Of Pride and Power - 45. Chapter 39: “Master the art of timing”

During my timeline, an English physicist named Arthur Eddington introduced the concept of Time’s Arrow in 1927. In his work, he identifies three core components that define the flow of time and its perception by human beings:

1. Time’s effects are recognized by conscious beings.
2. Time must be consistent for rational observations.
3. Time has no physical form, except when its results are observed across a large group of individual data points.

There is a common misconception about my abilities and place in the universe. I must emphasize again that I am not a deity. However, the circumstances and errors of human beings have created situations that result in improbable outcomes. Under normal conditions, my abilities are limited to a small area of focused observation, as I cannot simultaneously create a tear in space-time and manipulate matter's relative position. My abilities adhere to the rules of Time’s Arrow, meaning all causes and effects occur in sequence. However, in an environment where phantom energy already exists and universal constants are artificially controlled, I am no longer bound by these limitations.

As our vehicles parked outside the Tuileries Palace, Commander Philippe Strozzi of the Cent-Suisse, the elite Swiss unit of the French Royal Guard, approached us. He was the commander of this unit in my timeline and was involved in one of my history’s most notorious events—the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of Protestants, which took place between August 23rd and 24th, 1572. The scale of the murders, which included leaders, clergy, and their families, would not be matched for four centuries, until similar sectarian atrocities were committed against the Jews by the Germans in my timeline. Despite the lack of Protestant activity, my royal court had raised our guard. We had learned our lesson from Queen Mary’s reign and the events of 1569. Causality has a stubborn tendency to align events with historical patterns, proving the Novikov self-consistency principle. Unfortunately, my allies like Louis Bourbon and William of the Netherlands did not grasp this advanced principle.

As the Protestant Reformation was in disarray across Europe after the Habsburg victory in Germany, it resembled more of an underground movement than the organized religious resistance seen in my timeline. In its place, the veritas groups, which originated in England to support my reign and advocate for the inclusion of Omega males in society, have grown over the last decade, making inroads across Continental Europe. What began as a secular movement has evolved into a quasi-religion that promotes universal liberty, equality, and the sanctity of Omegas. The tenets connected to Omegas emerged from the convergence of beliefs and experiences of fair folk, Cathars, and John Knox. Although I never intended to create a religion, I became entwined with this belief system, recognizing it as essential for maintaining national stability. On this point, I bear responsibility for the deaths that will occur—if I could have extended my reach, I would have saved more lives. However, I had to prioritize the safety of my group first.

The first assassination attempt occurred immediately after we entered the palace. As we exited the motorcars and ascended the stairs to the palace halls, a line of soldiers with automatic weapons greeted us as we turned into the foyer. In a scene reminiscent of a classic film from my timeline, The Godfather Part 1, a barrage of automatic gunfire erupted, which should have easily killed us all. It would have been a quick and efficient death, though somewhat anti-climactic had it succeeded. In seconds, I displaced their weapons, bullets, and the shooters’ heads.

Using my ability, I scanned the entire palace complex and pinpointed the location of Prince François Valois. He was considered a moderate within the French royal family, and we had exchanged radio messages before entering Paris, confirming his presence in the city. I wanted to ensure he was not involved in the plot, which would give me more options.

My ability to analyze and identify elements is like microwave and X-ray imaging. I detected a body with a similar build and composition to Prince François within the palace and directed my group to head in that direction, neutralizing guards as we advanced. Upon entering the room, we discovered Prince François Valois dead, along with his elder brother, King Henry III of France. They were surrounded by Swiss guards and servants, who were rearranging the room as if staging a play.

After disarming the guards, I demanded answers.

“Who is behind this?”

No one responded, so I began dismembering their limbs. After the third leg was severed from a Swiss guard, one of the high-ranking officers began to cry out.

“Mon Dieu! Please forgive us. We were ordered by the Duke of Guise, Henri de Lorraine. We were told that your demonic abilities would not work within Paris. But when it became clear that your powers were still intact after the failed attack, the Duke ordered us to eliminate the king and his brother, so you would be implicated in their murders. Spare us your wrath!”

Scowling, I analyzed the bodies of the two dead French royals and knew they had died less than five minutes ago. I had no love lost for someone like Henry III, but François Valois didn’t deserve to die—I would have preferred he lived.

Eddie asked, “What should we do, Your Majesty, Aelfric Eli? Even if we use these scoundrels to prove our innocence and expose the vile plot of Henri de Lorraine, we’re at a disadvantage in France against a loyal French noble.”

Robert nodded. “Historically, this isn’t going to end well for us. The Wars of Religion in France were filled with coup plots like the Surprise of Meaux when Charles IX was almost captured in our timeline. They’ll use this regicide as justification for a major war against England and our allies.”

I nodded. “We must undo all of this. At least now I know their plan and can go back.”

Robert was about to ask me something when we heard a loud banging from outside the door. More French troops were about to break through. While I could easily subdue them and get my people out of Paris safely, it wasn’t ideal for us to be implicated in this double murder.

As reinforcements approached, I reversed the flow of time from my perspective, returning to the point when we first entered Paris.

Neither Robert nor I had figured out how time travel was achieved by the end of the 21st century. Neither the Three Sisters AI at Avalon nor Merlin’s special core from Cornwall were willing to share that information with us, due to system blocks placed by Merlin until a specified time. Robert believed it had something to do with quantum entanglement and communications, since only the consciousness of future individuals was sent back to historical bodies like ours. Out of curiosity, we began experimenting based on theoretical concepts. Using my ability, we tried to entangle a simple data transmission using quantum tunneling at the Avalon facility, which had the necessary electronics, but our instruments detected no anomalies in the transmission. However, I noticed something interesting with my analytical ability—a rippling aura surrounded the transmitter. The aura sent out a wave that lasted less than a second. Using the core we found in Merlin’s crystal cave in Cornwall, we experimented again and recorded the observation from the perspective of the transmitter. The core appeared willing to provide useful data despite the block. There was a 0.7-second initial feedback at the point of origin that disappeared upon data receipt. I was only able to perform this feat three more times and up to 10 seconds of feedback before falling unconscious from exhaustion. In a small way, we had achieved a variant of time travel on a minuscule scale.

Given what was happening in Paris, with an actual tear in space-time and abundant phantom energy, I applied the lessons we learned at Avalon to a concept from one of my favorite manga series, Re: Zero. Although the series originated from the Isekai genre, it leaned more towards the regressor genre. Its protagonist, Subaru Natsuki, uses his ability to reset events by going back one day at the moment of his death to change past outcomes, with no one in the new timeline knowing what happened except for him. This unique twist on time travel, where the main character continuously sacrifices himself to go back in time and correct bad choices, fascinated me. Regressor genre stories were extremely popular, and Re: Zero alone sold over 13 million copies, with its animated adaptation being the most watched worldwide. Such interest in death and second chances wasn’t limited to Otakus like me. My bibliophile partner discovered an old science fiction story series called Do-Over from the early 2000s on a gay story website, predating the official 2010s regressor genre. There was something universal across cultures in my timeline—a desire for another chance. And now, due to their lack of foresight, I had infinite second chances.

On my second entrance into Paris, I held Robert’s hand and signed, “You have no ability for a day.” I paused and then signed individual letters along with words to express the next thought, “P-H-A-N-T-O-M (space) E-N-E-R-G-Y everywhere.”

He shook his head and signed back, “What should we do?”

I smirked and replied with innocent hand gestures, “Turn their plans on their heads.”

I spoke clearly to our driver, “Park the motorcar by the side of the road. We’re walking to Edward Seymour’s home.”

As my vehicle broke formation, the others followed suit. The French military detail was initially alarmed by the sudden change in our mode of travel, responding with a flurry of radio communications and wary stares.

Philippe Strozzi approached me and asked, “Your Majesty, why are you leaving your motorcar and altering the planned meeting?”

I smiled politely. “Commander Strozzi of the Cent-Suisse, my stomach is quite unsettled after the prolonged journey by motorcar, and I would rather not inconvenience His Majesty King Henry of France with such trifles. My lord ambassador, Edward Seymour, has a home in Paris where I can rest and regain my composure before entering the palace.”

He frowned and insisted, “Oh, I am sorry to hear that your journey has left you in pain. Surely, we can provide a proper doctor at the Tuileries Palace for your issues, Your Majesty. We can escort you to the Palace on foot.”

I maintained my polite demeanor. “I apologize, Commander, for delaying the wedding negotiations. Perhaps it’s the female nature of my body, so I must ask for your pardon. We will meet with King Henry later this evening.”

I ignored Philippe Strozzi’s continued protests that we should head to the Tuileries Palace first and had Eddie lead us to his Paris home. Given how much I paid him, he should have been living in a decent dwelling with several servants. However, I knew my wayward ward had secretly been spending much of his ambassadorial stipend on courtiers at various disreputable Maisons. Eddie was a good diplomat and skilled negotiator, but his sexual appetite gave me heartburn. As a result, he only had a modest four-room home outside the noble quarter with a single widowed French maid who needed the job. It was not a place to house royalty, nor even a noble. It was quite a distance from the main road we were on, taking us an hour to walk there. However, it was also far outside the influence of the Swiss Guard, meaning they couldn’t quickly act against us. We had time on our side—both in the short term and infinitely more time than anyone could guess. Still, I dislike the trope of smart regressors having to repeatedly go back to fix issues they already understood, so I resolved to limit this to a single regression.

When we reached Eddie’s home, Philippe Strozzi and his men departed. The triplets reorganized the drivers and our security details. I took a few minutes to prepare a letter before making our next move. We were heading to the Tuileries Palace, but not on the French royal court’s timeline. We left the house immediately and made our way to a nearby parish church. Although I detested the killing of innocents, we had to secure a route into the Paris catacombs for covert movement throughout the city.

Since it was Saint Bartholomew’s Day, a prayer service was underway at the church. I gave the priest and his congregation air embolisms, ending their lives in seconds, while my men secured the church. It was a necessary evil, a fact that history will likely overlook, but I made sure to preserve the church roster book for posterity. Fifty-seven lives, including the priest, a children’s choir, and entire families, were wiped out by my hand in an instant. Due to the unique nature of the phantom energy in Paris, I didn’t face the usual probability limits to my displacement abilities. I have no way of knowing if I murdered an ancestor of Louis Pasteur, the father of vaccine medicine, or Marie Curie, the mother of X-rays and radiation research. History might never know those names for their great discoveries, but I want them to be remembered.

In my timeline, the Paris catacombs were a massive ossuary built in the 18th century to accommodate the overwhelming number of dead bodies, fulfilling Christian burial requirements. By the time they were completed, the catacombs held six million bodies. However, under Catherine de Medici’s direction in 1550, the ossuary was constructed earlier to manage the growing deceased population in Paris, largely due to the wars in Germany against Protestants and rapid industrialization. An additional improvement linked each church in Paris to the catacombs, allowing the various Catholic parishes to benefit from this network. This initiative generated favorable sentiment towards the French monarchy and the Catholic Church under Catherine’s uncle, Pope Peter II. However, this early infrastructure would now serve as our loophole to enter the Tuileries Palace, which was connected to the catacombs through its chapel.

Robert, Eddie, and most of the guards stayed behind in the church while the triplets and I made our way to the palace. It was an eerie scene, surrounded by walls filled with decaying bodies and bones, but I wasn’t fazed—my abilities revealed everything around us. The triplets, desensitized to death as frontline commanders, would be fine as well.

After exiting the Tuileries Palace chapel, we headed to find Francois. He was alone in his private room, which suited our extraction plan perfectly. If Henry III was killed by Henri de Lorraine, Francois would be the legitimate heir to the French throne. As his prospective father-in-law, I could guarantee his safety. In addition to protecting Francois, I had prepared a letter for Catherine de Medici and Henry III, detailing Philippe Strozzi’s betrayal and the actions of the Swiss Guard under the orders of the Duke of Guise. Extracting Francois and turning the French factions against one another would be a significant victory.

However, when I met Francois, I was met with a surprise.

As I entered his room, a shocked Prince Francois Valois blurted out, “Why are you here? Are you going to kill me? This is all my fault. It’s too late for peace. They’re invading your lands and those of your allies right now. The Habsburg armies have already taken Navarre and Bruges. My brother’s army took Le Havre and executed Louis Bourbon and Admiral Coligny. They’re besieging Boulogne. No one can leave this city until tomorrow, and they have thousands of soldiers with orders to kill you. You also have no abilities. I’m so sorry.”

It was the worst-case scenario I had feared, but I still held onto hope. Francis was with Henry Bourbon in Navarre with our royal troops, so I hoped they could escape into the mountains. Boulogne was fortified, with Frances in direct command, and our fleet was guarding Calais. They haven’t cornered me yet.