Chapter 91

After several hours cleaning the study, Sabina gestured to Helio.

“Let’s go to the bedroom.”

Helio wondered if he was allowed in his master’s bedroom.

Sabina simply thought of it as a room with a bed. Helio, entering her bedroom for the first time, carefully looked around the simply decorated space. There didn’t seem to be much to throw away.

“Doesn’t look like there’s anything to throw away.”

“Maybe in the drawer.”

Sabina opened the drawer as she spoke.

She was right. Forgotten items kept coming out. Sabina wanted to throw away most, but Helio put half back in the drawer. Helio was uncomfortable with Sabina wanting to throw away everything she touched.

In the top desk drawer were two envelopes. One was a letter envelope, the other a document envelope. Sabina hesitated for the first time in front of them.

She didn’t even touch the letter envelope. She clearly didn’t intend to throw it away.

She casually took out the document envelope and tossed it in the box.

Helio picked it up and opened it. Inside were many smooth papers, palm-sized. What were they? Helio poured them onto the floor. Sabina watched calmly.

“They’re meant to be thrown away.”

She spoke nonchalantly, but Helio felt overwhelmed after checking the contents.

They were image records.

The sky and sea, white sand, a village of toy-like houses, flowerpots by the window.

And a man, seen from behind cooking, watching the fireplace, fixing a chair, dozing in an armchair, and smiling a little awkwardly in the harsh sunlight at the beach.

Helio’s nose burned.

They were extremely ordinary records. But the subject Sabina had recorded on those palm-sized papers shone. She had captured the subject’s most beautiful moments. That was only possible if she never took her eyes off the subject, and if she understood when he was most beautiful.

Sabina loved Ashton.

Even before she realized it herself.

She must have been happy recording these. Helio was stunned with guilt. What had he tried to take from Sabina?

And what had Ashton taken from Sabina?

Sabina watched Helio, trembling as he flipped through the records, then picked out a few without people and put them back in the drawer.

“You’ll throw away all the rest?”

Helio asked, voice shaking.

“Yeah.”

His voice rose.

“Don’t you feel anything looking at them?”

Sabina answered calmly.

“No.”

There was not a trace of pain in her voice. Helio wanted to curse someone who couldn’t hear him, from somewhere no one else could hear.

“So you wouldn’t mind if I threw these in the fireplace right now?”

It was almost a shout, not a question. Sabina remained serene.

“I don’t care.”

No matter how many times he asked, the answer would be the same.

Ah, heavens. 

Helio covered his face. This wasn’t what he expected.

“Then I’ll take it as you don’t need them.”

Helio stuffed all the records back into the envelope. Sabina stood quietly, like a music box doll, watching Helio’s actions. She spoke.

“I don’t know why you’re doing this.”

“I don’t know either.”

Helio’s voice trembled with tears.

He fled out of Sabina’s room.

His escape didn’t stop there. Down the stairs, through the entrance, out the gate—he ran through cold Reedblon in just a shirt and pants. He really ran foolishly.

He arrived at Bryant mansion.

Helio rang the doorbell vigorously.

Some maids came out. To be exact, there were three. Of them, two were carrying large luggage bags in their hands. The ones holding the bags weren’t even in uniform.

Their expressions changed a little when they saw Helio’s face.

“Please wait… just a moment.”

The two maids with bags passed through the entrance and brushed past Helio, who stood in front of the main gate. He frowned and grabbed one of their arms.

“Where are you going?”

“Our contract has expired.”

The maid shook Helio off with an expression of annoyance. Contract expired?

“We’ll get a letter of recommendation and move to another house.”

The situation was only half clear to him. He stood there, dazed. The maid who had gone to ask Ashton whether to receive guests came back out and led Helio inside.

Ashton greeted Helio in the study, where there was a fireplace. He was buried deep in an armchair, and Helio flinched as soon as he saw him.

“Sorry.”

The man spoke.

“I’m not in any state to stand up and greet guests. It’s just as well. I’d been thinking I should meet you. I was planning to send someone to you before the last maid left.”

His voice was rough and cracked.

Helio hesitated and sat across from him. He was still handsome, but different from before. He looked much more tired, and helpless like Sabina.

“What’s going on? What’s that in your hand?”

Without a word, Helio dumped the records onto the low table between them.

Ashton narrowed his eyes. He slowly leaned forward and swept his dry hand over each record. Then he smiled.

“I know what you brought, but I can’t tell what’s inside. My eyesight’s gotten worse lately, so it’s hard for me to see things like this.”

He said that, glancing at Helio.

“I guess I don’t look very presentable, huh? Seeing you just keeping your mouth shut and not biting back.”

Helio pulled at his hair and bowed his head.

“Did you know this would happen? Did you do this knowing?”

“I knew to some extent. There were parts I didn’t know, and honestly, the parts I didn’t know made the situation fatal. I was arrogant. Thought everything would go as planned.”

“Do you know what state Master’s in now?”

“I thought you came to tell me that.”

The more Helio got agitated, the calmer Ashton became. That too was similar to Sabina, and Helio found it really hard to bear.

“I came to check if you’re dead or not.”

“Oh, is that so. How does it feel seeing me alive and not dead?”

Ashton responded to Helio’s words without a hint of being affected. He had broken Sabina like that, and yet he seemed completely unshaken. Helio suddenly disliked him even more.

The man squinted, trying hard to make the image on his retina clear. Still, the boy’s bright blonde hair and the gradually sharpening lines of his face remained blurry, like the edges smudged by an impressionist painter.

Helio gritted his teeth and spoke.

“It’s good you’re alive. In my plan, you need to stay alive.”

“Oh, you even made a plan? What kind of plan?”

……It was still just a crude idea, not worthy of being called a plan, so Helio closed his mouth, worried he’d be laughed at. Ashton interpreted the silence as he pleased.

“Well, yeah. It’s wise not to reveal your plan to someone you intend to use.”

“……I’ll at least tell you what’s recorded here.”

“Go ahead. Tell me.”

Helio explained.

Just telling him what he looked like in those records felt strange. He could sense what she felt then, watching Ashton from a step behind the device. Ashton listened quietly, eyes closed, hands interlocked and resting on his stomach.

The boy’s voice carried a message: Listen, to how much this person loved you. Think about what you did to someone like this. Can you really act so indifferent?

‘But what other choices are there?’

He hid his agony and sorrow deep inside. His body, with death approaching, was empty, so even after pouring in such deep sadness, there was still space left.

Helio put down the last record and looked at Ashton’s face.

No matter how carefully he explained each one, the man’s expression didn’t change. Finally, the boy couldn’t hold back and spoke more directly.

“Master loved you.”

“I know.”

Ashton replied quietly, opening his eyes. His cloudy eyes wandered, not knowing where to look, drifting through the air.

“I hoped she wouldn’t. Love always ruins her.”

“She was ruined not by love, but by magic.”

“At least she’s not writhing in agony.”

“So? Is that a good thing? She’s turned into a doll…….”

Helio’s voice was wet. Ashton was just as sad. He simply wasn’t young enough to show it.

He wished his words would sound as if they came easily.

“She’s emptied out.”

“That’s right.”

“It’s because I was such a big presence for her. That was unexpected. I… thought I’d remain nothing to her until the end.”

“Even after interfering in her life like that?”

Helio rubbed his eyes roughly. Luckily, Ashton’s eyesight had dimmed. He didn’t want to show such an ugly face in front of this person. Ashton let out a hearty laugh.

“Yeah. I believed in her temperament. A temperament that couldn’t love……”

Ashton tilted his head, still smiling as he continued.

“I never thought love could be defined so simply. Sabina bypassed her own temperament and loved me. Your magic acted as a catalyst for her awareness…….”

Helio flinched and tensed at that point. But Ashton didn’t blame Helio for this situation. The fundamental part wasn’t the boy’s fault.

“I was foolish, that’s true.”

“So what will you do now?”

Helio pressed him.

“You can’t just leave her like that.”

“Leave her be.”

“What?”

Helio asked again, unable to believe it. How could he say something so irresponsible? But Ashton thought differently.

“What she needs is time. Plenty of time. That’s all. The scars will leave marks, but you can paint a pretty picture over them.”

“How can you be sure? If you don’t care for her now, her condition might get worse. Until there’s nothing you can do…….”

“Giving her enough time and waiting for her interests to shift elsewhere is the right thing.”

“How can you be sure that’s the answer?”

“Think about Reyes Brinita.”

Helio tensed at the sudden mention of the prince’s name. Ashton propped his chin and smiled as if amused. Even with failing eyesight and dulled senses, he could sense Helio’s emotions. It was his old self, after all.

“Is Sabina even concerned about Reyes right now?”

Helio didn’t immediately understand what he meant.

“What do you mean?”

“Just what I said.”

“She loved His Highness the Prince?”

“At one time.”

Helio had never guessed that. He was stunned.

Ashton laughed cynically.

“The prince told you, didn’t he? That I drove a wedge between him and Sabina. Well, that was mostly a story made up to win you over, but it was a case of catching a rat while backing away. It’s true. I did that.”

The boy shrank back a little. His lips kept drying out. The hangnail sticking out at the side of his nail kept bothering him. Helio, unable to sit still, picked at it as he spoke.

“I don’t understand any of this.”

“That’s natural.”

As if he’d expected it, Ashton reached out his hand.

“Take it. This is the last lesson.”

Helio hesitated. He doubted whether he could handle everything inside Ashton’s head.

But there was no choice but to take it. If he wanted to move forward.

Before grabbing that hand, the boy looked into Ashton’s face. All the events of summer felt like a lie.

Helio’s lips trembled.

There was a time he wanted to become an adult like this person.

He’d questioned his own future, too.

If Sabina was in danger now, would his future self, fifteen years later, think of flying back in time to protect her?

All the answers were here.

Helio squeezed his eyes shut and took his hand.

From mind to mind, Ashton began to speak.