There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 751: Side Story 4. Endless Journey - 34

Originally, Seven Ether belonged to Bassena. So, while it already merged into one of Mortix’s lines, the main store followed Bassena and moved their workshop to Lucre.

The building grew, and they trained more artisans, raw talent found in the disappeared red zone. Interestingly, there was one small room that was made to be identical to the one in the old workshop—a cozy living room with a single-frame old photograph on one of the side tables.

Of course, only a select few might enter that special room.

"Look! Look! Grandma looks like me, right?" Lucy excitedly pointed at the picture.

"Whoa...you’re right!"

Except for the twins, the other had never been there. Sadly, the pictures of Zein’s and Bassena’s parents were almost nonexistent, and this picture was one of the few originals that could be counted on one hand. They looked at the framed photograph in fascination, and Lucy was so proud of it.

"That’s not true, Princess. You’re prettier than that rowdy girl," an old man voiced a disagreement. "Must be because Young Master Sena got lucky and married a beautiful partner."

Lucy giggled and hugged the grandpa. As the lead artisan of Seven Ether, was the only person left aside from their Ayya who knew her grandma. He was no longer working due to his age, but he still oversaw the other artisans’ works. Asa jumped to his feet and took out a pouch from his pocket.

"Grandpa, this is the gemstone that we got from the school’s competition," he took out a light blue aetherite.

It was something they acquired back in February and had been keeping a secret. After all, it came out of a sealed surprise box that sometimes could be found in the dungeon, so even the school had no idea what could appear inside.

The old man raised his brow. How long ago had it been--twenty years? He still remembered the kids’ father came to him with the same type of aetherite, asking for it to be fashioned into a bracelet. Unfortunately, the bracelet was already destroyed in the final war, but thinking that it was used for a good cause made the artisan feel proud.

To think that the sons would return with the same request...

Was it fate?

"Pfft--you just so similar to your father," the old man laughed and patted Asa’s shoulder. "It’s for the Princess, right? Then, shall we talk about design?"

"Yes!"

Lucy jumped down from the chair she used to look at the framed picture and took the old man’s hand excitedly. Rina accompanied her as a fashion consultant, and Asa was there with his and Kar’s saving credits.

Nari, meanwhile, was already bored with all the sparkles in the display and asked for permission to go to the goldsmith next door. Her brother, however, had been looking around and staring at all the displays behind the cases in the storefront, pressing his face against the transparent glass.

Kar stayed with the younger boy so he wouldn’t be alone, watching Byul running around with sparkles in his eyes. "Do you want something?" he asked after observing silently for a while.

"N-no, Hyung!" Byul flinched, seemingly surprised that he wasn’t alone. "I just like looking at them, cos they sparkle."

"Like stars," Kar winked, and the younger boy grinned happily. He calculated briefly in his head before pointing at the display. "You can pick something if you want."

Byul widened his eyes before quickly shaking his head. "It’s Lucy’s birthday."

"Your birthday is two months away," Kar shrugged.

"It’s Lucy’s birthday," the boy insisted firmly. At a time like this, he looked more like his blood uncle, even with an undeniably cute face.

Kar chuckled and tilted his head. "Byul is very kind," he said. "Then, we can choose yours in two months."

"Oh, you don’t have to," the boy shook his head again. "I can’t wear it anyway."

"Why not?"

"Because others don’t wear these sparkly things in my school," Byul replied quietly. He sounded a little disappointed, but there was a resigned expression on his face that made Kar frown.

"Can’t you wear it during a special event?"

"Then, it’ll be such a waste," the boy pursed his lips. He glanced at Kar before adding quietly. "If...if it’s something for you, I want to wear it all the time."

Ah, what a cute boy. Kar laughed and ruffled the black hair. "In that case, I’ll give it to you when you can wear it all the time. Maybe in high school?"

This time, Byul did not reject it. He perked up and looked at the older twin with sparkling eyes. "Really?"

"Oh, you’re in luck," Kar stroked his chin, calculating the time. Since Byul will be eleven in August, then it would be in four years. "I’ll already get my license then, so I’ll have more money. I can give you something better--something customed like Lucy’s," he looked at the boy with an arched brow. "How about it?"

"...okay," Byul turned toward the display case again before nodding bashfully, hoping the fluffy black hair could hide his reddened cheeks and ears. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

"Then, shall we make a promise?" Kar tilted his head and raised his little finger, which Byul joined while looking down to hide his face.

The boy strangely refused to look at him after that, and Kar just followed him silently with a wry smile until the others returned. It would take some time for the artisans to finish the accessory--which turned out to be a bracelet--so they would use the time to go around the commercial district and visit some tourist spots.

With a beautiful estate, a lake house, and a resort all accessible to them privately, these children rarely felt the need to go and play in the city. Especially for Lucy, who had been living in isolation. It was like an early birthday present for her, who could finally walk around normal people without making them flinch in surprise.

Although to be honest, some people still flinch and stop to stare. Not because of her leaking mana, but simply because they were local celebrities--even if the children did not realize it themselves.

The children of House Ishtera and the future heirs of SavAsh. Even if they rarely went outside, their pictures during some formal events or outings were already circulating onlink. Not to mention, former celebrity Rina Soltis was their chaperone. Of course, people would stare.

But that day, for the sake of their excited youngest, the children ignored all the stares and just had fun in the arcades, went shopping, raided the bookstores, and tried popular cafes that Nari and Lucy were curious about.

When there was still time left before Lucy’s gift was finished, they ended up going to the beach. While Asa accompanied the girls who seemed to have boundless energy, Kar stayed with the tired Byul on a bench, just watching the boisterous group playing some weird games near the waterline while sipping on refreshing drinks.

"Hyung, when do you graduate?"

Kar raised his brow, curling a corner of his lips. "What? You’re talking to me again, now?"

"Ah--don’t tease me, Hyung!" Byul pursed his lips, and his cheeks turned slightly pink again from embarrassment.

Kar laughed and pinched the boy’s cheek before answering. "Hmm...technically, in three years," the older twin hummed. "But I’m going to take the final exam before summer break."

"Huh? You can do that?"

"Yeah, like Uncle Dia," Kar grinned. "He told me that he still had to show up from time to time and participate in school events, but he was free to do anything other than that. I’m planning to do the same until graduation."

The boy blinked and straightened his back in interest. "Oh, what will you do?"

"Taking specialized training and more practical lessons," Kar shrugged.

With Asa, he had a lot of regular engineering stuff to do for college preparation even after he finished all of his guiding lessons. But for Kar, he basically only needed to do those two. But those two would be the most exciting part of his academic life.

"Uncle Joon is a licensed mentor, so I’ll be able to officially take a lesson from him," he told Byul with a grin.

"Oh..." the boy fidgeted with the cold juice in his hands. "Then...you’ll spend more time in Althrea?"

"Yeah."

"I see..."

Kar smiled helplessly at the boy who couldn’t hide his disappointment. "But I have to take a field practice with a guild, so I’ll be doing that with my Dad," he added.

Instantly, Byul perked up. "With Uncle Bas?" the dark eyes sparkled the way he looked at all the accessories in Seven Ether earlier. "In Althrea?"

"Yeah," Kar couldn’t help but smile at the blatant happiness in front of him.

"Umm...will you have time to hang out during that?"

"No."

Byul flinched and lowered his head again. "Oh..."

"Not during, silly," Kar chuckled and tapped the boy’s forehead. "Before or after, I can do that."

How could he ’hang out’ with the boy in the middle of dungeon practice, anyway? Byul blinked repeatedly for a few seconds while holding his forehead, digesting Kar’s words. When he did, he brightened up again and grinned widely.

"Oh, I see!"

Once more, they made another promise just between the two of them, and Byul shyly asked for it to be their secret. Well, Kar had no problem with that. But he did not expect that the secret he had with Byul would be the only secret he experienced that day.

"Lucy has a past life, you know."

That night, his sister also told a secret of hers to the twins.