Chapter 35

He only let her stand on the ground after they reached the bottom of the stairs. The flush didn’t fade from Sabina’s face. She stood there, turning her head away from Ashton.

He didn’t look at her either, hands behind his back, head turned in the opposite direction.

He gave a brief, sly smile, then, seeing that the unsociable lady didn’t know how to handle the atmosphere, spoke first.

“Let’s go pick him up.”

They walked together, maintaining their polite distance, toward the academy’s main building where Helio’s exam was taking place.

Sabina’s usually unchanging face took a long time to return to normal after turning red. The blush lingered. She tilted her parasol forward to hide her face a little.

“You don’t usually get hot, but today’s a bit warm, isn’t it?”

Ashton teased from beside her. Sabina glared at him and sharply tilted her parasol away, exposing her face.

It was a mix of embarrassment and slight annoyance.

Having achieved his goal of teasing her, Ashton stepped sideways to increase the distance between them, hands behind his back. His attitude made him even more irritating.

“Ashton…”

“Oh, the kids are coming out.”

Whatever retort she was about to make was interrupted as students shuffled out looking half dead. Worried that Helio might get lost in the crowd because of his small stature, Sabina looked toward the door.

There were about a thousand academy entrants from all over the country. This year, there were more freshmen than usual. Not a tiny number, but considering Brinita was a country where all citizens had at least a faint magical disposition, it wasn’t that many.

Except for the rare cases where attributes manifest after puberty, most students were uniformly fourteen years old.

Helio came out a bit late. He paused at the doorway, looked around, then hurried over to Sabina. Her small size was no problem—he had a knack for finding her easily.

“Did a lot of what you studied come up?”

Sabina asked plainly. Helio’s expression shifted subtly.

“I’m sure I saw it all…”

He couldn’t be sure if what he wrote was the answer to that question, or the one below it.

Sabina agreed it was possible. But the gloom didn’t leave the boy’s face. Just as he tried to take comfort in her praise, a shadow fell over his head.

Helio looked up reflexively, eyebrows raised.

“Huh?”

His tone was incredulous. Sabina thought she’d misheard.

Ashton smiled with the face of a ‘wealthy, handsome adult.’ Then, in a shameless tone, he offered his hand and spoke.

“Good job, Helio. Congratulations on becoming an academy pre-student.”

Helio glanced at the hand. It was bare. His gaze instantly turned cold.

“Since you’re out, isn’t it a waste to just go home? How about some tea?”

“Su…”

“No!”

The answer burst out almost reflexively.

It was the first time Helio had reacted so strongly, and Sabina’s eyes widened like a startled rabbit. She blinked rapidly, looking between Helio and Ashton.

“Why…?”

Her voice sounded confused. She’d heard Ashton say Helio disliked him, but never thought there was any reason for it.

But Helio’s spring-like jump shocked her.

Helio’s face reddened, sensitive to the thick confusion, embarrassment, and doubt in her voice. Ashton looked down at Helio with a ‘well, what now?’ expression. His handsome, sly face looked triumphant.

‘What are you going to do? Miss D’Vialis is this flustered.’

Of course, Helio had no intention of making Sabina uncomfortable.

“Let’s go.”

The boy spoke curtly, showing not a hint of warmth toward Ashton.

Sabina, a bit flustered, took his hand.

“Alright. If you don’t want to, we’ll go ho…”

She didn’t mean home. Helio held her hand tightly and looked up at Ashton challengingly.

“For tea. Let’s go.”

Sabina looked even more bewildered. Ashton glanced at her, noticing her small head shaking more than usual.

It was obvious she wanted to be considerate of Helio’s feelings rather than Ashton’s. As for Helio, he seemed determined not to let Ashton, the ‘villain,’ chase him away.

Meanwhile, holding his master’s hand was probably, in his mind, a way of protecting her. Ashton bowed his head and smiled quietly. Helio bristled at the sight.

Sabina, caught between the two who didn’t get along, didn’t know what to do.

“Helio, if you’re tired, we can just go home.”

“No. Today, I’d like to rely on Mr. Bryant a little.”

“But…”

“Well, if Helio himself says so, I have to meet expectations! Shall we go?”

Sabina was swept up in the fiery momentum of the two.

She’d never been accused of being timid. Many admired her, but her cold, aloof image made her hard to approach.

So, this situation was very unfamiliar to her.

When she came to, her left hand (not holding her cane) was gripped tightly by Helio, and her parasol, now redundant, was held by Ashton and tilted toward her.

Sabina wanted to correct this odd posture.

“Um…”

Passersby kept glancing at the three of them.

Meanwhile, Helio watched Ashton closely, worried he might touch Sabina. He quickly checked that she was wearing gloves, and stayed alert lest Ashton’s hand get near her pale cheek.

Ashton just smiled slyly, as if he knew everything.

‘Annoying…’

Helio ground his teeth.

With neither of the two beside her showing any sign of listening, Sabina could only sigh deeply.

Even at the café with parasols and outdoor tables, the strange tension between the three didn’t ease.

Helio insisted on sitting at a square table instead of the better round one. The reason? He wanted to sit opposite Ashton and keep Sabina by his side. Even though, if they both leaned forward, it was close enough to kiss, Helio was satisfied with the arrangement.

Once seated, a server brought menus. Sabina, as always, ordered coffee, Ashton chose ice cream again. But Helio didn’t even open the menu. Staring straight at Ashton, his tone was firm.

“The most expensive one.”

“Aha.”

Ashton smiled and nodded.

“The most expensive one.”

For a businessman who trades magical solvents in a coastal country, the café’s priciest item was no burden. He rang the bell, and when the server returned, he said,

“Coffee, ice cream, and the most expensive thing.”

Their gazes met in midair. Ashton added to the server, who neatly folded the menu and tucked it away,

“…Ten, please.”

“Ashton.”

Sabina looked reproachful. She meant not to be so childish with the young boy. But Ashton was a master at pretending not to notice such signals.

“Why do you call me that? Sabina.”

She sighed softly. All she could do was hold Helio’s hand as he stared incredulously at Ashton.

Soon, a cup of hot coffee, a bowl of ice cream, and ten large trifles arrived at the table.

The table wasn’t big enough for ten trifles, so the server struggled, eventually pulling over a neighboring table so all the bowls could fit.

Helio stabbed his spoon deep into the cream atop the trifles. The sound of metal scraping glass echoed. When he pulled the spoon out, more than half its length was covered in cream.

He didn’t eat the trifle delicately, but stabbed and tormented it. Sabina quietly overlooked Helio’s rare mischievousness.

“Why did you come to the academy exam hall?”

Helio asked, almost rudely.

“Why? Can’t I be curious about your exam? I bought you, after all. Paid a fortune.”

Ashton’s reply was outrageous. Helio frowned and raised his voice a bit.

“But my master is Miss D’Vialis, and you have no rights over me.”

“Haha, true. Just kidding. Actually, I didn’t come to see you, young friend.”

Ashton laughed it off smoothly.

‘If he didn’t come to see me, then he came to see my master?’

That was even more unpleasant than saying he’d come for Helio.

“Who are you?”

Helio asked irritably, scooping up a mix of strawberry jelly, cream, and sponge cake.

Sabina began to worry Ashton might get angry. He had teased Helio a bit, but today the boy was so worked up he was being outright rude.

Honestly, Sabina cared more about Helio, so his feelings mattered more than Ashton’s. She didn’t think Helio was hostile to Ashton for no reason. But if he crossed a line Sabina couldn’t smooth over, she worried.

But there was no time to worry about Helio’s manners.

Ashton propped his chin on his hand and smiled at Sabina.

“Well. Why did I come to see Miss D’Vialis?”

“Hm?”

Suddenly, two pairs of blue eyes turned to Sabina. The third party, who’d only been worried about their relationship, was startled to find herself the center of attention.

Enjoying her rare agitation, Ashton smiled and spoke again.

“Why did I bother coming to the academy? Buying the most expensive menu ten times for someone who doesn’t even like me? What exactly is my relationship with Miss D’Vialis?”

“…….”

Sabina covered her face with her hands.

Ashton, chin propped and smiling, only watched her.

“What… is your relationship?”

Helio’s gaze sharpened.

Of course, their relationship couldn’t be defined solely by whether Ashton showed up at Sabina’s ward’s entrance exam.

But weren’t there plenty of clues?

Go back a little—daily letters…

Further back—Ashton asking Sabina to be his partner…

Even further—at Don Slapdi’s last carnival, the day Helio came to Sabina, the two were partners!

Realizing this, Helio felt his head spin and pressed his forehead.