Let’s Make Saving a Habit - Chapter 143

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 143
Hugo Tempus withdrew a glass vial containing poison with trembling hands.
Death would grant him respite from everything.
The nightmares and phantom voices that haunted him whenever he closed his eyes would cease.
That was when it happened.
“Hello. Your timing is impeccable.”
A familiar voice—one he’d heard countless times in his nightmares—resonated vividly from behind him.
Gripped by terror, he lacked the courage to turn around.
Click, click.
The sound of footsteps approaching him sent chills down his spine.
Tania placed a hand gently upon Hugo Tempus’s rigid shoulders and offered an explanation.
“I’ve come from the future. I saw how pathetically you died alone, so I came to save you myself.”
Then she laughed and thrust her face toward his.
“Hah, you have no conscience. Trying to take the easy way out alone?”
“I’m confiscating this.”
While Hugo Tempus’s entire attention was fixed on Tania, Elysion effortlessly seized the glass vial from his grasp.
Tania settled onto the edge of his office desk with a serene smile.
“By the way, you’re not sending assassins anymore?”
….
“Go ahead and struggle. My revenge has barely begun, and you’re already growing dull.”
Tania dragged her tongue across her lower lip with a look of regret.
“If I grow bored… I’ll have no choice but to toy with you instead. Did you pass the turn to me? Are you telling me to attack?”
“You wretched woman…!”
Hugo Tempus glared at Tania with bloodshot eyes.
Meeting his gaze, Tania’s eyes narrowed with unmistakable delight.
“Your eyes tell me you still have fight left in you. How fortunate.”
It would be no fun if you gave up already.
Don’t you agree?

✦ ✦ ✦
A few days later.
Elysion and I sought out Hugo Tempus once more.
This time, rather than passing through the main gate of his residence, I materialized directly before him using magic.
Boom—crash!
As Elysion and I appeared in a burst of magical light, Hugo Tempus stared at us with an expression of utter astonishment.
“How—how did you get here!”
“Hello. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
I waved my hand at him with a casual flourish.
“You’ve traveled quite far to hide, haven’t you? You sent assassins after me with considerable effort, yet here you are, cowering in your little sanctuary?”
How pathetic—hiding alone.
When we last encountered Hugo Tempus, I had placed a tracking spell upon him.
I had been monitoring his every movement since then.
I knew he had fled the Capital and escaped to the Southern Region, but I simply let him go.
Why?
I gazed at Duke Tempus’s ashen face.
Yes, I wanted to see this expression of despair.
“Do you know what Elysion’s ability is? It’s ‘Nullification.'”
“Get out of my sight this instant!”
“How irritable you are.”
I shrugged lightly and explained the reason for my visit.
“A week ago, as I was killing you, a thought occurred to me.”
“What? Who was killing whom…?”
“Ah, don’t worry about the word ‘killing.’ It’s nothing serious—I simply killed you a few times out of frustration. Though you won’t remember it, of course.”
Hugo Tempus’s pupils trembled like a candle flame before the wind, wild and frantic.
“Oh, don’t make that face. Compared to the number of times I’ve died, your deaths are insignificant.”
And you don’t even remember them.
“Anyway, that’s when the thought struck me. What are the limits of a Nullification ability’s range?”
I stroked my chin dramatically, playing up the moment.
“If Elysion can nullify other people’s abilities, then… what if, when I turn back time, people within the range of his Nullification ability don’t actually have their time reversed?”
Interesting, isn’t it?
“So after that day, Elysion and I conducted an experiment. And wouldn’t you know it.”
I clapped my hands together with unbridled delight.
“When I turn back time, if Elysion applies his Nullification ability to a specific person, they retain their full memories and travel through time unaffected. Isn’t that something?”
Fortunately, Hugo Tempus wasn’t slow to understand. His expression hardened like stone as the meaning of my words sank in.
“That means…”
“Exactly. Now, even when time rewinds, you’ll remember your own death.”
I swept my gaze around the room with a meaningful smile.
“Where are your shadow guards who usually stand by your side?”
Have you finally realized they’re useless?
No matter how hard the Assassins struggled, they could never defeat Elysion and me.
Who could possibly stand against the next Magic Tower Master with the ability to nullify powers and an Ability User who could turn back time?
“Well, this works out nicely. No need to deal with those Pyramids one by one.”
“Y-you, you demon! Get out of my sight!”
He trembled so violently that even I felt a twinge of pity for him.
“Don’t worry, Hugo Tempus. I’m not the one who’ll be killing you today.”
At that, Hugo Tempus’s vacant gaze shifted toward Elysion.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the right answer.
I thought it wouldn’t be so bad to inflict upon him the very deaths I had endured.
So….
“Today, I’m taking you to the Monster Forest. There, you’ll be torn apart by monsters’ fangs, die, come back to life, die again, come back to life—and repeat until it’s over! Simple, isn’t it?”
In that very place where my Uncle had abandoned me.
“I have just one question for you, Hugo Tempus.”
I smiled faintly and met Hugo Tempus’s eyes.
“Have you ever experienced being torn apart by monsters?”
If not, that’s unfortunate. It will be far more excruciating than you can imagine.

✦ ✦ ✦
Duke Tempus’s bizarre behavior—where is his honor?
Duke Tempus’s transformation—what has befallen him?
The Tempus Family without an heir—is this a sign of their downfall?
Hugo Tempus had gone mad.
Less than a month into my revenge, and his sanity had deteriorated beyond recognition.
It was truly a shame.
Elysion, the one who had entered my office and handed me the newspaper, asked with curiosity.
“Hugo Tempus has succumbed to madness and can no longer perform his duties as a Duke properly. It seems the Emperor will soon strip him of his title….”
“That’s likely what will happen.”
“If that occurs, you’ll be the sole heir to the Tempus Ducal House. What will you do?”
“What else? Let the entire family line be extinguished.”
I would reveal slowly to the world that Marquise Primula is my biological mother only after everything was settled.
But I would continue to live as Tania Papiope.
“Tempus? I never wanted that name, and I wouldn’t accept it even if they offered it.”
“Then will you turn back time to before Hugo Tempus went mad?”
I shook my head slowly.
“If his mind is broken, turning back time won’t matter—he’ll just go mad again soon enough.”
“Aren’t you disappointed? You suffered for decades, yet your revenge took less than a month.”
At Elysion’s question, I spoke my honest feelings.
“Revenge. I pretended to enjoy it, but honestly, it wasn’t as satisfying as I thought.”
I had spent over a decade chasing this moment, yet it ended far too quickly, leaving me with a hollow feeling.
But I harbored no regrets.
“I just found walking through the Garden with you far more enjoyable than anything else.”
“Really?”
Elysion’s lips trembled as he struggled to contain his joy. The sight was utterly endearing.
“So, Elysion.”
“Yes?”
“Will you marry me?”
“Yes, let’s do that.”
He had habitually agreed with my words, but something felt amiss, and his eyes widened in realization.
His face flushed crimson in an instant.
“Wait, hold on. Tania, what did you just say…!”
“You said you’ve been harboring unrequited love for over a decade. Who else would I marry but you?”
I smiled softly, gazing at Elysion with delight, when I suddenly leaned in and stole a kiss.
At first, he remained frozen with his eyes open, as if unable to believe what was happening, but soon he closed his eyes and accepted me.
[Overwriting the current viewpoint with Savepoint 4.]
When everything had gone wrong.
The fourth save slot I had never deleted, no matter what, to restart my life from the beginning.
Now I felt I could finally let it go.
Because I could confidently say this was the happiest moment of my life.
I would cover my unhappy childhood with these happy memories alongside Elysion.
My heart raced and fluttered with overwhelming emotion.
Then Elysion pulled away from my lips and whispered like a confession.
“I love you, Tania.”
I answered his confession with the most radiant smile.
“I love you too, Elysion.”
Just as I had been your salvation, you were mine.
―Let’s Make Saving a Habit. Complete―

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————