Chapter 1 …
She lost her entire fortune to gambling.
“Miss, are you… alright?”
When an elderly gentleman nearby asked with concern, Tania curved her lips into a faint smile.
“I’m fine. It’s just my life that’s ruined.”
Her words made the atmosphere grow even heavier, yet she herself remained calm, even smiling.
Her face was youthful and beautiful, as if she had just come of age. It didn’t suit a gambling den at all.
“To worry about someone else in a place as cutthroat as this… you’re very kind.”
Tania idly twirled a strand of her soft rose-gold hair around her finger.
“Sigh… I guess gambling just isn’t for me. That was close.”
The people around her looked at her as if to say, It’s already a disaster.
“I don’t know how wealthy your family is, miss, but with that kind of money…”
Despite the waves of concern, she only gave a languid smile.
“That’s right. It’s enough to lose a few buildings in the capital’s central district.”
After all, she knew better than anyone the value of that money.
She had earned it herself.
“But this round wasn’t my fault. My opponent cheated by swapping cards underneath, so there’s no reason I should lose money, right?”
She had memorized every card. The fact that things kept deviating from her predictions was proof enough.
“This is why you should never gamble against professionals.”
Clicking her tongue as if she had merely wasted time, Tania suddenly shrugged lightly.
“But it’s fine. I’ll just use my ability to fix it.”
To begin with, she hadn’t played fairly either, having memorized the cards in advance.
As she looked like she might overturn the entire table at any moment, the guards began approaching her warily.
Under their physical pressure, she furrowed her brows slightly in disappointment.
“Unfortunately, I’m not very strong physically. Still, it’s a good thing I’ve made saving a habit.”
With a bright smile, Tania cheerfully introduced her personal motto:
“Everyone, make saving a lifestyle. Backup isn’t optional, it’s essential.”
[Loading Save Point 1.]
In an instant, her vision flipped, and the scenery changed.
The moment Tania activated her ability, everyone in the gambling hall, including herself, vanished, leaving only silence behind.
No… it wasn’t that people disappeared.
Everything that had just happened simply ceased to exist.
✦ ✦ ✦
I fidgeted my fingers in front of a tightly closed door.
Coming to see my only friend, Elyseon, before leaving for a distant place had been a good idea.
But thinking that this might be the last time, I couldn’t bring myself to knock.
…Wait. Are we even really friends?
The thought of our ambiguous relationship crossed my mind, but I quickly shook it off and gently knocked.
“Sion, I’m here.”
When I knocked on Elyseon’s laboratory door, a small voice came from inside.
“There’s no such person here.”
Excuse me? Then whose familiar voice is that?
For a moment, I considered forcing the door open, but stubbornness got the better of me, and I decided to wait quietly for him to open it.
“Fine. I’ll hold my breath until you open the door.”
Ten minutes later.
With a betrayed expression, I raised my voice so he could hear me.
“You murderous bastard!”
Leaving someone outside long enough to die and still not opening the door—wasn’t that too cruel?
Just then, perhaps my voice finally got through. The locked door clicked open with magic.
He was going to open it anyway.
Shrugging lightly, I stepped into his lab.
“Hi. You look busy.”
Elyseon set down the quill he had been diligently moving and turned his gaze toward me.
“Tania, didn’t I tell you to inform me a year in advance if you ever needed to commission something?”
There was clear mischief in his tone.
A year in advance? That was basically telling me not to ask at all.
“I just came to see you today. Should I leave?”
“…Welcome to my laboratory.”
Apparently pleased by my saying I came because I missed him, he stood up and began preparing tea himself.
While moving his hands briskly, he glanced at me with curiosity.
“You coming to see me without any request…”
“First time, right?”
“…Did something happen?”
His words hit the mark, and I briefly failed to control my expression.
Quickly composing myself, I asked playfully,
“Sion, have you ever lost something you worked really hard on? By accident, or unfairly?”
Like when you’re just about to save a file and suddenly get a blue screen.
Or the power goes out before saving.
Or you accidentally overwrite a finished file.
At my question, Elyseon frowned deeply.
“Why would you suddenly bring up something so horrible?”
“Oh, that expression is priceless.”
I smirked. His reaction was even better than expected.
Well, as a mage, he probably experienced such disasters more often than most.
For example, months of research being blown away by an explosion mid-experiment…
“Anyway, how does it feel when that happens?”
“Makes you want to quit everything.”
“And?”
“Wish you could turn back time.”
“Exactly.”
With a small smile, I finally voiced the thoughts I had kept hidden all this time.
“That’s how my life feels right now. I want to go back to the beginning.”
“Tania.”
Elyseon’s blue eyes darkened.
“Your life is still brilliant. Why would you think that?”
I let out a faint, self-deprecating laugh.
“I have plenty of money. But I don’t have a family to share happiness with.”
“…Should I become your husband, then?”
I chuckled softly at his joke.
“Sion, you don’t know this, but there was someone as dear to me as family. He passed away five years ago.”
Uncle Aiden.
A man who spent his entire life struggling to raise me, even though I wasn’t his real child.
How could I simply let him go, hoping he’d be well in heaven?
I only had one choice.
To abandon everything I had achieved here and go to meet him.
After his death, I spent years gathering information to use in my next life.
From large things like past climate and political trends to small things like noble scandals.
I had already decided to discard this life the moment I confirmed his death, so I didn’t regret what I built.
But there was one thing…
I looked quietly at Elyseon.
Silver hair shining in the light. Blue eyes like the ocean.
Despite countless sleepless nights for work, his face showed no flaws.
As always, his looks felt like divine favoritism.
Suddenly, I leaned forward, grabbed his collar, and kissed him before he could react.
The warmth of our lips was vivid. My heart beat pleasantly.
Pulling away after the brief kiss, I smiled softly.
“This is a farewell gift.”
“Ah…?”
Still in shock, he stared at me blankly, not even processing my words.
After a moment, realization dawned, and his face flushed bright red.
Covering his lips with both hands, he quickly stepped back.
“Y-you…!”
Suppressing a grin, I giggled like a mischievous boy.
“Sion, you like me, don’t you?”
“…What?”
After staring at me in disbelief, he shouted,
“What are you talking about? You’ve been the one who liked me all along!”
“Huh?”
I blinked.
I had deliberately kept my distance, knowing we would eventually part.
Besides…
He was the one who came to see me every day without any particular reason.
He never complained when I asked him for favors.
And yet, I liked him?
Tilting my head, I asked curiously,
“Why do you think that?”
“Well…!”
He started to speak, then stopped, biting his lip.
Chuckling, I poked his cheek.
“If you don’t like me, that’s actually better.”
It’ll be easier to leave without regrets.
Swallowing the rest of my words, I smiled brightly.
“Take care.”
Then I quietly closed my eyes and activated my ability.
[Which point would you like to load?]
▶ Save Point 1
September 28, Year 286 of the Empire
19:41:42 (Age 19)
▶ Save Point 2
August 1, Year 286
15:50:29 (Age 19)
▶ Save Point 3
October 1, Year 286
12:41:42 (Age 19)
▶ Save Point 4
April 20, Year 274
13:07:42 (Age 7)
Do you know what the greatest advantage of save-and-load is?
The answer is simple.
You can discard a ruined outcome and restart from a saved point at any time.
Yes.
I was about to start my life over.
To a time I would never have chosen otherwise—
The worst period of my life.
When I was seven years old.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Take care.”
“Tania, what do you mean by—?!”
Tania vanished from before his eyes, and Elyseon found himself speaking in an unfamiliar room instead of his lab.
Realizing she had turned back time again, he ground his teeth.
“So now you’re going to pretend that never happened? Even after kissing me?”
Ha. It was absurd.
If nothing else, shouldn’t something that significant be left in his memory too?
And what was with that farewell? Acting like they would never meet again?
Whatever she was planning, he couldn’t just let her go like this.
His blue eyes gleamed sharply, like a predator spotting its prey.
“If you openly seduce someone, you should take responsibility.”
But at that moment, he didn’t know.
That Tania had turned back time to a point far beyond anything before.
