The Mage Who Crossed Time

“So that’s settled! To my bride—”

“My fiancée.”

“—let me show you this floating isle.”

Paying no attention whatsoever to Ornis’s exasperated interjection behind him, the Hyuetos Magic Count scooped Noi up with a light lift.

(What?! Again?!)

Even if she had grown younger, carrying a whole person should have weighed something.

And yet the Hyuetos Magic Count effortlessly slid one arm under Noi’s knees and lifted her as if she weighed nothing.

While Noi’s eyes darted in shock, the Hyuetos Magic Count strode off in long, firm steps.

(…Hm? …Floating isle?)

Turning over the unfamiliar term in her mind, Noi clung to the Hyuetos Magic Count’s head to steady her unbalanced body.

—A few seconds later, Noi learned the meaning of that word with her own body.

“Eek—!”

Dragged outside, Noi sucked in a sharp breath and clung to the Hyuetos Magic Count with all her might.

She had inhaled so hard her lungs ached.

The Hyuetos Magic Count’s feet stood at a point where one more step would drop off the ground—straight into the sky.

“Behold. Quite a view, isn’t it?”

Following the gesture of his finger, Noi’s cheek twitched.

There were clouds—beneath them lay a pale, hazed landscape.

At Noi’s feet spread grasslands, with ranges of mountains rolling on. Tiny black specks—people, or livestock?—were too small to tell.

“In the… sky… above…?”

The place where Noi had been was on a floating isle suspended in the sky.

It was an unbelievable sight. People could not fly, and even making objects float had limits.

Opposite the lake enclosing the manor and garden was a sheer cliff. She could never lean out and look down from the very edge where the Hyuetos Magic Count stood, yet this was her first time with clouds below her feet.

Noi liked surprising others.

However… persistent as it sounded, she was not used to being the one surprised.

(Ca—can’t…)

Her capacity finally overflowed, and Noi swayed and fainted.

When Noi awoke, she lay on a fine chaise longue in the guest room of the Hyuetos Magic Count’s manor.

“Mm. You’re awake?”

Blinking hazily, she found the beautiful man’s face right in front of her—the Hyuetos Magic Count, who had, just moments ago, become her fiancée and partner.

From the feel of it, Noi realized she had been using his lap as a pillow on the chaise. For some reason, the man’s fingers were smoothly toying with her hair; apparently, he had been braiding it while she slept.

“Good morning. You passed out so suddenly, I was worried. Even calling a doctor here is no small task.”

“…”

“If you hadn’t woken in thirty more minutes, I was going to go fetch one. I’m glad you’re alright.”

Before the sleepy-eyed Noi, that beautiful face curved in a gentle smile.

“It’s true, you know?”

Perhaps because Noi said nothing, thinking she doubted him, the man spoke on with a smile.

At the sight of his smile, everything that had happened thus far flooded back into Noi’s mind. She shot upright off his lap in an instant, seized the Hyuetos Magic Count’s shoulders, and shouted.

“A colossal spell powerful enough to keep an island aloft—d—did you cast it?!”

Kneeling on his lap, Noi leaned in close.

“What kind of magic circle?! How many systems are you combining?! How in the world are you sustaining a spell like that?!”

Noi rattled off questions with enough force to spray spittle. The Hyuetos Magic Count listened with that same easy smile, then, in the pause when she took a breath, opened his mouth slowly. His narrowed eyes gleamed, probing for her true intent, but the excited Noi did not notice.

“…You’re remarkably well-versed in magic, aren’t you?”

“I—”

Because she was the kingdom’s greatest mage!—she nearly said, then clamped her mouth shut, remembering the role she was playing now.

(As of now, I’m this man’s fiancée, an amnesiac—and a little girl with no mana.)

Most people went through life without knowing magic in any detail. To become a mage, one had to apprentice.

Noi, who had no mana, could never become a mage’s apprentice. From here on, she had to pretend to know nothing of magic at all.

“Well, people say you can lose memories but keep practical habits… and you must have really liked magic.”

“Huh?”

“Magic itself. You were even doing this.”

He twirled his finger in circles—kurukuru—the basic form for twisting mana that Noi, in her confusion earlier, had unconsciously performed.

“M—maybe so. My memories are hazy, after all.”

“Ha… hahaha.”

Noi let out a dry laugh, and the Hyuetos Magic Count smiled softly in return.

Relieved she had dodged it, Noi suddenly realized something.

“Ah—s-sorry!”

Noticing she was still on his lap, Noi sprang away in a fluster.

“Oh? You could have stayed.”

At the sultry look he gave her, Noi stiffened. This man put a trace of allure into even the smallest motion.

“Sensei, please don’t awaken to being a pervert.”

A voice came from the back of the room, perhaps mistaking the Hyuetos Magic Count for casting flirtatious eyes at a little girl.

Turning that way, she saw Ornis. He wore an apron and held a ladle in one hand. Apparently, the kitchen was that way.

“Before the nag gets hold of us, this time I’ll actually show you around the floating isle. Let’s go, my bride.”

The Hyuetos Magic Count smoothly swept Noi up again and settled her in one arm.

“Ah! Sensei, where are you going? I’ll accompany you!”

Sensing the Count was heading out, Ornis tore off his apron and dashed into the guest room.

“Honestly, you—every year you grow more doting. Stick to me like that and you’ll miss your chance to get a bride.”

“I don’t need to hear that from you.”

“I already have one—my bride.”

“Right?”

The Hyuetos Magic Count cocked his head with a bright smile, and Noi hurried to tilt her head the same way. The unfamiliar pose made something twinge, but so be it. This was the bride-like image he wanted. She had to pull her weight to earn her keep.

“Just a quick loop around the area. I want dinner as soon as we’re back. I’m counting on you.”

“—Understood.”

As a rule, a disciple gave top priority to the master’s instructions.

Though Ornis shot Noi a resentful look, he bowed his head.