Let’s Make Saving a Habit - Chapter 54

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

Chapter 54
“Ahahaha, haha….”
I gazed out at the endless expanse of the Blue Meadow and let out a breathless chuckle.
It seemed Elysion had brought me to the vacant land where he practiced magic.
“Ah, that was exhilarating.”
“You nearly got yourself hurt back there, Tania.”
He fussed over me, checking my body for injuries with meticulous care.
Despite having just committed madness in the Banquet Hall, his composure left me bewildered.
“What, aren’t you going to ask why I did that in the Banquet Hall?”
“Because it’s no different from your usual behavior.”
I straightened my expression, my face a portrait of disbelief.
“…Do I really seem that unhinged normally?”
“Pretty much.”
His immediate affirmation was absurd, yet I couldn’t bring myself to argue.
After all, I’d always considered my life disposable, so living recklessly at this point was only fitting.
Elysion spoke with genuine nonchalance.
“Actually, considering your nature, I’m more surprised you’ve held back until now.”
My expression grew even more sour.
Just how much of a wreck did this man think I was?
But soon enough, I decided it didn’t matter and shrugged the thought away.
These memories would vanish anyway, so what did it matter?
I sprawled carelessly across the meadow and grinned widely. The gentle breeze tickled my hair against my face in a most pleasant way.
“Ah, I wish I’d gotten a better look at that bald count’s expression—he looked like he was about to cry.”
As I voiced this small regret, Elysion let out a soft laugh and settled beside me on the grass.
“So, did you get your stress out?”
“Yeah. I feel completely refreshed.”
Those hypocrites who committed all manner of filthy deeds behind closed doors while maintaining their refined facades—I’d always wanted to strike them hard.
To give them a taste of their own medicine.
“Tania, what about the aftermath?”
I rolled my eyes thoughtfully.
“I’m not going to deal with it.”
“…You certainly have it easy.”
“Maybe I’ll become a second Raspi. Turn the entire Empire against me.”
At that, Elysion furrowed his brow and asked.
“Who is Raspi?”
Ah, that’s right.
At this point in time, Raspi was dead, and only Rosemary knew his name.
“Just some guy like that.”
I wondered what Elysion’s reaction would be if he learned from a future perspective that I had saved Raspi.
Would he disapprove? Or would he view it positively—that I had rehabilitated a future criminal?
Just as I was wondering about it, Elysion opened his mouth with an uncomfortable expression.
“I don’t like the name Raspi from the start.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. So I’d prefer if you didn’t mention that name.”
“That’s all?”
I couldn’t help but laugh, remembering how he and Raspi had clashed during the Adoption Tournament.
Had they been incompatible from the beginning?
It was remarkable how their hair colors were divided into black and white.
I gazed at the crimson sunset and the marbled blue sky, then stretched my hand upward.
It felt as though if I reached just a little further, I could grasp the clouds.
I glanced sideways at Elysion, who had somehow come to lie beside me.
Not the young Elysion, but the adult version I remembered.
The one who fully remembered me.
With a soft thud, I lowered my outstretched hand and turned my body toward him.
Only then did Elysion’s face come fully into view.
“Sion, I missed you so much.”
Silence settled between us. Elysion tilted his head slowly.
“What are you talking about? We saw each other yesterday.”
“…Did we?”
“Yeah. I came to find you like I always do.”
I blinked slowly.
Only a few months had passed, yet the memory was already fading.
Perhaps it was because I had truly abandoned that timeline.
It was clearly a point in my life that I had lived through, yet it felt unfamiliar, like someone else’s story.
“Sion, you know what?”
“Yeah?”
“Did you happen to look for me this morning?”
When Rosemary had returned to the present timeline to confirm whether Raspi’s younger brother was real.
Elysion had apparently let out a strange scream from early morning and bolted out of the Duke’s Residence.
After that, he had come to find me at Duke Papiope’s Mansion and called my name with an angry expression.
I had panicked then and reversed the timeline…
I was curious. Why had he come looking for me in such anger?
Then Elysion, after a brief silence, asked as if puzzled.
“How did you know I came looking for you this morning?”
“…Just a feeling.”
“Hah.”
He let out an exasperated laugh before his lips curved upward and he explained.
“I did look for you. But I stopped halfway, wondering what I was doing.”
“What happened?”
“I found fingerprints on the special glasses I sometimes use for research—you had left them as a prank.”
…Ah, now I remember.
I recalled vividly how I’d deliberately left my fingerprints everywhere, chuckling to myself as I imagined him thrashing about in frustration later.
Why do I remember only these things so clearly? It’s not even difficult to make excuses.
But I decided to brazenly own up to it instead. After all, it was absurd enough to be true.
“…You found me over something so trivial?”
“Trivial? That’s insulting to people who wear glasses.”
As we continued our usual frivolous banter, my heart grew calm, yet at the same time, a sorrowful ache bloomed within me.
In abandoning this place, I’d left behind an attachment far too great—Elysion.
That’s precisely why I’d resolved not to give my heart to anyone else in this place I was meant to leave.
I gazed intently at Elysion’s face.
…Could you and I ever return to being what we are now?
“Sion, what do you think would happen if I’d been adopted into Duke Papiope’s Household?”
“If you want, I’ll give you my place.”
“Ha, you’re joking.”
I burst into hearty laughter and lightly tapped his shoulder to tell him not to joke, but Elysion grabbed my wrist.
“I’m not joking.”
As I panicked and tried to twist my hand free, he tightened his grip, holding me firmly in place.
“I think that position suits you far better than it suits me.”
“…Then what about you?”
“I have the Magic Tower Master.”
Elysion released my wrist with such ease, as though he’d never intended to hold it for long.
“Tania, I hope you’ll have a family too.”
“…Why?”
Elysion chuckled softly and ruffled my hair carelessly.
“Because I think you’d be happy that way.”
Though the words were tossed out lightly, I instantly recognized that he meant them sincerely.
“Then Sion, what if you became my family?”
“…What?”
In that moment, Elysion’s eyes widened in surprise. I explained it simply so he could understand.
“You stay in Duke Papiope’s Household as you are, and I just get adopted additionally.”
“…What, you meant family like that?”
Elysion, whose expression had seemed somewhat disappointed, suddenly spoke in a serious tone.
“Tania, let me be clear—I won’t do anything like dating within a family.”
“What are you talking about? That’s something families obviously shouldn’t….”
I froze mid-sentence, unable to finish.
Was he indirectly saying he wanted to date me now?
As I stared blankly at Elysion, trying to comprehend his meaning, he opened his mouth.
His expression confirmed that my thoughts weren’t wrong.
“Tania, I want to marr….”
Thump.
I hastily covered his mouth with both hands.
I knew exactly what words were about to follow.
I couldn’t hear them.
If I did, I would want to stay here. I wouldn’t be able to leave him behind at this moment.
“Elysion, let’s pretend you never said what you were about to say.”
[Loading Viewpoint 3.]

✦ ✦ ✦
Barely clinging to my sanity, I pulled away from Elysion and slammed my forehead against the desk.
“I’ve lost my mind. I’ve completely lost it.”
Heat flooded my face belatedly.
[Do you like me, Tania?]
[What are you talking about? You’re the one who’s liked me all this time, aren’t you?]
Today was the same day I had said goodbye to Elysion.
Back then, I had been upset when he said I was the one who had always liked him, so why had I tried to confess first this time?
I had been able to abandon my lingering feelings for Elysion and leave by saying I didn’t like him.
This was truly troublesome.
It meant he had been liking me all along.

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