What will happen to Aurora once she passes the moment when the story in the game ends? This is a question that has been bothering Aurora in the back of her mind.

Will she be sent back to her original world? Or will she be stuck in this world forever? What even happened to her original body anyway? Did she die or just simply enter a coma?

She didn't know.

That's why it's scary to create a bond too deep with anyone in this world. It will hurt so much when she is forced to go back. She has no control over anything that might happen. She doesn't even know how and why she was transmigrated to this world in the first place.

Being alone in this world is scary, so she is happy to let people into her life. But she isn't ready to go further than that.

Aurora sighed.

How is she going to act when she sees Ruby again?

The door to that room opened, and a familiar maid entered the room. This time she looked pretty much alive, thankfully.

"Miss! You're finally awake!" Lyra said with a huge smile on her face.

Aurora nodded and forced a smile. "Yeah, how are things going?"

"Everything is alright now," Lyra said. "Sorry I didn't stay by your side."

"It's fine," Aurora replied.

Lyra looked around. "I thought Miss Ruby was with you?" she said.

"Ah, about Ruby," Aurora said. "She just left."

"Really? Right after you woke up?" Lyra blinked, obviously confused.

"That's what I said," Aurora replied.

"Why?" Lyra said, still confused.

"I... Don't know," Aurora said. "She just did."

"But she was so adamant about not leaving your side this whole time," Lyra said. "So why did she suddenly change her mind when you're awake?"

"Probably that's why," Aurora said. "She knows I'm okay now, so she can do something else. Can we stop talking about this? You should ask her yourself if you still want to make sure."

Lyra didn't seem too convinced, but she let it go. "Right, sorry miss," she said. "I'm just a little bit curious. Oh, right, your father was here. At the moment, he was talking with the teachers and some of the adventurers he hired. He will come here soon."

"That's great," Aurora said with a weak smile.

"You still look tired, Miss," Lyra noticed. "You should rest more. Anyway, do you need something? Anything?"

"Aah, I want something to drink," Aurora said, just noticing how parched she actually was.

"Sure, wait a moment," Lyra said as she prepared tea for her master.

While Lyra was working, Aurora stared at her from atop her bed.

"So, is the potion I prepared being used properly?" Aurora asked.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Yes, of course!" Lyra said. "I make sure that they know it's prepared by you! Everyone is grateful!"

Aurora blushed. "You don't need to go that far..."

"Why not?" Lyra said. "You have been working hard trying to stop this madness, right? At least you deserve this much!"

Aurora smiled. "Thank you."

"No, we should be thanking you, Miss!"

Aurora laughed. "Okay."

The door to the room opened for the second time. This time Sera was there, her breath uneven.

Aurora and Lyra reflexively looked at her. When Sera noticed that she was being stared at and remembered what she did, she immediately apologized.

"I-I'm sorry, I should have knocked first... And, um, I just saw Ruby running for some reason. So, I was scared something happened to you and immediately came here and, um..."

Aurora smiled. "It's fine," she said. "And I'm okay, see?"

Sera looked at Aurora for a moment, but when their eyes met, she immediately looked away.

"Right," she said.

"Would you like some tea too, Miss Sera?" Lyra asked after she finished making tea for Aurora.

"I-If that's okay...?" Sera replied.

They spent around an hour talking and drinking tea when Aurora's father finally came to her room.

Upon seeing him, Sera immediately excused herself and ran somewhere. Lyra also left the room so that Aurora could talk more freely with her father.

"Sorry I was held up by some people, so I couldn't come immediately," the Viscount said.

"It's fine," Aurora said.

"How are you? I heard you were unconscious for some time," the Viscount asked.

"I'm okay," Aurora said. "I'm just tired, maybe?" She lied.

"Is that so? Then you should rest more," her father said.

"I did," Aurora said, smiling.

"That's good." The Viscount smiled too. "If you need anything, just ask. No matter what it is, I will get it for you."

"Okay," Aurora said. "But are you sure telling me something like that? I might be asking for something unreasonable."

"Sure, I'm used to it now," the Viscount said.

Aurora giggled. "Okay, I will keep that in mind."

"Anyway, I already talked with the teacher," the Viscount said. "It seems like the class will be stopped for a moment. So what are you going to do? Will you come home with me?"

Aurora thought for a bit. "I'm not sure yet. I will see the situation first before deciding. Is that okay?"

The Viscount sighed. "If that's what you want. I would prefer it if you just came home, though. Anyway, I have been summoned by the king. Officially, he is going to give us an award for our contribution in stopping the rebels and the monsters, but it's not that simple."

"He's suspicious of us?" Aurora guessed.

Her father nodded. "After all, we acted as if we knew this was going to happen."

"That's bad, isn't it?" Aurora said.

"But don't worry," her father said. "I will handle it no matter what. Even with our king, I don't want to tell him what you're really capable of doing. You just focus on getting better."

Aurora nodded. "Thank you."

"Oh, right, on the way here I met Prince Casper," the Viscount said. "He heard that you already woke up and was wondering if he could meet you."

"Oh." Aurora had completely forgotten about the fact that she had hit the prince.

"Is something wrong?" her father asked.

Aurora shook her head. "It's... nothing. I will talk to him later."

It seemed that it was time for her to deal with the consequences of her actions.

***

Aurora took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

"Who is it?" Casper's voice could be heard from inside the room.

"It's me, Aurora," she said. "I heard you wanted to meet me, prince. Can I come in?"

"Of course," Casper replied. "I've been waiting for you."

Aurora opened the door and saw a weak-looking prince standing there. Nova was lying on the bed behind him. Aurora had heard from Lyra that Casper had been staying by Nova's side this whole time, the same way Ruby had for her.

Casper in this world really likes Nova, huh? Aurora thought to herself, but she pushed the thought aside. That's not important right now. Aurora gulped.

"I'm sorry for what I did," Aurora said. "For hitting you, I'm prepared to accept whatever punishment you want, prince."

"Ah, that's okay," he said, as if he didn't even think about it. "I realized now how unreasonable my actions were at that time. So it's fine. Don't worry about it."

Aurora nodded in relief. "Thank you," she said. "But if that's not the problem..."

"Let's sit first," the prince said, gesturing toward chairs and a table near the windows. They walked over, and Aurora sat across from Casper.

"Okay, then...?" Aurora asked.

"Can I ask you something?" the prince said.

"Sure, what is it?" Aurora replied.

"About what Nova said before..." Casper's expression didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it, but he kept going. "I remember the first time you and Nova met, you guys seemed like old friends or enemies, might be more appropriate? And I have been thinking. Maybe you're a regressor too?"

That's not exactly right but...

"Yes," Aurora said. "I know what happened in the previous life."

"Is that so?" the prince said. "Then can you tell me what actually happened there? Why did Nova decide to do this?"

Aurora sighed. "This might be hard to believe considering that we barely interacted with each other, but in that timeline we were close. Nova, as your fiancé, didn't like that. So she decided to hurt me. You couldn't accept that and ended up stabbing her with a sword. But as she said before, instead of dying, she ended up regressing."

"I see," Casper said, in pain. "So I did kill her then...?"

"I don't think it's your fault. Nova's actions were the trigger in the first place," Aurora said. "Especially not you in this timeline. You shouldn't blame yourself for this."

But Casper didn't seem to be listening to Aurora's words. The room was silent. Aurora felt uncomfortable and wasn't sure what she should do. While the prince stared at his own hand.

He then clenched it into a fist, as if he had decided something.

"You regained consciousness because of your light magic, right?" Casper asked suddenly. "Can you try to wake Nova up?"

Aurora stared at the prince and then shifted her gaze to the unconscious Nova.

"I can try," Aurora said. "But what are you going to do about her? Are you going to forgive her?"

That question seemed to make Casper uneasy. "I'm... not sure yet, but I must talk to her. Properly this time. We don't really know how much she's involved with the second prince--my brother's plan anyway."

Aurora sighed. It was clear enough from his answer that he would give Nova as much leniency as possible. Not that Aurora wanted Nova to be executed or anything, but she hoped this was the end of whatever problem Nova had created for her. If she got forgiven just like that, it would mean more problems for Aurora to deal with later.

"You don't need to worry," Prince Casper said. "I know now that letting her do whatever she wants, despite it hurting others, was wrong of me. At the very least, I can promise you that I won't let her bother you again."

Their eyes met, and Aurora nodded.

"So be it then. I will hold on to that promise, Prince," Aurora said as she stood up from her seat and walked towards Nova.

***