After two weeks of a fantastic honeymoon, filled with days of playing in the water and nights spent relaxing in the cabana or the villa's bedroom, I was abruptly, and quite reluctantly, brought back to reality.
That terrible reality was full of all the tasks I had been ignoring for the past two weeks. I sat in my three-person office and quietly muttered to myself, "What are you doing? This is crazy."
Dominic, who was on the other side of the room, playing with a quill pen, nodded in agreement. "It feels the same after a trip."
Danny, the little dragon, who was helping Dominic, giggled and agreed. "Immediately!"
I made eye contact with the little dragon. Danny's eyes lit up playfully.
"Really?" I asked.
"Yes!"
"But Danny, what's that in your hand?"
Danny ran up to me and handed me a small stone. "It's this, it's this. Danny is doing something strange!"
"Huh? What is it?"
The baby dragon grinned and held up the stone in my hand. The moment I took it, my vision flashed. Danny's giggling and Dominic's surprised voice calling my name echoed in my ears as I fainted.
I opened my eyes. A small information window appeared in front of me.
[You have been caught in a prank by Danny the Dragon, Musset!]
What is this? I narrowed my eyebrows slightly and stared at the information window.
[You have passed through the years so quickly!]
What is happening? I crossed my arms, dumbfounded. A few seconds later, the sentence flickered and disappeared, replaced by: [Time has flowed like a stream, and five years have passed since the wedding.]
I let out a ridiculous groan of disbelief. "Ugh." What is this? Why has my life been skipped by five years? Where did my happy five years go? I'm a newlywed! So where is my husband?
Danny, you little rascal… We'll see about this.
Danny's giggles seemed to still be echoing in my ears.
Five hours had passed since the time skip. Perhaps it was Danny's consideration, or something else entirely, but I was now sitting in my stationery store's laboratory in the newly developed new city. People say that mountains and rivers can change in five years, and the world really had changed; I even had a new stationery store and laboratory. My eyes widened as I looked at the strange items in the lab.
Did I develop all of this in five years? …If I had, I would have grown old from stress by now. I tried to think about it step by step, tapping my temples. More importantly...
Wait, five years from now? Don't I have to memorize the winning lottery numbers? Was there no lottery in this world? I hurriedly turned my gaze to the desk. Lotto, where do you buy a lottery ticket?
Fortunately, a morning newspaper, which seemed like a good source for lottery information, was tucked into a drawer under the table. If I have a winning ticket, I can get rich! I frantically searched the newspaper with trembling hands, but it seemed that the people in this world didn't pursue the lottery like they did in my home world. Oh, what a waste.
With a sense of regret, I wandered around the laboratory and found a small hand mirror. Come to think of it, I was curious about what I would look like in five years! As if someone had left it there for me, I grabbed the hand mirror and looked straight at my face.
Five years had passed, but fortunately, I didn't look that old. I felt like I'd simply become more mature. This feeling wasn't bad.
"I don't know when I'll be able to get out of this prank, but I'm not going to just adapt," I said to myself.
However, five years seemed to have been a long time for the children who frequented my stationery store. When I saw two teenagers opening my lab door as if they were familiar with the place, I shook my head in bewilderment. They were definitely familiar faces...
"Mel!"
What is that voice? It's changed so much...
"...Yes?" I was about to ask, Who are you?, but I stopped myself. The two boys walked in with happy faces that looked so much like Axion and Carat.
Wow, have my kids changed this much? People say children grow fast, but isn't this a little too much? Their entire facial structure was different! I was completely shocked to see how much they had grown.
"My babies..."
Carat, who had bright ears, caught my muttered words and shook his head. "I'm in high school now, why are you still calling me a baby?"
"Mel always calls us babies!" Axion chimed in.
"Well, that's right."
This is a dream. Why did these little guys go to the Higher Academy? I thought they had just entered the secondary academy... "Oh, this is a lie... My baby magic still loves baby princes."
But what this tall kid, or rather, a teenager, looked like… it made me unable to deny reality.
"Huh? Baby magic? I'm not even a prince anymore, Mel. You're being a little strange today!"
"Ugh." I squeaked like a mosquito again. No, of course I am! I had suddenly touched a stone and warped five years into the future. And then the imperial prince suddenly says, 'I'm not even a prince anymore!'
"What's wrong? You know who we are, right?"
"Yeah, you're acting like someone else today!"
"I'm not a different person, but it's just..." I wondered if I should tell them the truth, so I rubbed my face for a long time. As an adult, I decided to handle these young people with care. "I've lost a little bit of my memory." I decided to use amnesia, a staple of K-dramas.
Then Axion opened his mouth. "Well, then you've forgotten all your memories with… me?"
Carat shouted to the heavens, "No!"
No, is that really so shocking? To be honest, I'm a little shocked and nervous right now.
"Oh, how could this happen?"
"Heaven is indifferent!"
You guys are screaming more seriously than in Munch's painting, you know.
"...It's not like that. It's just that the lunch I had yesterday is a bit confusing."
Carat and Axion were extremely dramatic, but I was also the one making a poor excuse out of fear of hurting their feelings.
"I see!" I thought those little wizards who fell for my clumsy excuses were still very cute. "Then will you tell me everything carefully again?"
"Yes."
I was glad. Five years had passed, but fortunately, the bond between us seemed to be strong, and they had easily succumbed to my useless excuse. I perked up my ears and stared at them.
"You've decided to succeed Mel as the stationery store manager!"
"I also decided to work with the prince!"
No, no. I know this is a dream... Isn't it a bit much for Prince Axion to dream of partnering with Carat to open a stationery store? Is it that the empire is going around like this?
"Of course, it's a part-time job, but still!"
"That's right. I'm going to be the next head of the Magic Guild. And the prince aims to become a knight commander."
"Huh..." No, even if it's a part-time job, this is serious... More than that, I was relieved that they were also aiming to be the Magic Guild head and a knight commander. I knew my kids were dedicated to the stationery store... but this was a bit much. I nodded and tried to calm down.
"Okay, let's take a sip of juice and talk again."
"Hmm."
I grabbed a bottle of juice that the maids seemed to have in the lab, hurriedly lifted the lid, and drank it in a gulp. I know you're watching me drink juice in bewilderment! I've suddenly skipped five years, guys. I also need time to calm my panic.
Fortunately, the cold drink flowed down my throat, and I finally calmed down. Then I remembered the children who weren't here.
"But guys, where are Henry and Mirissa?" I thought of the confident little Mirissa who stood by my side like chewing gum. No, she must have become a lady now… I put my fist to the corner of my mouth and felt like crying. I couldn't even see our cuties grow up. It must have been very cute.
I took another sip of the sweet juice and tried to find some stability. But the moment I took a sip of juice and put it in my mouth...
"Henry is in the Mage Tower, and Mirissa is busy."
"Why?" Is she busy because she's the chief?
"Duchess Mirissa is now! After I went to the academy and passed the grade!"
...What? I spat out the juice from my mouth.
"That's right, that's why Mirissa is so busy."
"Huh! Now I have to ask His Excellency Duke Hesman, not Mirissa! Fools!"
A shocking thing happened. Who became a duke? Mirissa? That little cutie kid? Already?