Chapter 32 – The Taxidermy of Time

While Ashton was rubbing up against Reyes and building connections with Kenneth, Helio’s attribute test was approaching. In fact, for the attribute test, neither Sabina as guardian nor Helio himself needed to prepare anything.

But Helio was tense all the while.

Sabina suggested to Helio that instead of worrying about the attribute test, he should focus more on the academy entrance exam. Helio nodded in agreement, but whether it actually lessened his burden and tension was another matter.

“You’ve been sure you weren’t a mage yourself, so there’s no reason to be nervous now.”

“…That’s true. But…”

Helio glanced at Sabina while repeatedly reading the booklet explaining the magic attribute test.

“How was it for you, My Lady? When you had your first test……”

“Well. I already knew the result, so I don’t think I felt anything. I was young back then…… I was eight.”

“You already knew the result?”

“Yes. I had awakened before the test.”

“Ah…….”

Sabina’s first magic was when, upset after spilling juice on her cherished white dress, she unconsciously turned back time by thirty seconds.

Even after hearing that Sabina hadn’t been nervous at all, Helio kept asking about the distant past, hoping her story might be useful to him.

Sabina received Helio’s worries with relaxed familiarity. This Helio had gone through different events and become a slightly different person, but he was still just as anxious about academic matters as ever.

“You’ll probably get a result similar to mine.”

“A special attribute mage?”

Sabina nodded at Helio’s question. As the conversation turned to attributes, Helio couldn’t help but think of Ashton. The boy tried several times to say something, but couldn’t manage more than opening his mouth.

“What’s wrong?”

Sabina asked calmly and gently. Helio, about to shake his head and say it was nothing, half-impulsively asked,

“At Mr. Bryant’s party, there was someone who looked just like His Majesty the King.”

Helio flinched after saying it, because Sabina’s face instantly turned cold. It was a subtle change, but sensitive Helio could clearly tell.

“Yes. That’s His Highness the Prince, Reyes Brinita.”

She answered because the boy had done nothing wrong by asking, but her voice was icy, unable to hide her hostility.

Helio had intended to ask why Sabina and Reyes didn’t get along. But her attitude stopped him from continuing. If only she had shown some annoyance, maybe it would have been different. Her dry, cold explanation became a wall blocking his words.

“I see…….”

Helio didn’t dare to ask any more about Reyes. He consciously looked back down at the booklet he’d nearly memorized. Since Helio didn’t mention the Prince again, Sabina soon softened, returning to her usual, gentle self.

A while passed in silence.

“I need to get up early tomorrow, so I’ll go to bed now.”

Unable to bear the awkwardness, Helio stood up first. Sabina gently caught Helio as he tried to escape into his room.

“Did His Highness say anything to you?”

Her tone was much more composed than before, concealing her dislike. Helio, at a loss, shook his head.

“No, it’s just… it was nothing.”

“Alright.”

Helio lied far too easily, and Sabina believed him just as easily. It was easier to lie than tell the truth, and that made the boy’s mouth feel dry.

Sabina let go of his hand. This time, Helio really did run away. Sabina rested her chin on her hand, gazing through the window toward the palace.

Since she’d made her contract with Ashton last week, she hadn’t seen his face. The King had summoned Ashton to the palace nearly every day. Ashton not only met with the King alone, but also greeted new nobles and made connections. Meanwhile, Sabina was busy reviewing the flood of joint research proposals ahead of the magic research achievement conference.

There was no time for them to spend together.

Instead, the two exchanged brief letters. Only necessary topics were discussed. Most were about Helio’s well-being or Ashton’s business progress, rather than their relationship. Well, since their relationship was bound by contract rather than passion, it might have been natural.

That day, Ashton sent over the joint research proposal from Kenneth and Sabina.

The proposal was neatly organized. Sabina was certain the King hadn’t done all that tedious work himself. Maybe his officials had struggled with it. But Sabina leaned toward the idea that Ashton had put the proposal together.

‘Impressive.’

The proposal was clear and concise. It didn’t have the typical missteps of a non-mage’s plan.

‘I’ve seen many people from foreign magic-related businesses, but never anyone like this.’

Just like when she’d first encountered Ashton’s flawless Brinita language, Sabina chalked it up to Ashton’s outstanding abilities. It made sense—there was no reason to suspect he was a mage.

It was not only clear but interesting. Before dinner, Sabina sent a very short reply. It read simply, “Alright, I’ll do it.”

Back in her bedroom, Sabina drank her usual warm milk and lay down. As soon as her head sank into the soft pillow, she thought, ‘I should see Ashton tomorrow,’ even though he was just a contract lover whose name she was lending.

She’d been on edge ever since entering this body and graduating the academy, but lately she felt relatively at ease.

She had no intention of letting her guard down, but she hoped this peace would last as long as possible.

* * *

The attribute test took longer to wait for than to actually conduct.

Even with an appointment, Helio looked pale in the long line.

“It’s not usually this crowded.”

Standing close to Helio and shading him with an umbrella, Sabina whispered,

“It’s because the entrance exam is coming up.”

Sure enough, most of those in line were Helio’s age.

Because Sabina was a celebrity, people kept glancing their way. She was used to it, but Helio was naturally intimidated.

The boy only relaxed once inside the test room with the four examiners.

Several strange devices were attached to his inner wrist, behind his ear, and various places on his body. A mage stood beside him and said,

“You’ll probably feel something odd and nauseous.”

It was the kindness of someone repeating the same task dozens or hundreds of times a day. They didn’t seem to care who Helio was.

The mage grasped Helio’s hand barehanded. The boy was startled, remembering Ashton doing the same. The examiner didn’t react to Helio’s sensitivity. Helio’s face flushed with embarrassment.

Lying still, he really did feel waves of nausea. He didn’t ask when it would end, just closed his eyes and endured. By the time the mage let go, only five ticks of the minute hand had passed.

The magic the examiner had infused into Helio’s body was discharged through the devices into a box about the size of a fist. The discharged magic formed different waves, printed on paper, and the shape and scale of those waves determined attribute and awakening status.

The comparison examiner took out the paper and studied it closely.

In fact, comparing wave shapes usually takes about a minute. But the examiner flipped through a booklet of various wave patterns for a long time without saying anything. His fingers grew busier.

“Um…….”

Unable to wait, Helio spoke up.

“Is something wrong?”

“Here, look.”

The examiner showed Helio the wave he’d drawn. On the paper connected to the device was something more like a delicate pattern than a wave. Helio couldn’t tell anything from it, just blinked.

But they didn’t seem interested in explaining further to Helio.

They simply led him to a small room connected to the exam room. Helio grew anxious, wondering if something was wrong.

His worry lasted only a moment—Sabina came in through another door and he calmed down. She sat next to Helio, looking as if she’d expected this. Soon, an elderly mage with a white beard sat across from them. He narrowed his eyes at Sabina.

“It’s been a while, Miss D’Vialis.”

Sabina lowered her eyes slightly in greeting.

The elder laid out nine sheets of paper on the table. They were wave records, each showing a different pattern.

“These six are elemental.”

The six distinctive waves were simpler than Helio’s, but clearly regular.

“These two are records of mages without attributes.”

Those waves were formless, scattered beyond recognition. Helio nodded.

“This is your wave, Helio. It’s not like any of these.”

Indeed. Helio finally began to realize he was an attribute mage.

“The more complex and sophisticated the wave, the rarer and stronger the attribute. But that’s not the issue—Helio, there’s no record of any past wave identical to yours.”

Of course Ashton’s face came to mind. If they had the same attribute, but there was no record of another mage with Helio’s attribute, then Ashton was truly an unregistered attribute mage.

And for an unregistered attribute mage to use attribute magic…… was, of course, illegal. Helio felt sick at the thought that he couldn’t report him because of the prohibition spell.

“In cases of unprecedented magical attributes, we cannot determine the ability, so you’ll have to take special courses when you enter the academy. It’s extremely rare. Only two cases in a hundred years…… and now two within just eight years.”

The elder said this, gazing in awe at Sabina and Helio.