I Will Save Myself Again and Again

Evelyn Ashbourne is about to sign the Royal Magic Academy's enrollment contract when her grandmother's silver mirror shows her a haggard older self: scarred, maimed, and desperate. The woman warns her not to give up her magic and future for Caspar, who loves her half-sister Sybil, and urges her to take the rune scholarship at Grey Thorn Magic Academy instead, where no Resonance Oath will seal what has not yet awakened in her.

Before the mirror cracks, the older Evelyn passes on instructions: buy Star Wheel lottery tickets, keep her grandmother's house on Old Bridge Street and its underground ley line, and invest in Dawn Alchemy. She tells her to bring the mirror and ring to Professor Morwen Vael, and hints that their mother was never just a washed-up witch.

Evelyn signs Grey Thorn's contract, refuses the royal offer, and buys the tickets. Then she overhears Caspar and Sybil kissing behind the rose hedge, planning to keep her in the dark and break the engagement after graduation. Watching them, she finally feels how tight the ring on her hand has become.