I had returned the 52 barrels of silver coins to Aya’s family. They told me to keep it but I insisted. They luckily accepted it. The money was theirs. They had promised me that they would take it back once I had decided on a name. I was an emotional mess at Aya’s funeral. I rarely attend any because I only go to those for people I deeply care for and it always turns me into an emotional mess.

I had finally a name for my shop. 'Uraya’s shop'. Aya’s son visited the shop from time to time. We had conversations about Aya. I told him about how it all started. He even bought a lollipop for 1 silver. He told me to keep it and that it was a one-time thing but he said that he just needed to do that as a family tradition and that he would have his kids do the same at least once. I put the coin in a jar. I had decided that I would put more effort into my looks and working on my skills. I still couldn’t manage to braid my hair but I could do everything else. I had loosened the seal on me more. I had started my skincare and did everything to return to my former glory.

It only took a year for me to get there. I might have even gone beyond. The clothing around my chest was tight. Maybe I really am a succubus. My shop became more popular under the men but none suited my taste. Thinking that the right one would come along one day I focused on trying to break out of this prison. It had taken a while but I’m back! I had made a special room where I recreated the setup of my lab in Witchaven but on a smaller scale. I was missing a lot of ingredients so I had to find alternatives. I hadn’t accounted for this in my initial research. I had assumed a state of abundance. But when stuck in this prison I am severely limited in what is available. I needed to create a skill to counter the effect which turns back time. If I can halt or break that aspect, we will be able to break free of this prison.

I dove back into my old research. Spatiotemporal magic is quite delicate. One mistake and it can wipe out the whole town. I had to be meticulous and careful. I noticed how absorbed I was in this research and how much time had passed when I had to replace the jar of coins with a barrel. How many years had passed? Aya’s descendants had decided to pay a visit to the shop and buy a lollipop for 1 silver the moment they turned 20 years old.

I had 4 20-year-olds buying lollipops for 1 silver.

“Hey, if your family ever needs money, just come to me.” I pointed at the barrel behind me.

They shook their head.

“The tradition says that it’s your money. You were described as an exceptional beauty. You have been neglecting yourself, haven’t you?”

A woman walked over and braided my hair.

“Thank you…” The youngsters left and I looked into the mirror. They were right. I had bags under my eyes. I decided to sleep early and test my new spatiotemporal skill the next day.

Another nightmare. It was about when my hat got pushed into the tree and I effectively lost a part of me. It reminded me. Where is that tree now? I was curious to go and check but I decided to try and sleep.

I went out the next day. Not super sexy because I had to fight some strong creatures. I first went to look for the tree but It wasn’t where I remember it should have been. This was quite frustrating. I searched for a whole day and found nothing. I decided to detect for invisible objects the next day. I had no luck the next day. Where could it have disappeared to? I looked at the ground. Underground? Over 500 years have passed it’s possible that it is underground. I found a cave but it was narrow. My amazing curves couldn’t fit through them, so I bombarded the cave until it was wide enough for me to pass through.

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I eventually found myself in a room underground. I had found the tree. The whole place was bathed in pink light and pink roots were everywhere. I tried to get close but pink spears shot at me. I narrowly evaded them and they stopped. I must be out of range. I shot a [Fireball] into the room and pink spears appeared and shot the fireball down. It seems it reacts to mana. This is very unfortunate because I don’t have access to any skills to mask my mana. I wondered if I could connect to my hat from here. Countless times did I try to reach out but no answer. I didn’t give up and tried for a week hoping that the connection might grow over time. I came up empty yet again. All hope wasn’t lost yet. I went to beat up the guardian of the root which was way too weak for me now. I looked at my hands. Have I really become stronger? I don’t feel like I did. The seals had reappeared so I easily dispelled them. Destroying the root is a problem though.

We had attempted this twice before but unless it gets destroyed in one go the barriers will return and the guardian too. We had used a combination attack the last time to destroy the root. Can I do this alone this time? Self-doubt started to attack my mind again.

“Believe in yourself Uraya! You can do it!” I slapped my cheeks and stretched my body a bit. I used [Time Lock] and destroyed the root with [Conflagrate].

Time rewound to before I attacked the guardian.

“Ugh, a failure.” A failure isn’t the end of the world. I can try again but I was still disappointed. I will break through after enough repetitions.

I returned to my lab and tried again, and again, and again. I had gotten insensitive to the failures. I didn’t believe anymore that I could come up with a skill that could counteract it. After the 12617th failure, I just gave up. My mood had taken a turn for the worst. Maybe I should just give up, find a man and live out my life. I went to look in the mirror and was shocked.

“No! nononono! This can’t be real!” What I was looking at was a woman in her mid-40’s. As usual, I had lost grip on time but I shouldn’t be able to age like this. Is it the barrier? Is it making me old and wrinkly? No! I hate this! I spent a week trying to make myself sexy again. I succeeded but I still looked older than I would have liked. And then it dawned on me.

“Paul!” I ran out my store. Paul and Paula didn’t live where they did before. A lot of people didn’t even know who I was or who Paul and Paula were. How could I have let this go so far?! Why does everything I touch fail? I ran around the town and tears started to fall. When will something good happen to me? I had neglected the only two things I had left, my 2 dear friends and my looks. My looks were fading and now I will also lose my dear friends?

I passed by Boshi Lake Minor and saw a woman in her 40’s who looked like she could pass for Paula.

“Paula?” The woman reacted. She was looking at children play in the lake with an elderly man.

“Is Paul…” I took a better look at the elderly man. He seemed like his early 60’s. I gasped.

“Oh no…”

“So, it’s happening to you too. We tried to contact you but you were absorbed in your research as usual.”

“I’m sorry… I have failed myself; I have failed you. Over 12000 attempts but I couldn’t counter this time bullshit.”

“We know Uraya, our time got rewound every time you tried. We held count. That’s why we’re not mad at you for not contacting us. We know that you were doing your best.” Paula, Paul, and I hugged. I had missed this feeling. Why didn’t I visit them more and do this.

Paul clutched his head and collapsed. I got my answer.

“I’m sorry… you must be in pain too Paula… I need to go...”

“No! Uraya please, it has been so long.”

“I… I will see what I can do about Paul’s condition. Please don’t die before I can find a solution, Paul. Please send over your grandchildren to remind me what year it is…”

“Uraya my dear, our grandchildren had passed away centuries ago…”

“I…I’m sorry. And I’m sorry for being such a bad friend.” I walked away.

“Ay… Uraya wait!”

I came home and looked in the mirror. I was a mess because of all the crying I’ve been doing. I fixed myself up and went to work. I had been brewing potions for centuries now so I should be able to make something. I worked on the potion and on a localized [Time Dilation]. I tested my potions on rats. There were more than enough rats in the sewers. The sewers were extremely filthy so I complained to one of the few families that had influence over the city and still knew who I was. They told me they would work on it.