Let’s Make Saving a Habit - Chapter 128
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 128
I moved to Timeline 3, a point in time where Aiden did not exist at all.
A future timeline I had meticulously prepared for and saved before returning to age seven.
Left alone in the empty room, I collapsed onto the floor.
Then I began to weep as though the world itself had ended.
My tears flowed without cessation, like a faucet left running.
Countless thoughts cascaded endlessly through my mind, leaving me dizzy.
Until now, I had believed that every kindness Aiden showed me was a debt I could never repay in a lifetime.
But the moment I discovered that the origin of his kindness stemmed not from simple compassion or pity, but from something closer to responsibility, doubt began to take root.
Was his care and concern for me truly not born from guilt toward me?
“Did he ever love me with genuine sincerity…?”
What would have become of me if Marquise Primula had not entrusted me as an infant to Aiden?
What would have become of me if Aiden had not entrusted me to Uncle?
It felt as though every worst possible outcome had converged to create me as the result.
The fact that both of my biological parents, whom I had yearned for so desperately in childhood, were still alive.
The fact that they were living in places close to me….
It was maddening.
That was when it happened.
Tap, tap, tap.
I heard someone tapping on the glass from the direction of the window.
Already tense, I flinched and reflexively turned my head.
Under normal circumstances, I would have thought of Elysion first.
But in my emotionally vulnerable state, the memory surfaced—the moment when the Assassins found me and pierced my heart.
My eyes met Elysion’s through the window pane, his expression playfully amused.
My face was streaked with tears, clearly having been crying alone, my expression twisted.
I watched as his expression shifted from surprise to grave concern.
Rather than using the locked window, he teleported directly into the room in an instant.
“Tania!”
“Elysion….”
I tried to suppress my sobs by biting my lower lip.
But the moment Elysion pulled me into his embrace and held me tightly, my tears fell as though they had been waiting for this moment.
I gasped for breath that came with difficulty, gripping the hem of his shirt as though it were my last hope.
“Elysion, what if we just lived here in this timeline? Hmm? We could settle in a small village where no one knows us and live quietly.”
If we lived here, I would never have to face the resentful Marquise Primula or Aiden.
There would be no threat to my life from the Tempus Duchy.
Only Elysion would know of my existence.
“I don’t want to go back to that timeline anymore….”
I knew it was unreasonable.
When had I so carelessly reversed twelve years of time into the past, and now I spoke of living in this abandoned future timeline?
It would not have been strange if Elysion had become furious with me.
However, his response was not what I had anticipated.
“If that’s what you wish to do, then do it.”
I slowly lifted my gaze to meet Elysion’s eyes.
His unwavering gaze held mine, making it clear that his words were no jest.
“At any point in time, live wherever you desire.”
“….”
When those words came so effortlessly from his lips, my heart trembled with unexpected emotion.
“Tania, I need only you. No matter which point in time you go to, if you simply find me, I will always be at your side willingly.”
Elysion pulled me into a tight embrace, his voice dropping to a whisper against my ear.
“I know you are a strong person. But I wish you would lean on me just a little more.”
Why did I not wish to rely on him?
It was not that I desired to hide things from him.
Rather, I was the one who wanted to bare everything and ask for his help.
But because I loved him.
Because he was so precious to me.
I had hoped he would not become entangled in this.
Yet he seemed to hold thoughts contrary to my own.
“I am your lover, am I not? The closest person to you. The only one who remembers every moment in time that others cannot recall.”
“….”
“Will you tell me what has happened to you?”
Yes, Elysion had every right to ask me why.
I finally opened my lips, which had been sealed in silence, and began to explain everything that had transpired.
I kept hidden the truth about the Tempus Family and my biological mother’s identity.
That Aiden, who had been at my side from the closest place, was actually my biological father.
That my biological mother was still alive, and she was a young lady of a high noble house.
That she had entrusted me, a newborn, to Aiden, my biological father, to escape her family’s scrutiny.
That Aiden, too, had entrusted me to Uncle to escape the threats of my mother’s family.
Even the terrible past I had endured as a result of that choice.
Elysion listened silently to my long lament, taking in every word.
Perhaps it was because his embrace felt so safe. Or perhaps it was the warmth radiating from him.
I felt the wild, turbulent emotions that had been raging within me slowly begin to settle.
“…So I fled to this point in time where Aiden no longer lives. Because I did not wish to face him.”
After finishing my story, I lifted my head from where it rested against his chest and looked at Elysion.
And my mouth fell open slightly.
Because he was crying.
“Sion…?”
In all the years I had known Elysion, I had never once seen him shed tears.
His hands trembled as he gently caressed my cheeks.
“I’m sorry.”
“…Why are you the one apologizing?”
Elysion had done nothing wrong to me.
Yet his eyes glistened with crimson shame as guilt consumed his expression.
“I should have been by your side. I wasn’t there for you.”
My heart clenched.
Not hollow words of comfort, but genuine sorrow for his absence—in that moment, I could feel it all.
How deeply he loved me.
“You have nothing to apologize for. You’re here with me now, aren’t you?”
But he shook his head slowly.
“No, Tania. What I meant was the distant past—you when you were young.”
“…But you didn’t even know me back then.”
“I know. But that’s precisely why I regret it.”
Tears pooled at the corners of Elysion’s eyes, then slid down his cheeks.
“What was my salvation in that moment must have been hell for you.”
“…What do you mean?”
“Tania, you said you first awakened your Ability at five years old while being hunted by monsters, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“I escaped hell in that moment—in the repeating time caused by your death.”
Then it struck me: the scene where Elysion had claimed salvation from me, just as Raspi and Rosemary had.
“My biological father was a mad mage.”
It was a past he had never once spoken of to me.
Just as I had hidden my darkness from him and refused to reveal it, he too had said nothing.
Elysion closed his eyes gently, as though recalling that distant past.
✦ ✦ ✦
Taragon was a wandering mage who had dabbled in forbidden magic and been cast out from the Magic Tower.
Though expelled from the Magic Tower, his striking appearance ensured he was never without admirers—women flocked to him endlessly.
Taragon seduced countless women and fathered children with them.
His targets were exclusively women with high potential for second-generation ability manifestation.
He seized the children born to these women and made them his experimental subjects and tools.
In this manner, he accumulated dozens of children.
Numbered sequentially by birth order, Subject 21 was merely one among Taragon’s many offspring.
“Your siblings have already awakened, nearly all of them. Why can’t you awaken, Subject 21?”
Taragon’s voice crashed down like thunder as his hand moved.
A thick palm struck Subject 21’s cheek with precision, creating a shockwave.
The young Subject 21 was sent sprawling helplessly by the brutal impact.
Taragon seized the fallen child’s jaw roughly and fixed his face toward him.
His gaze swept slowly across Subject 21.
“The more I think about it, the more I believe your only value lies in your appearance.”
Subject 21 glared at Taragon fiercely. But he continued speaking as though appraising merchandise.
“You’re too wild to be useful anywhere. I can only hope you’ll have value as research funding.”
He meant to sell the child to the Auction House.
Clang—!
“Get inside.”
Subject 21 shuffled into the iron cage, dragging the chains bound around his legs.
The cramped space—barely large enough for four people to lie down—was his room and his entire world.
As Subject 21 entered, Subject 18, who shared the space with him, hurried over and examined his body.
“Are you alright? He looked really angry when he dragged you away.”
“…It ended lightly today.”
“Then that’s a relief.”
Subject 21 did not mention that he would likely be sold to the Auction House soon.
He remembered how Subject 18 had wailed in despair when Subject 19 and Subject 20 died.
“Ta-da! Look at this? I finished it while you were gone.”
He had drawn a picture on the wall with charcoal from who knows where.
Subject 18 asked with a proud expression, as though his drawing was something to boast of.
“What do you think? Isn’t it amazing?”
Subject 21 marveled at how Subject 18 could maintain such brightness even in these circumstances, and slowly shifted his gaze to the drawing.
“…It’s paradise.”
Subject 21 stared at the drawing as though entranced.
The picture depicted people with pure white wings enjoying a joyous festival.
Unlike them, the people in the drawing appeared happy.
But at the word “paradise,” Subject 18 shook his head vigorously.
“No. It’s similar to paradise, but a little different.”
“Then what is it?”
“It is a land of peace and joy. A place where those who lived righteous lives may go when they die.”
“What is the name of that land?”
Subject 18 smiled knowingly, as though he had been waiting for this very question, and opened his mouth.
“Elysion.”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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