Chapter 39

For the next fifteen days, Helio had the most peaceful time since coming to Sabina’s house.

No more entrance exam studying, no unwelcome visitors.

He had no intention of acting like a childish boy, but he enjoyed being able to monopolize Sabina and relax, free from troublesome matters.

Sabina’s research with Kenneth was also nearing its end. All she had to do for the next two weeks was maintain the device for the presentation. She had to present both her personal research and her joint research with Kenneth alone, but that was nothing.

The day before the conference, Sabina sent her personal research paper and recording device to the palace and slept all day.

And Helio received an invitation to the magic research achievement conference. It was proof he was an academy pre-student—every student received one.

“There are about four to five thousand students at the academy, and they all get invitations… After graduation, you have to produce research every year as a proper mage, right? So there must be an enormous number of mages…”

“That’s why the achievement conference lasts two days, and presentations are held simultaneously in six royal halls.”

Mitchel answered Helio’s question.

“It’s rare for someone to present two papers like Miss Sabina, and many mages form teams for this conference. Some even pay fines to skip presenting, so it’s not completely overwhelming.”

“I see…”

“But if the number of mages increases, the conference might stretch to three days.”

It seemed tough unless you really loved studying. Helio nodded.

* * *

The next day, Helio and Sabina headed to the palace early in the morning. After the carriage driver tore the barrier magic scroll, he asked Sabina—

“Besides the research you did with His Majesty, you did a personal study too, right? May I ask what it was about?”

“The effects of time travel on the growth and aging of mammals.”

Sabina looked at Helio.

“I experimented with mice. I cast magic and sent them into the past, and into the future.”

“How did it go?”

“They broke down.”

Her voice was flat, but the conclusion was chilling. Helio was at a loss for words as he stared at her.

“For organisms whose body’s time axis is different from the world’s time axis, they break down. Whether they go to the past or the future. From the moment they’re sent, they start to scatter from inside. I don’t know where those scattered pieces go.”

Sabina gazed out the carriage window.

“Usually, just spending about a tenth of their lifespan on another timeline, they vanish like sand. In the end, only the shell remains, moving around until it crumbles away.”

“Time travel… seems best to avoid.”

Her black hair fell over Sabina’s shoulder like a curtain.

“Are you scared?”

Anyone would be scared after hearing such a story. Helio nodded.

“You’ll never have to travel through time, so it’s fine. I’m the only time mage, and I won’t allow anyone to time travel.”

With her cane resting on her knees, Sabina explained evenly, then suddenly asked,

“Did you ever want to try time travel?”

At that moment, strangely, Helio thought of Ashton. If he had to name the thing Ashton had that Helio desperately lacked, it was time. Helio wished time would pass quickly so he could grow up and become an adult.

If Sabina were in danger now, would his future self, fifteen years from now, try to fly back to protect her?

Helio couldn’t give a clear answer to Sabina’s question and trailed off. Sabina quietly watched him. Sometimes the boy didn’t know how to react to his master’s gaze.

He turned his head shyly and asked,

“Would it be dangerous for you to time travel, My Lady? I heard what people call you.”

“What do they call me?”

“Lord of Time. Not only do you have a rare attribute, but the magic stored in your core is said to be greater than anyone else’s…”

“I have no intention of ruling time.”

Sabina answered plainly, then fell into thought.

“Well, I wouldn’t use myself as a test subject, so it’d be hard to prove if my body would break down.”

If she survived safely to see next spring, maybe she’d rest from research for a year. She’d have to pay a fine and wouldn’t get grants, but her family wouldn’t collapse for that.

Looking beside her, Helio was quietly watching her.

It was a fresh look.

This boy already had all sorts of value in himself. In the ‘original’, he was Sabina’s family and a dangerous mage who needed controlling. Even now, the value Sabina felt most keenly was an extension of that.

But that didn’t mean another kind of value—the shadow of ‘Helio’ she’d seen sixteen years ago—ever left her mind.

Sabina had, for some reason, named this child after the ghost from that night.

“My Lady?”

Helio shrank a little under his master’s silent gaze. Sabina finally blinked.

“It’s nothing.”

Come to think of it, the boy who’d once said ‘…let’s do it later’ hadn’t come back even after sixteen years.

Helio realized that even when Sabina looked at him, she was thinking of someone else. He followed her gaze through a delicate moment, then got out of the carriage when told they’d arrived at the palace.

It was his third time coming to such a crowded place. The last two times, he’d had unpleasant experiences due to people’s rude attention. It was only natural Helio was nervous.

But not long after entering the palace, Helio admitted his worries were unfounded.

It was very different from the carnival.

The people gathered that day and those here now weren’t so different. But the conversations were full of culture and dignity, and no one was drunk.

“Oh, Miss D’Vialis. And beside you must be Certanon Academy’s new talent!”

By now, the words used to describe Helio had changed from ‘beautiful slave boy’ or ‘five hundred forty million’ to much more wholesome and pleasant things. And that wasn’t all. They showed only the most formal interest in Helio, never enough to be rude.

The boy returned greetings, a bit dazed.

Just crossing from the palace entrance to the garden meant exchanging greetings with hundreds of people.

“There are so many people.”

Helio whispered to Sabina, half out of his wits.

“If you’re famous, you have to endure it.”

Her answer was, indeed, the right one.

So the boy endured his own fame. Still, it was much easier to greet his fellow academy entrants—children his own age—than adults hiding their vulgarity behind masks of culture.

He worried his introverted nature might leave a bad impression on his peers. But the other kids found his shyness rather cute.

His future classmates already had their own groups, and wanted Helio to join them to tour the achievement conference together. He hesitated. If he refused, would he end up isolated at school? But looking at his master’s profile, realizing he’d be apart from her for three months after fifteen days, he couldn’t bring himself to leave.

In the end, Helio declined all invitations and stuck close to Sabina. He wondered if Ashton might show up, but with so many people, he didn’t see the man. Neither the King nor the prince with similar looks was anywhere in sight.

When he handed his invitation, bearing his name, to a royal official with a polite smile, he received an admission ticket. Mages scheduled to present also received a card with their presentation time and location.

“The time and place were already announced yesterday. This is just for confirmation.”

Sabina explained to Helio and scanned the brochure.

“In the morning at Lionheart Hall, at 11, Certanon Academy’s Chancellor Dolores Madden will discuss possible improvements in the instability of scroll quality caused by solvent purity during production. Then, there will be a joint presentation by thirty new researchers from the Royal Institute.”

“Huh?”

Helio, half lost, asked again.

“The Chancellor was my grandfather’s excellent partner. It’ll help my business, so we should listen.”

Invited mages could socialize in the flower-filled garden, or show their tickets to enter the halls and see the latest research.

Helio was proud of how hard he’d studied for the academy entrance exam, but the experts’ presentations sounded like another language. He tried hard to focus and be polite, but it wasn’t easy.

During Chancellor Dolores Madden’s talk, full of formulas and graphs, Helio ended up nodding off in his seat.

He only came to his senses when Sabina tapped his cheek.

“Let’s go.”

Helio, overcome with embarrassment, hurried after her.