Chapter 64

Sabina forced her heavy body up.

The Academy’s teaching that one should avoid using attribute magic as much as possible; the people who, once she left the Academy, coveted her magic; and now, even people telling her to use magic for her own sake.

And among the people who had said those words, one had died long ago, and one had been injured because of her choice.

Changing, now, the values that had been instilled when her mind was still soft was not an easy thing. Besides, Sabina had many things to do beyond sinking into that.

‘This is the last time.’

In any case, this timeline would be the last. There would be no more returns.

As much as possible, she would survive in this life. And she would live safely. So safely that the very thought of turning back time would not even occur to her.

Her mother’s letter had said to use magic when she was truly desperate. For now, she could endure. Yesterday had been painful, but her choice not to rewind time did not remain as a regret she was certain about. She was still wavering.

She felt pathetic.

‘No. Stop thinking now. Stop thinking about this…….’

She needed something else to focus on. Fortunately, there was a perfect excuse.

Helio’s exam was two weeks away.

Last night, unable to sleep, she stayed up all night making a thick notebook.

Sabina knew better than anyone how hard the boy studied. Since he had earned a good score on the entrance exam, she wanted to pay him more attention in this timeline.

She let out a bitter smile as she gathered the notebook. The reason Helio had come to mind might not only be because she wanted to treat him well—perhaps it was also because he was the only person she could deal with easily and comfortably right now. He had always liked Sabina with pure sincerity.

‘So cowardly. Truly cowardly.’

Once more, she berated herself, and briefly closed her eyes.

* * *

“Send a healer to Ashton.”

Before leaving for the Academy to see Helio, Sabina told Mitchell that.

“It seems he has no intention of treating the wound right away.”

“Yes, Lady Sabina. I’ll send one.”

Sabina packed the notebook for Helio and a gift she had brought back from the trip into her handbag.

“Make sure he gets treated. I’ll go and check today or tomorrow.”

If she accelerated only the time of the wound site, the wound itself could heal quickly. But if time passed, the surrounding tissue would begin to break down, so leaving treatment to a healer was the correct choice.

Sabina’s heart felt heavy, as if Ashton’s injury were her fault.

And going to see Helio while Ashton’s situation was not fully settled also left her feeling uneasy.

Sabina forced herself to calm down. She still had to go see the boy. She was his guardian.

After arriving at the Academy and completing the procedures, Sabina was soon guided to a clean reception room. Helio arrived within fifteen minutes.

“Hello.”

Helio dipped his head slightly.

He sat across from Sabina. For some reason, the air between them was awkward.

Sabina took the notebook out of her bag and handed it to Helio.

“Among the children who have formed a sworn-brotherhood with an external mage, many have already received one, haven’t they? I ended up giving this to you a little late.”

It was a notebook bound in black leather. Helio hesitated, then loosened the fastening strap and opened it.

“The curriculum may have changed a little, but only in very minor parts. The exam coverage will be enormous, but I’ve checked off only the items that were guaranteed to appear for fifteen years. You can look at it with your friends too.”

Sabina had organized it around areas that were easy to overlook, or that were hard to memorize. For children like Helio—rank three or lower—most lacked connections, so it would be difficult to get “exam lineages,” and Sabina’s notebook would serve as something quite important for them.

Helio, with a slightly stiff face, looked through the notebook, then closed it. He should have said thank you. He was grateful to Sabina, truly. But he had been fixated on the last meeting with Reyes, and so words he had not wanted to say came out.

“You’re late. It’s been almost three full weeks since you last came.”

For a moment, embarrassment flashed across Sabina’s face. She quickly apologized.

“I’m sorry.”

“They said you went on a trip. Without even telling me.”

“How did you know?”

“Does it matter how I knew? There are many ways. This place isn’t completely cut off from the world.”

Helio’s voice was oddly cold. Sabina closed her mouth and furrowed her brows slightly. Things were going differently from what she had expected.

Something had clearly made Helio extremely displeased. Sabina guessed it was probably because the person who had traveled with her was Ashton.

“……I’m sorry I went without telling you. But if I had told you, I thought you’d be distracted by it the entire time I was away. It’s an important period.”

“You deceived me.”

Helio’s words were no longer an act of demanding an apology. They were closer to an act meant to hurt Sabina and burden her with guilt. It also seemed like he was craving attention. Please look at me, not that person.

Taking it further, it was also a request that said, ‘Stop meeting that person I dislike.’

Helio did not have the right to demand that much.

Sabina’s hand pressed to her forehead.

“If I don’t report my every move to you, that becomes ‘deceit’ to you?”

Helio flinched at those words. It was what he had said to Reyes. Helio himself already knew it. He knew Sabina had no reason to report everything to him.

For a moment, the boy realized he had overstepped and became unbearably ashamed, but the hot blood peculiar to adolescence spurred him to push back against her.

“I don’t like it when you are close with that man.”

“Can you tell me why, at least? I still haven’t heard a reason.”

Sabina’s voice was steeped in heavy fatigue, and Helio suddenly feared that she might grow sick of him.

But the next moment, anger began filling every corner of his veins. Because of the Seal, he could not say why he hated Ashton.

He could not explain anything to Sabina. No—would she believe him even if he did explain? That, too, was uncertain.

The boy grew deeply resentful, and unconsciously began comparing Sabina to Reyes. Unlike Sabina, Reyes had noticed Ashton Bryant’s secret and taken Helio’s side even without Helio having to try.

The rational choice was to cut the conversation off here with an “I’m sorry,” and to apologize for what had been said earlier as well. But the clear fact that Ashton Bryant was trying to use Sabina, the sense of betrayal Helio felt toward Sabina, and the boy’s originally sensitive temperament made it impossible for Helio to bend any further here.

“Then if you, Master…… doesn’t that mean you won’t interfere no matter what kind of friends I make?”

It was said with Reyes Brinita in mind.

Sabina’s head, after staying up all night, was not working well, and right now she had no room to examine the hidden meaning or extended possibilities. She took Helio’s words at face value. In truth, since in no timeline so far had Reyes ever come into contact with Helio, perhaps that preconception had also hindered her judgment.

“I have no right to control your relationships. Just as you have no such right over me.”

Helio’s hand gripping the notebook trembled violently. Sabina studied the boy’s face for a moment, then, as if trying to soften the atmosphere a little, soothed him.

“I was going to tell you today when we met that I’d been on a trip. I even brought you a gift.”

“I don’t need gifts like that.”

Helio snapped. Sabina fell silent for a moment. It seemed like this was the end of it for today. Sabina stood. It looked as though Helio needed time to cool his head.

Sabina’s own head was starting to ache as well.

“All right. Study hard for your exam. After it’s over, I’ll come visit you again.”

Helio did not even greet Sabina. His gaze stayed fixed on the notebook.

He felt wretched.

Sabina knew nothing.

Not Ashton Bryant’s true nature, nor the fact that he had been meeting Reyes.

His meetings with Reyes had always felt to Helio like something he could not be proud of. No matter how smooth-tongued Reyes was in coaxing him, it was the same.

But seeing it today, it seemed he did not have to feel guilty after all. Sabina had also traveled for two whole weeks with Ashton in tow. Then it would be fine for him to meet her enemy and build ties too, wouldn’t it.

But at the same time, it made Helio miserable. She did not care who he met. Even though it hurt him every time she grew closer to Ashton. Even though it was all for her safety.

Why did Sabina hate Reyes?

Why would she not tell Helio that truth?

The notebook in his hands looked like it had been made with tremendous care. But what Helio wanted was not this sort of devotion. It would have been fine if she did not make things like this, so long as…….

Swept up in complicated, contradictory feelings, Helio only sat there blankly until an academy staff member said they would need to clear the reception room.