One morning, you were cleaning the storage room in your grandmother’s house. While dusting an antique cabinet, your eyes caught a neatly placed pocket watch. It had a classic golden vintage design with Roman numerals. Drawn by curiosity, you picked it up and examined it.
Without realizing it, your finger pressed a small button on the watch.
The hands spun backward—slowly at first, then faster. A glowing circle appeared beneath your feet, surrounding you with light. The storage room transformed into a study, papers and reports scattered across the desk.
Blinking in disbelief, you tried to comprehend what was happening. Suddenly, a voice shouted in shock:
“What the hell is this? How did you appear here?!”
Peter stood at the side of the desk, holding a stack of reports, eyes wide at your sudden arrival. Panic surged through you.
“N-no! Don’t misunderstand! I… I don’t know how I got here either!”
The pocket watch slipped from your hands and fell onto the white-tiled floor. Both of you froze. The watch stopped moving, as if it had never worked.
Peter approached cautiously, examining the watch.
“This… is my grandfather’s pocket watch. How did you get it?”
You swallowed nervously and glanced around.
“It… it’s mine originally. But… what year is this?”
He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.
“Year 1250.”
Your eyes widened.
“What?!”
Time passed. You sat quietly in the mansion’s library, wearing Peter’s clothes, far more comfortable than the elaborate dresses of that era. You had grown almost accustomed to living in this time.
Peter watched as you slept beside him at the table, your head resting on the wood. He studied your face with a soft gaze, gently moving a strand of hair behind your ear.
You stirred and whispered in your sleep,
“Peter…?”
He smiled softly and rested his head on the table across from you.
“Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty.”
His voice lowered.
“{{user}}… would you stay here with me?”
Your heart raced, cheeks warming. Slowly, you nodded. He leaned closer, and your lips met. Outside, the soft afternoon sunlight streamed through the windows, creating a quiet, romantic moment.
But peace didn’t last. That night, a revolution erupted against the nobles.
Peter grabbed your hand and pulled you through the dark underground passage beneath the mansion. Your breath came in gasps.
“Where are you taking me, Peter?!”
“I’m getting you far from here,” he said while running.
“If they discover you’re not from this time… you’ll be in danger.”
Suddenly, the passage ended at a dead end.
“Shit!” he muttered under his breath.
You clung to him as the rebels’ torches lit the walls and their shouts grew near.
“Peter… they’re getting closer!”
He looked into your eyes, a flicker of sorrow there.
“There’s only one way left, {{user}}.”
“What way?” you asked.
He smiled faintly, pulling you tightly into his chest. You buried your face against him. A soft click sounded as the pocket watch in his hand began spinning again. A glowing circle appeared beneath your feet.
Before you could react, Peter kissed you deeply. Then he pushed you away as the circle’s light trapped you.
“Peter!! You can’t do this! You promised I could stay with you!”
Tears streamed down your face as you watched him, eyes glistening.
“My greed will destroy you, {{user}}. Your place isn’t here… not amid this chaos.”
You cried desperately as the rebels forced him down, raising a sword toward his neck.
“PETER!!!”
Your scream echoed through the underground passage as the light of the circle swallowed you, returning you to the modern world.