Chapter 34

Sabina, Ashton, Reyes.

Trying to keep her balance among the three adults and protect her only source of comfort—her master—Helio spent July distracted by other things.

He had too little time to prepare for the academy entrance exam.

When he sorted out what he needed to do, the amount of study required each day was enormous. Even working nonstop for a month, he could only manage to memorize the scope to some extent.

It was an environment that forced him to focus on studying.

Thanks to this, Reyes, who had turned his attention to Helio, couldn’t act rashly; Sabina could research with peace of mind; and Ashton was either throwing parties or staying home for mysterious reasons.

The boy did his best and was smart, but there was a limit to what someone who hadn’t been able to read fluently just weeks ago could achieve.

He brought books into his bedroom, ate with a book beside him, and was so absorbed in study that he didn’t notice when it got dark—Sabina would quietly light the lamp for him. Four weeks passed this way.

After a frantic rush, the last day of July arrived, and so did the academy entrance exam.

“Don’t be nervous.”

Sabina placed a small hand on Helio’s shoulder, who was clutching his battered summary notes like a treasure.

“It’s not a test that decides whether you’ll get in.”

That wasn’t comforting at all. Helio knew the academy would rank students and assign classes based on this exam.

Knowing his master had awakened at a young age and always been top of her class was a strange pressure. Even if Sabina said, “I learned a lot from my grandfather as a child, and had many more opportunities to study than you,” it didn’t change how he felt.

“Don’t throw up.”

Sabina said worriedly.

The academy campus was on the southern road out of Ridblon. It was quite spacious. If Helio had come alone, he would have gotten lost for sure.

The greenery was thick, with birds and cicadas sounding from everywhere, making Helio even more confused. Sabina worried Helio might get so nervous he’d make a mistake.

“Well…… I’ll go now.”

Helio creaked as he entered his assigned exam room. Sabina tilted her umbrella to show her face and waved. The exam lasted only three hours, but Helio looked back several times with a sad expression, as if he’d never see Sabina again.

After Helio’s back disappeared among the other incoming students, Sabina slowly turned away. As if waiting, other guardians and even people who weren’t guardians approached her to greet her.

Her response was a nod, and a tap of her cane with the head of an albatross on the floor.

The next moment, she vanished.

People were left disappointed at her sudden disappearance. This is precisely why, in Brinita, teleportation magic is considered rude.

Sabina’s destination was the Certanon Memorial Hall atop a fairly steep hill. It’s a beautiful place, with ornamental trees blooming every spring, but hard to climb, earning the nickname “Panting Hill.” King Kenneth would laugh and say, “Every academy has a place with a name like that.”

It wasn’t flower season, and there was little to see inside the memorial, so the area in front was quiet. The breeze gently shook the brim of Sabina’s hat.

On the bench by the entrance, a man was lying down eating a sandwich. Sabina walked over silently and stood before him. Ashton glanced at her and smiled with his eyes.

“Helio must have gone in to take his exam.”

“Could you move your legs?”

Ashton folded the leg he’d draped over the opposite armrest. In the process, the tomato inside his sandwich fell to the ground. He stared at it blankly, while Sabina sat beside him as if she hadn’t noticed.

“Why did you insist on waiting here alone? You could have come to see him off.”

“What if Helio ruins his exam because he’s upset by me?”

“Does Helio dislike you that much? Why?”

The man just smiled. There was no way he could answer “why.”

He listened to the cool sound of leaves brushing together and took another bite of his tomato-less sandwich.

After about three minutes, the sandwich was gone, leaving only crumbs. Ashton brushed off the crumbs and spoke.

“For someone who supposedly took in a ‘great mage,’ you’re awfully attentive. Even coming to the exam room with him.”

“He’s young.”

Sabina replied simply and clearly. The two maintained a polite distance, facing each other like anything but lovers. Ashton’s lips were pressed together.

Sabina surrendered to Ashton’s silence.

“Yes, I do wish I could keep him around for a long time. But that’s not something adults can control.”

“That’s right. Kids grow up and fly away.”

His voice was somehow sly and meaningful.

“You’re weak to family and children.”

“Maybe so.”

Sabina admitted easily. The sound of the wind rustling her summer dress filled the silence. As Ashton crumpled the sandwich wrapper in his hand, Sabina suddenly spoke.

“No, it’s more that I’m weak to people who care about me.”

Her grandfather, Helio.

She’d even been that way with Reyes in the past.

And……

Ashton, whom she vaguely thought would keep watching her, was gazing off into the distance, showing only his profile. His unstyled bangs were blown back by the wind, revealing his cool, smooth forehead.

“Sabina, I’m curious about something.”

“Ask.”

“You first met Helio at the auction, right? How did you know he was a mage?”

“…You’re asking the same thing Helio did.”

She spoke plainly, but somehow, it was unexpected. And what Ashton asked was something Sabina couldn’t answer.

In her first life, she’d gone to the carnival with Reyes, and bought Helio because of his urging. She learned later that he was an exceptional mage. At the time, Don Slapdi had come to buy the boy back, but Sabina refused.

Remembering the boy’s tears before execution, she knew she could never again go to a carnival or leave him behind.

To explain all this, she’d have to talk about her relationship with Reyes. But Sabina hadn’t even told Mitchel, her most trusted person.

Reyes was the king’s brother. If rumors spread about such a story that would utterly ruin his reputation, she might end up on the scaffold again. She couldn’t trust even tight-lipped Mitchel, much less a stranger she’d only just met.

“That’s forbidden for me to talk about.”

Sabina ended it simply. She was sure Ashton Bryant wouldn’t press further. He’d never done anything Sabina truly found unpleasant.

“I see.”

Just as she expected, he accepted it easily.

Whether he really accepted it was unclear, but it was better to leave it at that.

During the three hours Helio spent taking the exam, the two didn’t exchange any more serious words. Ashton, somehow, knew all the trivial gossip circulating inside Ridblon, as if he’d met everyone and built connections.

Sabina replied with “So,” “I see,” or “Alright,” signaling she was listening. She wasn’t skilled at leading conversation, and Ashton couldn’t stand moments of silence, so this seemed natural.

When Ashton paused to choose the next topic, Sabina glanced at him and quietly said,

“You’ve been busy.”

“Well, yes. Maybe not as much as you.”

If it was about the past few weeks, Ashton had probably been much busier than Sabina. She just nodded quietly.

“Miss D’Vialis, since we’re contract lovers and I’m on salary—”

“Yes, that’s right.”

How meaningful that salary really was, who knew.

“Since you’re paying me, call me whenever you want to see me.”

Sabina’s lips pressed together and her eyes widened slightly. She didn’t know how to react to that.

“Oh, maybe you never want to see me? That’s possible.”

Ashton drew his own conclusion and took out his pocket watch to check the time.

“It’s about time things wrap up, let’s go down.”

Sabina was swept along by Ashton’s pace. Before she knew it, she was walking down the stairs.

When she wanted to see someone… Had there ever been such a time? She’d thought, ‘I should see him tomorrow.’ But should she interpret that as wanting to see him…?

Distracted by Ashton’s casual remark, Sabina didn’t watch her step.

One of the old stone steps was cracked. Sabina happened to step right on the broken spot. Only when her foot sank did she snap back to herself.

Just as the fear of falling embarrassingly swept through her mind, Sabina was lifted into the air. It wasn’t an unconscious use of magic. She saw Ashton’s face suddenly close.

He’d picked her up before she could fall.

Her pale face, perhaps for the first time in years, flushed bright red. Clutching her cane and moving her lips soundlessly, she didn’t meet Ashton’s eyes.

He simply carried her down the stairs as if someone as small and light as Sabina was no trouble at all.

“Put me down…”

Sabina said in a barely audible voice.

Ashton seemed not to hear. Or maybe he was just pretending not to.

“I said, put me down…”

Her voice was a bit louder this time, but there was still no answer. He was clearly ignoring her.