Princess Connect Regret: Journey to Reclaim Lost Smiles
Time is a thief that always collects its due.
Yuuki watched the ones he loved—Pecorine, Kokkoro, Kyaru—dissolve into a black haze he could not stop. So he broke the world's oldest law to undo it: he touched the forbidden crystal beneath the Tower of Time and turned back the clock itself, trading his memories for a second chance. Now he stands once more in the sunlit plaza where it all began, watching a silver-haired girl scramble to collect her spilled coins—the first meeting, the first smile,
Princess Connect Regret: Journey to Reclaim Lost Smiles - From the abyss of oblivion—the light of reversal illuminated by bonds
There was a hole punched through his chest.
Blood was flowing. Warm. It wouldn't stop.
Yuuki lay on his back. The cold of the stone pavement seeped into him. He could see the sky. Dim. Night was coming.
His fingers wouldn't move.
His breathing was shallow.
At the edge of his vision, someone was screaming.
"Yuuki! Yuuki, come on! Please, open your eyes!"
A blonde girl appeared in his blurred vision.
A big red ribbon. Sky-blue eyes wet with tears.
...She's beautiful.
"Master... Master... Can you hear my voice...!"
A girl with emerald hair. Golden eyes. Long ears.
Both of them were crying.
It's my fault.
I couldn't protect them.
Chronophage.
The price of changing the past. Monsters born from the distortion of time. Swarms of black haze.
They devour my memories.
Because I came to the past. Because I rewound time.
The world warped.
They appeared.
A tentacle pierced his chest.
In that instant, something fell away.
Name. Face. Voice. Memories.
Like sand, slipping through his fingers.
...Who am I.
Yuuki.
That's right. I'm Yuuki.
...Who is Yuuki.
The depths of his chest turned to chaos.
The terror of losing himself.
The ground crumbled beneath him. He was sinking into a dark sea.
But.
In his right hand, a hard sensation.
A small metal badge.
The crest of Twilight Memoria.
Four smiles engraved upon it — our bond.
...This alone, I remember.
The crest glowed faintly.
His consciousness fell to the bottom of a deep darkness.
——.
Behind his eyelids, light.
Warm light.
Yuuki stood in the darkness.
No ground beneath him. No ceiling above. No up, no down, no left, no right.
Just light, in front of him.
The crest of Twilight Memoria.
Four smiles.
Pecorine. Kokkoro. Kyaru. And me.
The crest rotated slowly.
Images spilled out from it.
A dinner table. A small table surrounded by four.
Steaming soup. The scent of bread.
Pecorine, cheeks stuffed, laughing.
"So good! Yuuki, this is the best!"
Kokkoro, carefully tearing her bread.
"Master, would you like another serving?"
Kyaru, sulkily sipping her soup.
"I-It's not like I wanted to eat your cooking or anything."
...Ah.
My precious time.
The image shifted.
The road home from a quest. The lower district under a sunset.
The four of us walking.
Pecorine singing. Kokkoro smiling. Kyaru flipping her twintails in annoyance.
I walked behind them, laughing.
...I wanted to protect it.
This time. These smiles.
The image went dark.
Black haze.
Chronophage.
My comrades, swallowed up.
Pecorine reaching out her hand.
Kokkoro screaming.
Kyaru crying.
I can't reach them.
My fingertips won't touch.
"—No."
A voice came out.
"I don't want to lose them."
Tears overflowed.
"I don't want to forget... I don't want to forget them...!"
He screamed.
In that instant.
The crest blazed explosively.
Memory magic.
A power he had been activating unconsciously.
He had been anchoring his memories with his comrades into the crest.
The four smiles became particles of light and flew into his chest.
Warm.
...Ah.
I am Yuuki.
Leader of Twilight Memoria.
I decided I would protect everyone.
Even if my memories vanish.
Even if my name vanishes.
This feeling alone will never disappear.
Light enveloped his body.
His consciousness surfaced.
——.
The battlefield ruins of the lower district.
The Chronophage swarm writhed.
Clumps of black haze. Countless tentacles. Eerie groans.
Their number exceeded thirty.
Pecorine readied her sword.
Gripping it with both hands, wiping her tears, she stepped forward.
"Enough... I will never, ever let you touch Yuuki!"
Her sword took on light.
The light of memory. The warm feelings of days spent with Yuuki.
Kokkoro raised her staff.
"I will fight as well. To protect Master."
The scent of herbs drifted around her.
The light of memory rose as green particles.
But the Chronophage did not flinch.
Rather, as if drawn to the light, they closed in on the two.
—Then.
"Hey, you two! What do you think you're doing!"
A sharp voice rang across the battlefield.
The three turned.
Standing there was a silver twintail.
Purple streaks. Purple eyes. A small frame.
A mage girl clad in a black robe.
Kyaru. Fourteen years old.
She stood with her brows raised, hands on her hips, as always.
"Are you idiots!? Why would you do something so reckless! You're trying to die!?"
Kyaru's gaze fixed on Yuuki, collapsed on the ground.
The wound on his chest. The pool of blood. The pale face.
Her eyes flashed red for an instant.
A sign of the evil eye.
"...What is this."
Kyaru sensed the magic leaking from Yuuki's body.
The residue of memory magic.
And beneath it, a foreign power.
"Time magic...? Why... You can't mean..."
The anger vanished from her face.
In its place, confusion, and a touch of fear.
But the Chronophage noticed Kyaru.
One of them extended a tentacle.
"Shut up! This is not the time for that!"
Kyaru swung her staff.
Memory magic.
The power she excelled at.
A blade of light sliced through the tentacle.
"—Listen, those things are monsters that devour memories."
Kyaru shouted at Pecorine and Kokkoro.
"But they have a weakness. They're vulnerable to strong memories. Just do what you're already doing — hit them with the light of your memories!"
Pecorine's eyes sparkled.
"Really!? Then my memories with Yuuki can be my weapon!"
"Understood. I will unleash all of my memories, and all of my feelings for Master."
Kyaru looked back and forth between them.
...These two, they're hopelessly straightforward.
But.
I don't hate it.
"Just hurry up and do it! Your light alone isn't enough!"
Kyaru ran to Yuuki's side.
She pressed the wound on his chest with the edge of her robe.
"...What are you? There's no way a human could use time magic."
Yuuki's right hand was clutching the crest.
Kyaru looked at it.
Four smiles.
"...Twilight Memoria."
She murmured.
"You've been anchoring your memories to this crest. Unconsciously. ...How desperate are you?"
Kyaru's eyes glowed red again.
She read the residue of Yuuki's memories.
His meeting with Pecorine.
His promise with Kokkoro.
And the scene in the original timeline, where the three were erased by the Chronophage.
"...Ngh."
Kyaru bit her lip.
"You... over and over, you went through this..."
Her hand trembled.
"But still, you carried it all alone, sacrificing yourself like an idiot... You really are such an idiot!"
She screamed.
In that instant.
Yuuki's eyelids moved.
——.
Light.
Warm light.
He could hear three voices.
Pecorine's voice.
Kokkoro's voice.
Kyaru's voice.
They were calling him.
"...Ugh."
His throat trembled.
"...You... guys."
Yuuki opened his eyes.
His vision was blurry.
The three faces wavered.
"Yuuki! Yuuki! Thank goodness...!"
Pecorine threw herself onto him.
Warm.
"Master... Master...!"
Kokkoro grasped his hand.
She was trembling.
"...Why are you awake. I thought you were dead."
Kyaru wiped her tears and looked away.
Yuuki slowly looked at the three faces.
The blonde girl.
The emerald-haired girl.
The silver-twintailed girl.
...I know them.
But.
"...Who are you?"
Yuuki's gaze was fixed on Pecorine.
Pecorine's face froze.
"Eh...?"
"Your name... won't come out."
Yuuki clutched his head.
It hurts.
His memories were a mess.
He knew this girl.
Her smile, her voice, the color of her ribbon.
But her name wouldn't come.
"No... No, Yuuki! It's me! It's Pecorine!"
Pecorine screamed.
"...Peco...rine."
Yuuki rolled the word around in his mouth.
Pecorine.
He'd heard it before.
But who was she again.
"Master... Do you recognize me?"
Kokkoro asked fearfully.
"...When you call me 'Master,' it feels nostalgic."
Yuuki smiled wryly.
"But I can't remember your name either."
Tears spilled from Kokkoro's eyes.
"...You. How far are you going to sacrifice yourself?"
Kyaru grabbed Yuuki by the collar.
"Your memories are disappearing! Your precious memories! And yet, why are you smiling like that!"
Kyaru's eyes glowed red.
"You used time magic, didn't you. You changed the past. The price is the loss of your memories. ...That's it, isn't it!?"
Yuuki looked at Kyaru's face.
Silver twintails. Purple streaks.
Eyes that glow red when she's angry.
...This one's name is.
"...Kyaru."
Yuuki murmured.
"You're Kyaru."
Kyaru's hand stopped.
"Why... You weren't supposed to know me until now."
"...I remember. You always called me an idiot, but you were always worried about me."
Yuuki's lips loosened.
"Tsundere, not honest, but kinder than anyone."
"Wha...!? What are you saying!?"
Kyaru's face turned bright red.
"I-It's not like I'm worried about you or anything! A-And I'm not a tsundere!"
Pecorine wiped her tears and laughed.
"Kyaru-chan, your face is so red! Are you embarrassed?"
"I'm not embarrassed! Don't be ridiculous!"
Kokkoro smiled softly.
"Master... So you remember Kyaru-san, after all."
"...Yeah. For some reason, hers alone is clear."
Yuuki placed a hand on his chest.
The crest was still warm.
"...Even if I forget everyone else. The feeling of wanting to protect you — that alone doesn't seem to disappear."
Then.
A groan.
The Chronophage swarm was closing in again.
"...We'll talk later! First, we deal with them!"
Kyaru readied her staff.
"Master still cannot move. Pecorine and I will protect Master."
"Yeah! I will absolutely not lose anymore!"
Pecorine gripped her sword anew.
Yuuki slowly rose.
The wound on his chest ached.
Blood still seeped.
But.
In his right hand, the crest.
Four smiles.
...As long as I have this.
I can still fight.
"...You three."
Yuuki called out to their backs.
"I'll fight too."
"Hah!? Look at your own wounds! You'll die!"
"I'll be fine."
Yuuki stood up.
His legs trembled.
His vision swayed.
But.
"I decided I would protect everyone."
The crest on Yuuki's right hand shone brightly.
Memory magic.
The memories of the four became particles of light, enveloping Yuuki's body.
The wound on his chest slowly closed.
"...What is that. The light of memory is healing his wounds."
Kyaru's eyes widened.
"You... You can even use memory magic...?"
"It's unconscious. I don't really understand it. But with this, I can fight."
Yuuki clenched his fist.
The Chronophage swarm attacked all at once.
Black haze. Tentacles. Monsters that devour memories.
"Here they come!"
"Leave it to me! I'll cut us a path!"
"I will provide support. Everyone, please stay safe."
The three moved.
Pecorine's sword was clad in light.
The light of memory. The time she spent with Yuuki.
A flash.
The black haze was sliced apart.
Kokkoro's staff radiated light.
The scent of herbs. The light of memory.
Green particles slowed the Chronophage's movements.
Kyaru's magic exploded.
Memory magic.
Blades of light severed tentacles.
Yuuki watched the three fight.
...They're strong.
All three of them, strong.
But.
The Chronophage were still multiplying.
Black haze welled up from the ground.
"Kh... There are too many!"
"At this rate, Master's memories will..."
"You two, don't give up! You're going to protect him, aren't you!"
Kyaru's voice echoed in Yuuki's chest.
...That's right.
I'll protect them.
I will.
Everyone.
Yuuki stepped forward.
In his right hand, the crest.
Four smiles.
"...Everyone."
Yuuki said quietly.
"Give me strength."
The crest emitted a dazzling light.
The memories of the four flowed into Yuuki's body.
Pecorine's smile.
Kokkoro's earnest gaze.
Kyaru's clumsy kindness.
And my own feeling of wanting to protect them.
Light enveloped Yuuki's entire body.
The wound on his chest closed completely.
The mark on his right arm spread to his shoulder.
Pain.
Memories disappearing again.
But.
For now, that's fine.
"—Let's go."
Yuuki broke into a run.
Toward the center of the Chronophage swarm.
"Yuuki! It's dangerous!"
"Master! Please wait!"
"Idiot! You're being reckless again!"
The three voices grew distant.
Yuuki clenched his fist.
The crest's light gathered in his fist.
"—Even if my
Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.