The air was calm. Birds fluttered above, cars rolled by, each heading to unknown destinations—no one could ever tell what the future held. Nothing broke the stillness except the sound of Lucian's breathing and the laughter of students spilling out of school with innocent joy.
Lucian gazed up at the sky as he waited at the school gate, his thoughts heavy:
"What should I do with her? I don't even know how she died in the first place…"
Suddenly, a soft voice cut through his thoughts:
"Were you really waiting for me here?"
He lifted his eyes to see Lisa standing there, her expression childlike.
Lucian answered gently:
"Yes, because I told you—we'd meet after school."
Lisa smiled faintly, though her tone carried a trace of sadness:
"I thought you'd leave me like everyone else. But it's fine… in the end, nobody really likes me, except for one person."
Lucian's eyes widened. Why did she think he would abandon her too? He sighed instead and began walking, with Lisa following at his side.
"Can I ask you something?" she said.
Lucian glanced at her.
Lisa hesitated for a moment, then spoke with a child's fragile courage:
"Why did you ask me what would happen seven years from now?"
Lucian replied carefully:
"Because I wanted to confirm something… But I'm not sure how to handle it. Either way, I don't want to tell you more than that."
Lisa pouted and kept walking beside him until they reached Mirwan's public garden. Snow blanketed most of the greenery. Lisa's gaze drifted to the frozen sea, and she wondered aloud:
"Why aren't there any birds drinking water here?"
Lucian answered flatly:
"Because the water's frozen. That's why birds migrate to countries where there's no ice or snow."
Lisa flinched slightly at his cold tone. She looked at him, troubled.
"Do you think I'm stupid?"
Lucian stopped walking and looked at her.
"Why ask me that… as if I'm your friend?"
Then a thought struck him suddenly:
"Wait… she has no friends, and she feels unloved… Could it be that she's suffering from—"
But Lisa cut into his thoughts with a heavy voice:
"I… I don't understand why I even exist. Everyone calls me stupid because I ask things they already know and I don't. I've never felt safe before, so you don't need to force yourself to stay with a girl like me."
Lisa's eyes stayed fixed on the ground, heavy with sorrow, as if her tears were about to spill.
Lucian was stunned—he didn't know how to respond.
He sighed softly and said, trying to ease her pain:
"I'm sorry… please don't cry. I'm here with you."
Lisa lifted her gaze to him, her voice trembling:
"Am I stupid?"
"No, you're not stupid," Lucian replied firmly. "You're just curious—you want to learn, to understand the world."
Lisa's eyes widened, and for the first time, she smiled—a smile that felt truly genuine.
They spent the rest of the afternoon together, strolling through the garden, then stopping by a cake shop. They shared slices of cake as they walked… until they reached the Clock Tower.
"Well… I guess I should head home," Lucian said.
But Lisa grabbed his hand, her tone suddenly serious:
"No, don't go home! I want to stay with you longer!"
Lucian froze.
And then—the world around them stopped. Birds hung frozen in the sky. Cars stood still mid-motion. People taking photos near the Clock Tower were locked in place.
Lisa turned to him with a gentle smile.
"I've grown attached to you."
Lucian pulled his hand away, stumbling back, panic rising.
"Did you… do all this?"
Lisa's smile faded. Her eyes turned distant, almost void.
"Are you afraid of me? You were kind to me… so why are you scared now?"
Lucian's gaze darted to the Clock Tower—it read 4:27 PM. He turned back to her, struggling to keep calm:
"How… how did you do this?"
Lisa stepped closer and held out her hand.
"Come on, Lucian… let's have some fun."
Lucian found himself torn between two choices: accept her hand, or refuse it. But what would happen if he refused?
In the end, he reached out, took her hand, and pulled himself up from the ground.
He looked at her nervously, but Lisa kept holding his hand, guiding him somewhere unknown.
Inside, Lucian tried to reason it out:
"Attached to me? This feels like an attachment disorder… But could it really be that just a few kind words, a walk in the garden, or a slice of cake together were enough to make her cling to me like this?"
They eventually arrived at the edge of town, where the mountains rose in quiet majesty.
Lisa's eyes lit up as she gazed at one of the peaks, her voice soft and childlike:
"That's the first mountain… What do you say we go to the Forest of Shaded Light?"
The Forest of Shaded Light was the great woodland surrounding Mirwan, the town nestled between two towering mountains. It was one of the region's most cherished natural landmarks.
Lucian's gaze shifted toward the mountain.
"Normally, I'd never bother coming near these mountains. To me, they were just shapes on the horizon."
But Lisa tugged at his hand, pulling him toward the trees.
"Come on! Let's go into the forest. Time is frozen—nothing will happen. I just want to spend more time with you!"
Lucian didn't resist.
Soon, they stepped beneath the canopy of the Forest of Shaded Light. The woods were painted in winter's stillness, green swallowed in white, the trees locked in ice. At first, it seemed ordinary. But Lisa pressed on, walking hand in hand with Lucian until they emerged into a clearing.
There, a wide field of snow-covered white flowers stretched before them.
Lisa's eyes sparkled.
"We made it!"
Lucian's eyes widened too. For the first time, he saw what lay beyond the forest, and words escaped him.
Lisa turned toward him, smiling brightly, though frost blanketed the flowers.
"This place is full of white blossoms, isn't it?"
She nodded eagerly.
"Yes! I used to come here every spring and summer, back when I had no one else to talk to. My mother would bring me here ever since I was two years old."
Then she added, softly but with delight:
"And now… I can come here with you."
Lucian stood silent for a moment before asking:
"How… how did you stop time like this?"
Lisa hesitated, then tilted her head.
"Does it matter?"
Lucian nodded slowly.
She stared at him for a while, then whispered:
"If you promise never to reveal my secret… and if you promise to stay with me for the rest of your life."
Lucian's breath caught. "For the rest of my life?"
Lisa replied with a mischievous, childlike grin:
"You know exactly what I mean."
Lucian let out a slow breath, reminding himself—she was still just a child, and he was standing in a time seven years before the Clock Tower explosion. He needed to keep calm, to play along, and uncover the mysteries piece by piece.
"Alright… I promise. I won't reveal your secret. And… I'll stay with you, for as long as I live."
Lisa relaxed at his words, then began to explain:
"I'm part of a secret experiment from the Mirwan Research Center… They fused my blood with the clock."
She slipped off her small schoolbag, set it on the ground, and pulled out a pocket watch—its design reminiscent of the eighteenth century, old and strangely out of place in her tiny hands.
"I don't know how it happened!" she continued. "But they told me to use it whenever I needed to escape from bullies, without drawing suspicion. At first, it was just a way to steal some extra time—moments where I could be free, away from the noise and the people… I'd run here, to the Forest of Shaded Light, and rest where no one could bother me."
Lucian's confusion deepened. He muttered under his breath:
"If this device let her escape danger… then how did she end up dying?"
Lisa tucked the pocket watch back into her schoolbag, then looked up at him with a soft smile.
"Come on. Let's just sit here for a while."
As they sat together, Lisa's bright eyes lingered on the snow, shimmering with a strange light.
Suddenly, Lucian began to hear distorted waves of sound…
"Wake up!! This is the past—wake up now!!!"
In an instant, Lucian's eyes snapped open. He was back inside the Clock Tower. His phone lay on the floor beside him, the screen glowing faintly. The clock above read 3:34 PM.
Grabbing his phone, he stumbled to the door and rushed outside, his thoughts racing.
"What's happening to me? How did I slip from the past… back into the present?"
Later, he gathered with Jude and Anya in a quiet spot away from prying eyes.
Lucian sighed, running a hand through his hair, and finally spoke:
"Heh… okay, how do I even explain this? It's about… Lisa."
But Anya suddenly cut him off:
"You mean the girl you were waiting for outside the school gate?"
"Huh?" Lucian's eyes widened in shock.
"Has… the present changed?"
The thought sent a chill through him.