The boy continued to change with each passing day.

As time flowed on, the boy gradually became a man. He grew taller, his shoulders broader. Calluses formed on his hands, and the soft traces of youth slowly faded from his face.

Just as Reina had predicted, Zephion defeated Yuta before reaching adulthood.

Whether Kaelid was aware of that or not, he still treated the boy with the same contempt. Emotions etched into one’s bones over years didn’t change because of one trivial thing.

Despite Reina’s quiet wish for time to freeze as it was, time moved forward with cruel fairness. And so, Zephion became the adult he had so longed to be.

Zephion was coming of age.

Reina tightened her fists, reminding herself that the day she had wished would never come… had finally arrived.

That night, the boy who refused to leave her side, who had insisted she be the first to celebrate his birthday, sat beside her, his eyes sparkling as he watched the clock.

They were in the same room—yet she wondered if he had any idea how vastly different their thoughts were.

“Just a few minutes left now.”

“…”

“You’ll congratulate me, won’t you, Reina?”

He gave her a bright smile.

Reina, who had still been thinking of him as a child without meaning to, lowered her gaze. It was no longer right to call him a boy. Even if her eyes still saw traces of youth, Zephion was now a man.

‘What should I do?’

Should she tell him everything once the clock struck midnight?

But the thought made her hesitate. She didn’t want to stain his birthday—a day that would stay with him for life—with something so painful.

Even if it was for revenge, there was no need to ruin it with a memory so cruel.

‘Just a little longer…’

Just a little more. A few days. A few hours. She knew that, if she kept waiting like this, she might miss the right moment forever, but still, she couldn’t bring herself to speak.

“There’s so much I want to do once I’m officially an adult.”

Zephion whispered, smiling with excitement.

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

“It’s still a secret.”

Reina only gave a faint smile in return.

The one small mercy was that Kaelid hadn’t shown up today.

‘If he had known that Zephion would come of age tomorrow,
he would’ve found a way to come, no matter what.’

Kaelid still paid Zephion no mind—almost as if he didn’t consider him a person at all. Oddly, that contempt often worked in Zephion’s favor. Of course, whenever things displeased Kaelid, he suddenly remembered Zephion was a “man” and took that out on Reina instead.

“Only a few seconds left now.”

“It seems so.”

She replied, following his gaze to the clock. The minute hand hovered just shy of twelve. A hush so deep hung between them that Reina thought she could hear the gears inside the clock turning.

Then the long hand clicked into place.

“Happy coming-of-age, Pipi.”

“Thank you, Reina.”

He smiled, radiant, then leaned in closer. His golden eyes glimmered with an emotion she didn’t dare name—because she knew she couldn’t accept it.

“Reina, I told you before—I’ll take responsibility.”

The hand that gathered her skirt was no longer a child’s. Only now did Reina realize she’d never truly stopped him from these familiar gestures he’d taken for granted since boyhood.

“Pipi, now—”

She tried to pull her skirt back into place, but Zephion was quicker. A warm palm cupped her leg, broad fingers tracing the scar that ran down it.

“I’ll be the legs you don’t have.”

He murmured, pressing a gentle kiss to the mark. His lips felt hot against her skin.

“I’ll cherish you more than anyone ever could.”

“Stop, Pipi.”

She pushed at his shoulder, but he had grown far too strong to be moved so easily. Those golden eyes fixed on her, and in a panic she covered his mouth with her hand.

“Don’t say it.”

“…”

“Please… don’t say those words.”

She whispered the plea, terrified because she already knew exactly what he was about to confess.

When he had said “I love you” as a child, she could brush it off—he was just a boy, too young to understand the weight of those words. But now everything was different.

His eyes darkened with a grown man’s intensity. As her palm covered his mouth, his lips parted and his tongue slowly traced across her skin.

“Ah—”

Startled, she withdrew her hand, and Zephion spoke each word clearly, leaving her nowhere to hide.

“I love you, Reina.”

“No.”

She shook her head, trying to free her leg from his grasp, but he held her fast.

“Don’t.”

She whispered, pleading. He only leaned closer.

Zephion was a man now—she felt that unmistakably. When had his expression become so unmistakably adult? Just moments ago he had still seemed a bright-eyed boy.

She tried to push herself back, but with her leg pinned she couldn’t retreat far. His nose was almost brushing hers.

“Do you dislike me?”

“That question—”

“You do like me.”

“It isn’t something I can answer with a simple yes or no—”

“Choose one, say you like me, Reina.”

She bit her lip.

“If you don’t tell me you dislike me, I’ll take it as a yes.”

There was nowhere left to retreat; the back of her head met the sofa’s armrest. Even in the half-shadow, his golden eyes shone, impossibly clear.

“Pipi—”

“I like you. I love you.”

“Stop, please.”

She whispered, almost in a sob, pushing at his shoulder.

“You said… even if I wanted to kiss you after becoming an adult, you’d let me.”

“That was—”

“A promise is a promise.”

His lips moved slightly. Yes, she had made that promise once.

“I kept my promise too. I’ve been your cane all this time, just like I said I would.”

The distance between them had become dangerously close. She knew if things continued like this, he would kiss her—yet the words to stop him wouldn’t come out.

Why? Was it because, at some point, she had started seeing Zephion as a man? Or maybe it was because she had finally realized the feelings he’d carried for ten years were far from childish?

The “I love you” she had brushed off before—she now understood that, to him, it had been nothing but the truth.

“I…”

Her voice trembled as she finally spoke, and Zephion froze. Their noses lightly brushed. Reina squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again.

His golden eyes still held that dangerous glint—like a beast on the verge of pouncing.

“If I say no… will you stop?”

“Say it, then. Tell me no.”

She felt the warmth of his breath. No—this wasn’t right. To her, he was still just a child. Somewhere out there, there would be a woman better suited for him. Countless thoughts swirled chaotically in her mind. The answer should have been simple, yet it felt impossibly difficult.

“You can’t say it.”

The man whispered with a smile and slowly kissed her lips.

“Ugh…”

Her head was a mess. She was doing this to the child she had raised herself. He was only nine years old. Ten years younger than her.

A rookie who had just become an adult. He blinked slowly and rubbed his lips, seemingly unsure of how to kiss her.

There was a hint of mischief and excitement in his eyes. His large hand wrapped around the back of Reina’s head.

Zephion whispered softly, his lips pressed tightly together.

“Teach me how to kiss.”

Her whole body trembled at those words. The fingertips on the man’s shoulder flinched at the low voice.

“I don’t know.”

Her lips tickled with every word.

“If you don’t teach me, I’ll do whatever I want.”

She gasped. He was already doing whatever he wanted. Zephion urged her on, rubbing his lips together as if he liked the sound they made when pressed together.

“Tell me. It’s my first kiss.”

“…….”

“It’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my life, so I want you to tell me yourself.”

He spoke soothingly, slowly stroking Reina’s hair. She felt his hot fingertips. Her whole body felt ticklish.