Elision’s intention to persuade Tania to return to her adult self was reversed in an instant.
If the very thing she desired so desperately existed here…
Then he would help her achieve everything she wanted in this place.
Having made his decision, Elision strode toward Tania and greeted her.
“Hello, Tania.”
Tania, who had been standing frozen upon spotting him, blinked in confusion.
“…H, how do you know my name?”
Elision lied with a perfectly straight face.
“Your story has spread throughout the entire Talent Training Center. You looked exactly like the person I’d heard about in rumors, so I thought I’d try calling out to you.”
“Ah, I see…”
Tania offered an awkward smile and averted her gaze.
Seeing her flustered was a rare sight, and Elision found himself looking at her with an amused expression instead.
“My name is Elision. You can call me Sion.”
“Mm, Sion.”
“Tania, do you plan on participating in the adoption competition tomorrow?”
At Elision’s question, Tania’s expression visibly darkened.
Confirming her reaction, Elision became certain that Tania had intended to be adopted by Duke Papiope.
And that she felt a great sense of guilt toward him.
But Elision himself felt perfectly fine.
As for the adoption, he could simply go to the Tower Master, who always regretted missing the chance to adopt him earlier because he hadn’t discovered him sooner…
And as for Duke Papiope, who had been his foster mother in the previous timeline, the outcome would be the same—she would become his mother if he married Tania.
In the first place, he had only been able to enter the Talent Training Center because of Tania.
So, he could willingly yield the position of the Duke’s adopted child.
After a long silence, Tania gripped the hem of her dress tightly and said.
“Yes, I intend to participate. We’ll likely be rivals.”
“Rivals? I wonder.”
Elision curled the corners of his mouth meaningfully.
“Tania, I don’t want such a stiff relationship with you; I want us to be on good terms.”
“…Huh?”
“So don’t feel burdened and just come.”
“…Mm?”
“Well then, see you tomorrow.”
With those words, Elision walked away before Tania could even muster a response.
Although living in his original adult timeline had gone down the drain…
His heart, for once, felt infinitely at ease.
✦ ✦ ✦
After returning to the house secretly before Uncle Aiden could come home from the Talent Training Center, I lay on my bed and organized my thoughts on what had just happened.
“An adoption competition tomorrow.”
The schedule, which had been so relaxed, was suddenly pushed forward.
“…I wanted to stay with Uncle a little longer.”
The thought that tomorrow would be goodbye to this house made my chest ache.
How was I supposed to explain this to him?
“First, I must tell him honestly that I’m participating in the adoption competition tomorrow.”
It was a matter of tearing apart the heart of the uncle who had offered to adopt me, but there was no other way.
And one more thing.
“Elision… for a moment, I thought he remembered me.”
When he called my name, he clearly had a surprised expression on his face.
Just as if he, too, were shocked to see me as a child.
“He definitely had the potential from the start.”
It was clear where that handsome face had come from.
His features were so distinct that I could recognize him as Elision immediately.
“Come to think of it…”
I hadn’t thought much of it at the time because I had frozen up, but it seemed Elision had also stopped in his tracks for a long time upon seeing me.
Besides, he said he wanted to be on good terms rather than be rivals.
“Why?”
Was it simply because I had passed the Talent Training Center entrance exam with flying colors?
Don’t tell me…
Did he fall in love with me at first sight?
Thinking about it, in the last timeline, even though Elision had no connection to me, he had shown great favor from the start and tried to get close to me.
Credible theories were piling up.
Hearing the sound of someone entering the house, I jumped up and scurried out.
“Yay! Uncle, are you home?”
I rushed forward with both arms wide open.
Uncle naturally lowered his body so I could hug him, and as a result, I ended up hanging from his neck.
The arms supporting me were very steady.
“Tania, if you run like that, you might fall.”
“But I missed you so much, Uncle.”
“It’s not this that you missed, is it?”
As he said that, Uncle held up a large chunk of meat wrapped in paper packaging.
“Hehe, that’s true too.”
Uncle looked at me with a tender gaze and told me about his visit to the guild leader.
“I asked the guild leader, and while it’s true they need mercenaries, they told me to focus on taking care of you for now. They said they would ask me when it was truly urgent.”
“I see.”
Phew, thank goodness. It seemed the guild leader had caught on and made a good excuse for me.
“Uncle, I have something to tell you.”
“Yes.”
I tapped his shoulder to signal him to put me down.
“It’s important.”
He stared at me as if to tell me to speak while in his arms, but when I tapped his shoulder once more, he finally put me on the floor.
“What is it?”
“Uncle, please… let me participate in the Papiope Dukedom adoption competition tomorrow.”
“Adoption competition…?”
Uncle quietly furrowed his brows and asked what I was talking about.
“Setting aside how you knew the competition was tomorrow, I was under the impression that only children belonging to the Papiope Talent Training Center could apply.”
“Actually… I took the entrance exam when you went to quit the mercenary group. I even have the certificate.”
Putting my nervousness aside, I unfolded the crumpled certificate from my pocket.
“H, here…”
“…”
Uncle slowly took the certificate from my hand and read it word for word. His pupils trembled violently.
The first emotion in his eyes was surprise and joy.
But soon, a thousand emotions crossed his face, and sadness emerged.
After reading it all, Uncle looked at me with a complex expression.
“Perhaps I… may have been a hindrance to your talent blossoming.”
“No! You’ve been good enough to me…!”
“No.”
He firmly cut off my words and returned the certificate, folded neatly.
“No matter how much I care for you, it would be insufficient for your talent to bloom. Especially with results like this…”
Uncle looked at me with a face full of guilt.
“You were destined to live as a noble. And yet, you happened to meet me…”
“Uncle! Why would you ever think that!”
Startled, I called out to him with all my might, but his mind remained unmoved.
“You must participate in the adoption competition tomorrow. I will take you to the Talent Training Center myself.”
Leaning down to meet my eyes, Uncle gripped both of my shoulders firmly.
“If you don’t win the adoption competition, you may come back to me, or you may enter the Talent Training Center.”
It was what I had wanted, but once Uncle’s permission was granted, I became flustered and pressed my lips shut.
I felt so grateful, and yet so sorry.
But Uncle merely smoothed back my messy hair as if to comfort me.
“Tania, don’t worry about me and do whatever your heart desires. You are the only one I worry about, so live for yourself.”
It was a terribly sweet sentiment, one that made it even harder to let go of him.
✦ ✦ ✦
The next day.
Just as he said he would, Uncle took me to the Talent Training Center.
I couldn’t take my eyes off his back as he left, watching him for a long time.
Uncle Aiden.
The person who protects me, and at the same time, the person I must protect.
“…This, too, must be a relationship no different from family.”
Yes, this is enough.
Even if I became a Duke’s daughter and could never call him ‘Dad’ again, it was enough.
I had already lost myself and called him Dad…
And I had even heard him say ‘my daughter’ to me; in a way, it was already a more successful life than before the regression.
[Overwriting current timeline onto Slot 2.]
I walked away without any lingering attachment, deleting the timeline where Uncle had offered to adopt me.
If I was to become a Duke’s daughter, I would need two storage slots.
Backups were essential for important matters.