Chapter 53

After dinner, the host soon chased Albert out, filling his pockets with gold coins—the pay for looking after the house.

Albert insisted that it was too much money and refused, but he could not win against Ashton. Worried about pickpockets, he rolled the money pouch inside his shirt.

Once Albert left, the house became instantly quiet. Only the sound of waves crashing from the front sea could be heard. Ashton made Sabina a cup of cocoa, loaded with marshmallows.

“You have to admit you’re lucky.”

“Albert’s a good person, isn’t he?”

Ashton said this with a broad smile.

“That old gentleman who vanished somewhere from a hotel… this house, he bought it for me.”

Sabina listened to the sound of the sea.

“Living in a house where you can hear this sound is a pleasant thing.”

“Isn’t it?”

Ashton agreed simply, shrugging his shoulders.

“It’s really a shame we can’t find him.”

Ashton seated Sabina in the armchair and washed the dishes himself. He looked natural standing at the sink. Even after becoming a wealthy businessman, he seemed to have continued living alone in this small house.

Sabina understood why he didn’t move to a bigger house. If the missing old gentleman ever returned to find Ashton, he would come to this house. She thought Ashton Bryant might be quite sentimental.

“Are you the type who always repays a favor?”

Sabina threw the question at his back. Ashton shrugged and replied.

“Well, I suppose I am.”

“Remembering a favor from sixteen years ago… anyone who did something for you must be very lucky. Since you’re so eager to repay them.”

Ashton, sleeves rolled up to his elbows and washing dishes, turned his upper body to look at her. He stared at Sabina’s bare face and loosened hair for a while, then looked very satisfied. Sabina couldn’t understand the reason for his behavior, but Ashton didn’t explain.

“Do you think that person really feels that way?”

“At least Albert seems to.”

“I wasn’t talking about Albert.”

The dishwashing finished quickly. Ashton dried and put away the plates with clean linen, then concluded.

“But even if that person hates me forever, I’ll still be grateful and love them, so it doesn’t matter.”

Sabina sat quietly, keeping her eyes fixed on him. When he finished, he smiled brightly.

“How about a walk? The city’s safety is pretty good.”

As night deepened, lights brightened all over the toy-like village, while the sea grew darker. Sabina took off her shoes and walked quickly, leaving footprints on the sand. Ashton followed her slowly, holding a lamp.

“Don’t go into the water right now.”

He warned her like a child.

“You might drown.”

“If I’m in danger of dying, I’ll just turn back time.”

Sabina said this absentmindedly, meaning there was nothing to worry about. But there was silence behind her.

The night sea wind was strong. It seemed as if Sabina’s hair near her ears would be blown far away. She couldn’t hear Ashton’s footsteps and turned around, puzzled. He wore a somewhat strange expression.

“Well… when death is right beneath your feet, would you really think to turn back time?”

At those words, Sabina couldn’t help but recall the two times she had died. She hadn’t thought to turn back time before dying. Only after death, regardless of her will, did time rewind. She muttered to herself.

“Why can’t one think of such things when facing death?”

“That’s because you don’t like using time magic.”

Ashton spoke simply, in a definitive tone. It sounded almost like criticism, but she couldn’t be sure. Sabina’s silver eyes studied his shadowed face, as if trying to read his intentions.

“You possess an immense power, and so, paradoxically, you only use it for small tricks.”

He was right.

Sabina had learned at the Academy, over and over, about the calamities caused by mages who abused their great power. Sending Helio to school was mainly for that reason. Those who possess great power must understand and engrave the principle of sealing it as much as possible.

“The research at the achievement presentation was the same. No one wanted to attempt time travel, so that’s why it was announced, wasn’t it?”

Sabina answered expressionlessly.

“Yes. If the conclusion had been that time travel caused no harm to life, I wouldn’t have announced it anywhere and would have discarded the results.”

She herself had never traveled through time, past or future. She was that kind of person. When she heard her mother might have been in Berna, instead of flying back fifteen years to meet her lost mother, she pestered the people who had met her for stories.

“Honestly, it’s too overwhelming and burdensome to use for personal matters. If I turn back time for myself, who knows how it might ruin someone else’s life.”

At this, Ashton raised his voice a bit, agitated.

“More than that, you don’t value yourself much.”

He spoke as if grinding his words through his teeth. Even in warm Letona, only his words were cold like a blade. Sabina’s eyes widened. She struggled to follow the swings of his emotion.

“So you weigh the misery of someone not yet here heavier than your own self, stuck in the mud. The world calls that foolishness.”

“Ashton?”

He looked angry. Why? Just moments ago, they were simply walking together. Sabina didn’t realize her casual words had stirred him for some reason. She was only bewildered.

“When you don’t protect yourself with magic, what about those who become unhappy because of it? Have you ever thought of them?”

The lamp’s light flickered fiercely. The waves surged as if about to crash over them, but failed to reach and swept away into the distance. Sabina, stunned, stared at Ashton, her long hair blowing in the wind.

“You don’t value yourself and you’re cowardly!”

“No, Ashton…”

“If not, use magic to protect yourself first, and then take responsibility for what happens after!”

He shouted, not even allowing rebuttal. Even in the open space, his words echoed in Sabina’s ears.

Sabina turned pale and covered her mouth. Ashton’s words exposed a weakness she hadn’t realized. Yes, she had avoided turning back time before death out of fear of responsibility, but after death, she’d unconsciously accepted the new opportunity from her magic.

She was suddenly deeply ashamed. Ashton’s words shocked not only Sabina but himself as well. He seemed to realize what he’d done only after a few seconds.

He lowered his eyebrows.

“Miss D’Vialis, I’m sorry for shouting. I…”

“It’s fine.”

She pulled her shawl tight, cutting him off. Ashton couldn’t apologize further and closed his mouth. Sabina’s lips, drained of color, trembled uncontrollably. She crouched on the sandy ground.

“Go inside.”

Sabina commanded. Ashton didn’t obey easily and just stood there blankly. Resentment filled her silver eyes. Instead of looking at Ashton, she stared at the distant sea and buried her head in her knees.

“Why did you suddenly get angry? How well do you know me to say such things…?”

Even as she agreed with Ashton’s words, she tried to build a wall from her shattered pride. It was fortunate Ashton didn’t know he could read all her thoughts if he wanted. If he did, it would have been truly miserable.

“It’s not like someone became unhappy because of me…”

The fragments of her pride sharpened their edges and slashed at Ashton. He, looking down at her curled up, became a wreck. Of course, the one doing the slashing didn’t realize it. She was unexpectedly ignorant about many things. And Ashton had chosen not to tell her anything.

“I want to be alone. I want you to go back to the house.”

Sabina stubbornly said, and Ashton delayed obedience a bit longer, as if giving her a chance to take it back. But Sabina didn’t move, her head buried in her knees. Eventually, Ashton left the lamp beside her and crossed the sand alone.

With the intermittently flickering lamp next to her, Sabina sobbed. The sound of waves hid her tears.

She herself didn’t know why she was crying. It wasn’t something to be hurt about. If anything, not turning back time to defy fate was the Sabina before she inhabited this body—a different person. There was no reason to cry over someone else’s attitude.

Sabina became confused by her own inability to act rationally and hated Ashton for making her feel this way.

“Why do you act like you know everything, when you’re nothing to me?”

Though no one else was listening, Sabina said it aloud. He was just a contract lover; without the contract, they were nothing to each other, and she felt compelled to confirm that.

“Nothing at all.”

She steadied herself, listening to the sound of waves. Facing her own cowardice was a painful thing for anyone. For someone unaware of their flaws, sometimes it led to ugly behavior.