For what felt like the fortieth time, she was poring over Light’s Conquest, desperately trying to piece together a timeline of past events—what had changed, what remained the same, and what unforeseen ripples might still be forming.
She muttered under her breath, "The last time a small change happened, it caused such a massive shift… Marie is here instead of being in the Western Continent. I can’t afford another unexpected deviation."
She took up her notebook, flipping through pages filled with carefully written observations, theories, and speculations.
There was one glaring truth she had noted over and over: by the novel’s original timeline, she should have been dead before ever reaching Jola.
"So that means the battle between Jola’s forces and Ronin Town’s knights—disguised as pirates—never happened in the novel." Ravenna frowned as she scrawled this new insight onto the page, her quill scratching against the parchment.
That alone was a significant divergence. If she had been fated to die before arriving in Jola, then the entire sequence of events surrounding her exile had played out differently than what was written.
She had carefully molded Jola’s governing system to ensure that she maintained an iron grip on the island’s affairs. Every decision was deliberate, each policy crafted to keep the story from deviating too drastically while still ensuring Jola’s survival.
But why? In Light’s Conquest, Ravenna was never mentioned again after her exile in the first arc. The story simply moved on as if she had ceased to exist. This was bizarre for several reasons.
If she had died in Ronin Town, as seemed likely, then her death would have undoubtedly reached the imperial palace. There would have been an imperial funeral—perhaps a cursory mention in the novel, even if only to highlight the downfall of a disgraced princess.
Yet, nothing.
It was as though her very existence had been erased. Ravenna tapped her quill against her notebook, deep in thought.
"Did the Ronin family seize control of Jola without the imperial palace noticing? Could they have used it as a secret site to dispose of their slaves when William began his hunt for slave traders?"
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It was a chilling possibility, but something didn’t add up. Hughes, John, and the rest of her entourage would have reported her death if that were the case. It wouldn’t have been a quiet affair.
No, something else had happened.
She rubbed her temples, frustration building.
"If I assume the poison didn't kill Ravenna in the original timeline…" she murmured.
That would mean she still made it to Jola. If that were true, then the most logical course of action would have been to sail to the Western Continent, leveraging her status as an apostle of Herptian to rally support. The Herptian Church could have provided her with resources, mercenaries, and trade connections.
From there, she could have returned with the backing to establish Jola as a proper trade hub—a logical, calculated move that fit the Ravenna she knew to be.
Yet, in the novel’s second half, which largely took place in the Western Continent, there was still no mention of her.
That meant… she never made it there.
But why?
"Ugh, this is eating away at my brain." Ravenna groaned, dropping her quill with an irritated flick of her wrist. She leaned back in her chair, staring at the ceiling as if it held the answers she was searching for.
If the novel never mentioned what happened to her, then how could she track what small changes she had already caused? How could she prevent even larger deviations from spiraling out of control?
Ravenna exhaled sharply, setting aside her notes. "At least the structure of my administration is working in my favor," she thought, drumming her fingers against her desk.
In Light’s Conquest, the entire Eastern Continent was plunged into devastating wars, resulting in catastrophic death tolls and endless turmoil. Yet, Jola was never once mentioned again after her exile. That meant, in the original timeline, the island had been isolated from the main events, left untouched by the infamous Witch of the West’s army due to its remote location.
This was both an advantage and a curse.
Ravenna needed Jola to prosper, but not so much that it would draw the empire’s attention or cause economic ripples that could alter the political landscape. The moment Jola became too significant, the imperial palace would inevitably intervene, and that was something she couldn't allow.
The solution? Absolute control over every business, trade, and technological development on the island.
Her administrative structure ensured that all economic activities flowed through her hands. She had positioned herself as the central authority in Jola’s economy, making sure that no independent power could rise and make reckless decisions that might alter the novel’s course.
This control gave her two critical advantages:
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Total authority over technological advancements. Any innovation produced in Jola would remain in her hands, preventing outside forces from stealing ideas and using them against her in the future at least until the main plot of the novel passes.
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An irreplaceable position in Jola’s governance. The imperial palace might one day recognize Jola’s prosperity, but removing her would be impossible without collapsing the very system that made the island thrive.
She had seen this happen once before the previous caretaker of Jola had been stripped of his position overnight. She wouldn’t suffer the same fate.
With a deep breath, Ravenna leaned back in her chair, massaging her temples. "Thinking about the novel too much is giving me a headache." Dwelling on things she had no answers to would only waste time.
She had work to do.
Pulling a fresh stack of documents from the side of her desk, she unfolded the top page and scanned its contents. “New Renovations for the Education of the Youth of Jola City.”