Chapter 55

Days passed with no particular obligations, expectations, or regrets.

Five days before returning home, rain kept Sabina from going outside, so she sat in an armchair, absorbed in weaving colored threads into a bracelet. Ashton sat carelessly on the carpet, repairing a box with a broken hinge.

“So, why are you Ashton?”

Sabina, weaving intricate thread patterns, suddenly asked. Ashton raised his eyebrows at the abrupt question.

“What?”

“It’s not a Letona name. Now that I think about it, your name is Brinita language.”

“Letona and Brinita languages come from the same root. There are many overlapping names. There might even be a Berna lady called ‘Sabina’.”

Sabina stopped moving her hands and stared at Ashton. He resumed fixing the box’s hinge with screws.

“It’s not commonly used in Letona, but now….”

He paused for a moment before continuing.

“Unless I ask my parents, I’ll never know why they gave me this name.”

Sabina thought of Albert, who spoke in mixed dialects.

“Maybe your parents’ parents came from Brinita.”

“Grandparents.”

“Grandparents.”

Even such trivial conversation felt nice. Sabina suddenly realized she had completely forgotten about Reyes Brinita while in Berna. She hadn’t chosen overseas escape out of fear that going abroad would make her more vulnerable to harm, but now she felt so peaceful that her worries seemed silly.

She didn’t regret staying in Brinita while constantly facing Reyes. If she hadn’t been there, she wouldn’t have gotten Helio. Sabina wondered if, once again, she had made excuses to herself for the sake of acquiring Helio.

At the same time, now that she had found and sent Helio to school, Sabina thought it wouldn’t be bad to spend more time in Letona. For now, she felt at ease since she had no way of hearing any news about Reyes.

She wanted to stay here a little longer.

Sabina thought as she wove the bracelet.

She kept working late into the night and finished the bracelet. But, lost in thought, she made it too big for her wrist.

“You wear it.”

So Sabina handed it to Ashton. He looked at her in disbelief, but didn’t refuse. From that day, a bracelet woven with white and blue thread adorned his wrist.

* * *

At Certanon Academy in southern Reedblon, Helio was greedily devouring knowledge.

October’s midterms and December’s finals were combined to determine the next semester’s grade. Helio spent every day busily, as if determined to become a first-grade student.

Helio returned to the dormitory almost every day just before the library closed. Some students tried to spy on what books he was reading so intensely, and were puzzled that some weren’t even related to first-year subjects.

“Why is he already reading advanced books on attribute compatibility and magic nullification? He’s not even taking ‘Introduction to Attributes’, so how does he understand it?”

Helio’s notoriety wasn’t limited to that. The fact that his attribute was unknown was a hot topic. Students were really curious about what his attribute was. Helio didn’t keep them waiting long.

The boy quickly passed the attribute exploration course. It was only ten days after admission. Since Ashton said he had the same attribute, finding the path was easy. At Certanon Academy, Helio’s magic attribute was named ‘Self’.

As soon as Helio was given the name of his attribute, the president summoned him again. She was excited, saying Helio’s mere existence overturned common sense and created a new paradigm. But she didn’t call him just to marvel.

“Oath.”

She handed Helio a sheet of paper.

“I want you to swear not to use magic recklessly for personal gain. Your magic is dangerous.”

Helio thought Ashton hadn’t signed this oath and used magic freely, and smirked.

The boy finished attribute exploration and, upon signing the oath, began taking the ‘Handling Dangerous Attribute Magic’ course among upperclassmen. If he didn’t get a perfect score, graduation was impossible, so some twenty-year-old students remained stuck as students because of this course.

“If you don’t get a perfect score quickly, you have to retake it. Even if you pass in your first year, you’ll have to take the test again before graduation—and you have to get a perfect score then, too.”

Helio nodded at the upperclassman’s tip.

Thus, Helio was adapting well to school life. In the last week of September, he received a visitor.

Helio expected the guest to be Sabina. She said she would visit every fortnight, and that day was exactly two weeks since her last visit. But when he opened the parlor door, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

The boy tried not to show his disappointment, fearing it would be rude to the guest. The guest smiled at him.

“It’s fine to show it. It’s understandable.”

Reyes spoke kindly, pointing to the opposite seat with his thick leather-gloved hand.

“Go ahead and sit.”

Helio sat slowly in the plush chair. The guest looked at him warmly, then suddenly made a strange face. His expression was somewhat artificial, but since he was naturally theatrical, it didn’t feel out of place.

Reyes Brinita, as if thinking, tapped his own cheek and smiled.

“Expecting Miss D’Vialis means you didn’t know she’s traveling, did you?”

Helio’s face showed surprise. He didn’t know. Sabina hadn’t told him.

Helio slowly shook his head to indicate ignorance. A sense of foreboding grew in his heart.

“Oh my. Your master went on a two-week trip to Letona with her lover for her birthday.”

Upon hearing the word ‘trip’, he had some idea, but felt deflated. Helio spoke somewhat weakly.

“So that’s what happened.”

“How could she not tell you? So thoughtless.”

Reyes, as if pitying Helio, took his hand. The boy, embarrassed, tried to pull away. It felt burdensome. But Reyes didn’t let go easily. Helio looked at his face in confusion.

And felt as if he was falling into an abyss.

Reyes looked at Helio with eyes full of pity for his situation.

Uncomfortable, Helio put more strength into his hand and quickly pulled it away. Not wanting to see Reyes’s expression, he turned his head.

“My master doesn’t have to report everything to me. I think not telling me is actually considerate, so I wouldn’t worry… It’s exam period.”

“Oh, you don’t have to try so hard. As I said, I’m the adult on your side. Be honest.”

Reyes instantly turned Helio’s words into a defense mechanism.

“Your master really wasn’t considerate. If she cared about you, she wouldn’t have gone on a trip with that man.”

“But…”

“I’m really worried she’s lost her heart to that man and forgotten about you. You know the rumors swirling around her…”

The snake’s tongue licked Helio’s heart, then bit it with venomous fangs.

The boy denied it, thinking surely Sabina wouldn’t do that. She had even given him a pocket watch before leaving. But as Reyes spoke, a strange suspicion began to grow.

Seeing Helio’s complexion darken, Reyes smiled faintly. His plan was to kindle Helio’s love-hate for Sabina. But he didn’t need to rush. Today was enough.

Reyes poured poison into Helio’s heart, then changed the subject as if it wasn’t his real purpose.

“I heard from the president you’re studying very hard. You only return to the dorm after the library lights go out.”

Helio, still chewing over Sabina’s actions, responded slowly.

“…Yes.”

“What have you been studying lately?”

“Just schoolwork. My goal is to enter the first-grade class next semester.”

“Oh, then you’ll have to study hard. But unless you submit a completely rubbish thesis, you’ll graduate top of your class, won’t you?”

“Still… I…”

He wanted to get good grades to make Sabina happy.

Helio felt a bit miserable. He was working hard only to please her, but she went off on holiday with her lover, leaving Helio behind.

Helio knew best that Sabina had no reason to spend all her time for him. If Reyes hadn’t stirred things up, he would have just felt a little lonely.

When Helio fell silent, Reyes smiled knowingly.

“I studied hard when I was your age, too.”

“Did you?”

The boy thought of Kenneth, who seemed far from studying. When Kenneth was Helio’s age, he would have focused on royal studies, not Academy classes. He vaguely assumed Reyes was the same, but it seemed different for the second heir.

“I wanted to be first.”

Reyes said this thoughtfully and closed his eyes. Helio asked cautiously,

“Did you… make it? First place?”

“Of course. I graduated top of my class at the Academy.”

“Oh…”

To Helio, that sounded more like pity than admiration. Reyes hadn’t been expected to become king, so he could focus on magic. But the prince himself was recalling the sweetness of beating Kenneth for the first time, and didn’t notice Helio’s subtle expression.