Chapter 36

Thinking about it, the two had known each other even before Helio came to Sabina.

Everything pointed to only one possibility, yet Helio looked as if he wanted to deny it.

He stared at Sabina with a gaze that was almost coercive. As if to say, ‘Tell me it’s not true.’

“Helio, calm down.”

Finally, Sabina lowered her hands.

To a stranger, her expression might seem unchanged, but Ashton and Helio knew. She was the one who most needed to calm down.

Sabina took a deep breath to steady herself. She tried to gulp down her coffee, but it was too hot. She squeezed her eyes shut and declared,

“That’s… how it is.”

It was so vague, it was hard to believe it came from Sabina, who usually spoke with cutting clarity.

“What… What do you mean, ‘how it is’?”

Helio stammered, while Ashton just smiled, not helping Sabina at all.

Sabina felt a bit burdened by having to say ‘that word.’ She looked at Ashton resentfully.

“Lovers.”

Ashton spoke up for her, far too easily.

Even though he’d already suspected it, Helio jumped to his feet. Sabina quietly tugged his sleeve.

“Sit down, Helio.”

Ashton added,

“Yeah, sit and have some trifle.”

He even stuck a spoon in the trifle for him, following Sabina’s words.

Helio felt the stares prickling from all around and quickly sat down, lowering his voice.

“Well… we’re lovers, but we don’t actually like each other.”

Sabina began to feel self-conscious about explaining all this. But the look of betrayal in Helio’s eyes forced her to explain.

“Then…!”

Helio muttered angrily. If they weren’t in love, why bother being ‘lovers’?

“There was a need. It’s more like a contract. Sometimes, to avoid something, you need a disguise.”

“But, was there really a need for it to be this man…?”

“There wasn’t a single man left in the capital who wanted me.”

“What about me?”

Helio’s logic suddenly jumped several steps. Sabina blinked, not understanding for a moment.

“Hm?”

“You bought me, after all… Was I not good enough?”

Finally understanding the boy’s words, Sabina’s shoulders trembled.

“I’m not that kind of shameless person…”

He was at a loss for words. When he’d first been lying in Sabina’s house, he had definitely thought of her as that kind of shameless person. Helio avoided Sabina’s gaze.

Sabina was shocked by the realization that she was being seen as a woman so lacking in restraint that she would touch a child.

Helio felt inferior to the handsome, tall, wealthy man before him, who was probably old enough not to trigger Sabina’s guilt.

When their eyes met, Ashton smiled cheerfully.

“Well, that’s how it is, my friend. Even if it’s a contract, the name for the relationship is ‘lovers’. So you’ll cooperate, won’t you?”

The boy looked more ready to snarl than cooperate.

Sabina found it difficult to handle the atmosphere. Playing mediator was harder than anything.

“Both of you, stop being childish. Don’t fight.”

“What if we do?”

That childish remark came from the adult, Ashton. Sabina was speechless, her lips moving silently. Her hands, wrapped around the cooling coffee cup, trembled.

“Then… neither of you will see me for a week.”

Her solution was just as childish.

But for Helio, it was a bolt from the blue. With just a month left before starting at the boarding school, not seeing his guardian for a week felt excessive.

On the other hand, Ashton wore a relaxed expression, as if to say, ‘Go ahead and try.’

“Ah, I can wait a week, no problem.”

Helio was indignant at the adult’s easy answer.

If it meant nothing to him, it was clear this man’s affection for Sabina was less than Helio’s.

It made sense. This man had openly said he planned to use Sabina to achieve his own goals, hadn’t he? Of course, he’d told Helio to keep quiet afterward!

If only he were five years older, maybe he wouldn’t lose to a man like this.

Helio started eating the trifle.

The two adults watched silently as Helio emptied one trifle bowl after another. The boy, as beautiful as a marble statue, chewed the sweet, red dessert with annoyance in his brow and eyes.

But three bowls was his limit. He was full, and the sweet dessert quickly became too much. Helio stared blankly at the seven bowls left. He hated losing to Ashton, but he really couldn’t eat any more.

At that moment, Sabina offered a very dignified solution.

“Server. Please wrap up the rest.”

The server took the remaining bowls. Sabina saw Helio’s red face and patted his hand.

“Thank you, Helio. The maids will love getting one each as a gift.”

“I paid for them, shouldn’t you be thanking me?”

Sabina’s heel mercilessly crushed Ashton’s foot, who didn’t know when to stay out of things. The young man stifled a painful groan and shut his mouth.

After receiving the wrapped trifles, Sabina called for a carriage. She handed the box to Helio and quickly ushered him inside, then closed the door and looked up at Ashton.

“For today, thank you for not making an issue of my child’s rudeness.”

“Rude? He’s adorable.”

“But you were too much today, too. Helio is young, much younger than you. Why respond just as childishly, knowing he’s upset?”

Sabina tapped her cane on the ground a couple of times as she spoke.

Ashton glanced inside the carriage. From that angle, he couldn’t see Helio’s face, only his delicate hands clutching the dessert box.

“Should I apologize to Helio personally?”

“No. He doesn’t even want to look at you.”

Sabina finally admitted it. She still didn’t know why the boy disliked Ashton, but she couldn’t deny what she’d seen. She felt a bit helpless as she stroked the beak of her albatross cane.

“So, there’s no need. He’s sensitive and unstable right now… I don’t want to force him to face someone uncomfortable. And if you apologize, he’d have to accept, given your status.”

“You’re really taking Helio’s side.”

“If you were much younger than Helio, I’d take your side no matter what.”

Her slight hint of disappointment was blocked by the undeniable truth. Yes, it wouldn’t be right to neglect her ward for the sake of her lover. Call it kind or call it strict.

“But, what I want to make clear… The lover’s contract won’t be broken. It’s a promise. You warned me that day… that Helio would get jealous. This situation, to some extent, is my fault for ignoring you…”

She seemed rather strict.

“So you’ll keep struggling alone in the middle?”

“Just make sure Helio doesn’t notice you.”

“What about dates?”

“I’m busy with the achievement conference anyway. After that, I’ll be busy helping Helio pack for the dormitory. Until then, no dates.”

“Oh, so when he starts school, we’ll be a proper loving couple?”

That sounded odd and strange to Sabina. And, feeling Ashton wasn’t really considering Helio’s feelings or her own words, she was a bit annoyed.

“Anyway, yes. I don’t plan to see you for a while, so don’t visit my house.”

“Oh dear.”

“Well, goodbye. See you later.”

Sabina didn’t even wait for Ashton’s goodbye before getting into the carriage. Helio watched his guardian’s eyes, a faint wrinkle between his brows.

“D’Vialis Mansion.”

At her brief command, the carriage set off.

* * *

Ashton stood with his hands behind his back, watching the carriage disappear.

“If you ask why, well, there is a reason.”

He stood there for a moment, then took a small crystal bottle from his jacket pocket and drank its contents, rubbing his chest with a slightly uncomfortable expression before turning away.

‘Helio wants to protect Sabina from external dangers.’

Walking, he took out cigarettes and matches, lighting up in a secluded alley. His face was stiff, expressionless, as he stroked his chin.

The more indulgent Sabina was with Helio, the more deeply attached he’d become to her. She’d become his world, and he’d try to hold on to her no matter what.

If the sense of crisis kept poking him, he’d become even stronger, trying to be the armor that protected Sabina.

Ashton wanted to be that sense of crisis. Reyes wouldn’t show his poison ‘until it’s too late’.

Once Helio was strong enough, even if Ashton disappeared before his planned day, Helio would remain as Sabina’s shield.

He suddenly felt a pang.

Ashton recalled the wary, guarded blue gaze and let out a dry laugh.

‘Annoying brat.’

He stubbed out his cigarette.