable users. It doesn’t work on regular people.”
“Aw man, that’s a letdown.”
As Rivan grumbled, I grew quiet.
Because I had done that.
But right now, in this entire world, the only person who remembers those missing 10 years… is me.
It was my lover, Nike, who turned back time.
But he was an artificially created ability user. He couldn’t use his power fully.
He could only remember 30 minutes when he reversed time.
But we turned back 10 whole years.
So he must’ve forgotten everything.
Our first meeting, our shy confessions, the love we shared…
And me, too.
***
Before the Regression
The Duke of Bassenberg tightly controlled his daughter Bania’s upbringing.
As someone born with a top-tier blessing, they couldn’t risk her turning against the family.
So during her formative years, when she should’ve learned about morals and ethics, they hid the family’s dark work from her.
They told her, “There are plenty of heirs already. No need for you to go through trouble.”
So until the age of 16, Bania lived like a happy princess, doing nothing.
She changed into fancy dresses every day, wore shiny jewels, traveled, and ate rare, delicious food.
Every day, she opened expensive gifts brought by her father and siblings.
“My lady, you’re here!”
Bania first stepped into family matters during the summer of her 16th year.
On that day, she replaced her absent older sister, Diana, to visit and care for injured family soldiers during a subjugation mission.
Aha. That makes sense