Raine didn’t like kids. Hell, even teenagers were pushing it.

So he was a bit baffled to find himself babysitting an angsty teen a hundred metres below the sea.

“Listen. If you don’t get me back to where I’m supposed to be, the daily reset is gonna roll over for most of my games. I have no idea what kind of idiot fucks up this badly, but the very least you could do is fix your mistake.”

In hindsight, ‘babysitting’ wasn’t exactly what he’d call it. ‘Being bullied’ was more accurate. Though, he should’ve expected it when the first thing she did was call him a ‘schizo’.

“Yes, yes,” Raine sighed. “I’ll find a way to get you back wherever you need to be. If you’d just be patient-”

“We’ve both been sitting here for a good half hour. Do you want to keep ‘being patient’ while we slowly starve here?”

Raine wanted to pull his hair out in frustration. “Nobody said anything about starving. Calm down.”

“Oh, I’m as calm as one of the million fucking rocks on the ground,” Rui crossed her — Nikolay’s? — arms. “I might even turn into one before you find an answer.”

They’d been playing this game of back-and-forth for far too long, and each clipped exchange left Raine feeling further from his goal.

“Please, could you at least act civil?” Raine said, trying his hardest to keep an even tone. “It won’t help either of us if we’re at each other’s throats.”

Rui huffed. “Whatever. I’m sleeping. Wake me up when you find an answer.”

Before Raine could ask how anybody could sleep on the cold, hard floor of the ruins, she gathered the blue threads of Nikolay’s magic into a vague bed-shaped mass. Rui flopped onto the concentrated magic and covered herself with the blanket.

He enviously stared at the cozy-looking bed. “You can use his magic?”

“‘His’? Do you mean the person’s body that I’m in? It’s mine, you idiot. How else could I use it?” Rui replied, her voice muffled by the pillow.

It was hers? Suddenly, everything clicked into place for Raine.

This was the Temple of Time, so it made sense that it would pull time-related tricks. On top of this, Rui had the exact same magic as Nikolay, which implied that she was a past reincarnation of Nikolay’s.

“What, you remembered that you left the stove on at home or something?” Rui groaned. “Stop making that face and just let me sleep, goddamnit.”

Raine crossed his arms. “What face? I just figured out something important, so don’t sleep just yet.”

“If you take too long, I’m going back to sleep.”

Like he wanted to spend another second in her presence, anyway. It reminded him of his early interactions with Nikolay, only infinitely more annoying now that he knew how much better Nikolay could be.

“You’re one of the reincarnations of a sorcerer. The body you’re in — that’s his current reincarnation. We’re in an ancient temple right now, and it must’ve reverted him back to one of his previous reincarnations.”

“Pfft. Nice try. Been reading too many light novels lately or something? I’m not a ‘previous’ reincarnation. That implies that I’ve been replaced. Which I definitely haven’t, because I still have my own body and consciousness.”

Why couldn’t she just take his word for it? It wasn’t like he wanted to tell a sixteen-year-old kid that she was already dead.

“This is known as the Temple of Time. It reverted time for the owner of this body — I’m guessing it’s memory-wise, considering that a past reincarnation is here. So, the body you remember no longer exists. Unfortunately.”

Rui sat up, and the bed dissolved into smoke. “Hmm… I guess it would work when you put it like that.”

Thank god she believed him so quickly. He wasn’t mentally prepared enough to argue with her, especially since merely talking to her was draining enough.

“There really isn’t anything to return to, if my existence is just a memory of this stupid sorcerer,” Rui cracked a sardonic smile.

And with that, Nikolay’s body flopped lifelessly to the ground. Rui was gone from this world once more, returned to the place she belonged.

Raine shuffled over to Nikolay, who awoke with a series of confused blinks.

“…Hello?” Raine waved a hand in front of Nikolay’s face. “Are you back?”

No. Nikolay was not back, because the new person inhabiting his body jumped back with a frightened shout.

“Who are you?! Back, demon! Back, I say!”

Raine held up his hands placatingly and let them come to their senses. “I’m not going to harm you.”

“Where am I? Did the casino send you?” the man patted all around his body. “I don’t have my wallet on me, so I’m afraid I can’t pay my debt yet.”

“No, I’m not from the casino. My name is Raine — not that you’ll need to remember it. You’re in a temple, and we triggered a mechanism that reverses time. The body you’re currently in belongs to a sorcerer, and it’s reverted his memories so that his past reincarnations come to the surface. Long story short, you are one of the past reincarnations of this sorcerer.”

“Ah, apologies for my mistake. You are no demon, merely touched in the head.”

“What?!”

“Thank you for proving my conjecture.”

“I’m not-” Raine let out an exasperated sigh. “That’s not the important part. You can only leave if you accept the truth — from what I’ve seen, at least.”

“No, no, this must be a bizarre nightmare of some sort. All I have to do is wake up,” he feverishly said, repeatedly pinching his arm. “And I’ll wake up in my own bed, safe and sound.”

“Do I look like a nightmare to you?!” Raine exclaimed. “Just listen to me!”

“If it’s not a dream, then it must be some sort of trick that the casino set up. Like a torture chamber that locks you in with a psycho for a month, and you can’t leave unless you pay back your debt.”

This was the second time that he’d mentioned the casino. Did he really owe that much? It sounded like something that Raine could use to convince him, either way.

“Okay, say that I really am from the casino,” Raine said. “And you can’t leave unless you listen to me.”

“I knew it! You money-scrounging, greedy little cheaters would do anything to strip the last remaining pieces of wealth from the poor!”

Raine was pretty sure that this man was the one who put all of his money into gambling, not the casino. But whatever, it wasn’t his problem. All he needed to do was get this guy out of Nikolay’s body.

“Great. So do you remember what I said before? You are a past reincarnation of a sorcerer.”

The chronic gambler stroked his chin in deep thought. “Yes, yes, I agree. I’m not entirely sure why the casino would want me to believe in this, but the internal reasoning is sound.”

Raine patiently waited for the temple to do its thing, but nothing happened.

“Uhh, you did good,” Raine slowly said, stalling for time. “The casino will… we will graciously waive half of your debt for cooperating with us.”

Despite it being obvious that Raine was grasping at straws, the man lit up.

“Oh, thank you, thank you! I will take your teachings to heart, and believe your words deep within my soul!”

Ah, so that was why it wasn’t working before. He was just pretending to agree.

In any case, it was resolved now, and it looked like the man really believed his words. Money really was everything for some people. Shortly after his proclamation, Nikolay fell unconscious again. This time, Raine came prepared. He had already stepped behind to catch the falling body, and gently laid it back down on the floor.

He was slowly getting the big picture of the temple’s effects. First, he’d met Rui, and then this eccentric guy. As much as he hated the idea, it seemed like he’d have to convince all seven of Nikolay’s past lives of the truth. Which, given how much of a struggle that the last two had been, sounded like a real nightmare.

As Raine was contemplating — or rather, dreading — the near future, Nikolay’s body sat up once again.

‘Nikolay’ looked down at himself. “I’ve always wondered what it’s like to be a man.”

Well, this woman was surprisingly unaffected by the whole situation. A nice change of pace, compared to the last person he’d just talked to.

“The name’s Vivi. It’s not my real name, but it’s a lot easier to wrap your tongue around,” Vivi winked.

And immediately, he took back what he just said. Raine knew it was somebody else talking, but it was difficult to convince himself otherwise when it was Nikolay’s face making that expression.

“I’m-” Raine swallowed thickly. “I’m Raine.”

“Aren’t you a shy one?” Vivi purred. “Don’t worry, I make most men open up quite quickly. It’s part of the job description, after all.”

WHAT? Uh, nevermind. He believed her.

“I’m- uh, taken,” Raine stammered. “Also, I like men.”

Well, he meant to word that a lot less bluntly. All he could do now was cross his fingers and hope Vivi wasn’t a raging homophobe.

“Oh? And here I thought you were a little lost puppy. Good for you.”

Fuck. The last thing Raine needed was to hear Nikolay’s voice calling him a puppy.

Raine buried his face into his hands. “Please, just let me talk.”

“Go ahead, sweetie. I’ll let that mouth of yours do what it’s made to do.”

He did his best to imitate Nikolay’s poker face. “You are one of the seven reincarnations of a sorcerer. This temple placed some sort of spell on this sorcerer that reverts him back into his past lives, including you.”

“Oh my,” Vivi dramatically covered her open mouth with a hand. “I’m so sorry, dearie.”

Raine narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “For what?”

“I didn’t mean to flirt with somebody who’s mentally challenged! Now I feel horrible for taking advantage of you.”

God. Fucking. Damn it.

“For the last time,” Raine cried. “I’m not crazy! I am quite literally laying the truth bare, right in front of your face!”

“That’s what they all say,” Vivi said sympathetically. “I hope you have somebody taking care of you at home. It must be difficult living like that.”

Well, they had something in common there. Raine also wished that somebody in his family knew that he was in the middle of nowhere, talking to a prostitute who probably lived a hundred years ago. Actually, scratch that last part. He’d take that secret to the grave — even Nikolay couldn’t know the details of this conversation once he returned.

“Trust me. I might sound crazy to you in any other situation, but think about what just happened. You’re in a completely different body, and we’re in this massive stone temple. These aren’t normal conditions, so why would there be a normal explanation?”

“That is true,” Vivi said slowly. “When you put it that way, I guess it does make sense.”

Raine let out a sigh of relief when Nikolay’s body became motionless.

The next two people that he met weren’t too difficult to deal with, in comparison to Rui and Vivi. It began with the typical disorientated exclamations, then Raine told them of the situation, and they eventually accepted once he proved his argument.

Based on their actions, he chalked their sins up to be Envy and Gluttony. One wouldn’t stop asking Raine about his job and assets, while the other stumbled around the chamber while asking if there was anything to eat. Vivi was — very clearly — supposed to be Lust, Greed matched well with the gambler in debt, and Rui could only be Sloth after ruling the other sins out. The current Nikolay had mentioned previously that this vessel was meant to be ruled under Pride, though thanks to the prophecy, that didn’t fully work out.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

That left the last sin, Wrath. Which sounded very scary. But on the bright side of things, it was the last person he had to interact with.

Once again, Nikolay’s body spluttered back to life with a bewildered facial expression.

“Wh-”

“Yes, I’ve heard it before. You’re here because of some unknown magic,” Raine sighed. “And you’re currently in an ancient temple that triggered this change.”

The new persona squinted their eyes and looked Raine up and down in an appraising manner.

“Hm… Not a threat,” they curtly said. “You may proceed.”

God, if Raine knew that Nikolay had lived as so many weird people, he wouldn’t have wondered why Nikolay was so hesitant on sharing stories.

“I would’ve ‘proceeded’ without your permission,” Raine scoffed. “You are one of the reincarnations of a sorcerer. Based on the previous people that I’ve seen, you are ruled under the sin of Wrath.”

“No,” they said simply.

Raine wanted to shake them by the shoulders. “What do you mean, no?! If you accept it, you can go back to where you want to be.”

“I do not want to ‘be’ anywhere. Unless it is a place where I can exact revenge on a man named Alexei Voronov. Do you know of him?”

Yeah, fat chance. How would he know of a man that probably lived more than a hundred years ago?

But anyway, he still needed to get to the bottom of this. If he figured out why this persona was so hellbent on revenge, maybe he’d be able to convince them of the truth. And finally get the normal Nikolay back.

Nikolay wasn’t exactly ‘normal’ in any case, but he definitely was when compared to these nut cases.

“No, I don’t know him,” Raine replied. “What did he do?”

They ignored his question and stood up. “If you aren’t aware of his whereabouts, I’ll be leaving.”

There was no way he could let Nikolay’s body wander outside of the temple. Quick — he had to think of something to make them stay.

“Wait!” Raine grabbed their wrist. “He’s not here. Or anywhere near here. So there’s really no point in trying to find him right now. Your best bet is to reverse this change so you can go back to where you were.”

They wrenched their arm away from his grasp. “Do not touch me. It matters not if he is elsewhere. I will walk.”

Seriously, could this person be any more hard-headed? Or stupid, considering that they thought simply walking to their destination wouldn’t raise any issues. Valid arguments backed by sound reasoning clearly didn’t work on them.

“It’ll be quick, I promise. Just… come here and sit down. What’s your name?” Raine hastily said, eagerly patting the floor next to him in a not-so-subtle gesture.

They stared at him with a disbelieving look for a long few seconds, before eventually accepting his invitation. “Marie Clérisseau. My family name has nothing attached to it; there was scant reason for your question.”

“Great!” Raine cheerfully said, ignoring the slightly scathing response. “Well, I’m Raine Moore. I have nothing to my family name either, so I think we have a lot in common.”

Instead of agreeing, Marie turned to shoot him another disbelieving look. “You are a strange man. I did not say that my family had little funds — my meaning was that they had no blood debts. Few people admit aloud that they live in poverty.”

Great, now she was calling him a weirdo. And poor. It didn’t sting nearly as much as it did the first time, considering that he’d been catching all sorts of insults in the past hour.

“I will leave now,” Marie said in the wake of silence. “May our paths never cross again, for your safety.”

Raine quickly stood up to stop her again. “Ah, hold on just a minute-”

It seemed like he’d pulled that trick one too many times, because her response this time was not nearly as accommodating as before.

A shimmering blue blade lightly pressed against his throat, just barely enough for him to feel it a millimetre away from his skin. It wasn’t sharp now, but Raine knew all too well that it could change in a heartbeat.

“Do not attempt to stall me any further. I live for one purpose only: to kill Alexei Voronov. You are obstructing that goal.”

The blank expression on Marie’s face stared unflinchingly into his eyes, daring him to question her. Raine couldn’t let her go, but he also couldn’t stop her if his head was detached from the rest of his body.

Suddenly, a thought sparked through his brain.

“But then… why did you stop to talk to me in the first place? If you were so focused on killing Alexei, you wouldn’t have paused when I asked you to.”

“You pose a valid question,” Marie mused. “I suppose it had something to do with pity. You looked lonely, standing in this vast chamber all by yourself.”

“In other words, you felt sorry for me. So you can feel emotions after all,” Raine smiled. “It’s nice when you can act on them once in a while. Even if it doesn’t directly help you work towards your goal.”

His words clearly evoked something deeper in Marie, who suddenly looked unsure. Her eyes cast downwards with a concentrated frown. Just as quickly as it had appeared, the dark cloud around her lifted, and she returned to her impassive, porcelain mask-like facial expression.

Marie pulled away the blade from Raine’s throat and tossed it to him. “If you cannot accept your fate, then fight it. Duel me. I will concede if you win.”

Startled, Raine fumbled with the knife before finally catching it by the hilt. He flicked it between his fingers, surprised at the realistic weight simulated by the magic. The blue threads left small gaps in the imitation knife, but Raine was sure that the blade was still as effective as its real counterpart.

Raine looked up from the knife. Marie had walked to the edge of the chamber a few metres away. She held a blue rapier in her left hand, made in a similar way to the blade in Raine’s hand. It looked blunt from Raine’s perspective — not to mention, the rapier itself wasn’t designed for harming like the knife he’d been given. Even still, he didn’t doubt her ability to work her way around it somehow.

“Are you sure this is the only way to settle this?” Raine asked uncertainly. “I’m not lying when I say it’s easier for you to stay here and figure out how to return you.”

Marie gestured to his hand. “There is no need to be apprehensive. I won’t use the magic against you. The knife will stay a knife.”

He hadn’t even considered that possibility, but it was nice to get the reassurance, anyway. Even if it meant that his suggestion went completely over her head.

“Fine,” Raine sighed. “Let’s just get this over with.”

The last syllable had barely left his mouth before he needed to cut himself off. Raine just barely managed to sidestep Marie’s rapier, homing towards his chest.

As Marie continued to execute her attacks, Raine gradually realised how he could dodge her attacks so easily. The pattern of her movements matched almost perfectly with Nikolay’s instructions while he taught Raine how to fight in their shared body.

When he discovered this, Raine let the several weeks of training take over his actions.

Left, right, duck, block. A jab usually followed a slash. It was near uncanny how Raine could predict the next move well before Marie performed it.

They came to a moment of reprieve in the battle, both sides recuperating their stamina.

“You’re afraid of hurting me,” Marie stated. “All you’ve been doing is dodging.”

She wasn’t wrong. The last thing he wanted to do was create more problems for himself. If Nikolay woke up with a million cuts, it’d be hell to get him back on land. And actively stabbing someone wasn’t really in his skill set to begin with, let alone somebody he was familiar with.

“I don’t want to hinder your goal,” Raine replied. “You’d probably be sad if you couldn’t pursue that dream because of injuries.”

Marie lifted her rapier again. “You have a soft heart.”

Raine mirrored her action with his own knife. “Funny. Your reincarnation told me the same thing.”

They dashed towards each other, re-engaging in combat.

With each duck and weave, he noticed that her actions slowed down. To any other person, it might’ve appeared to be the same speed, but Raine was all too familiar with the agility that Nikolay relied on with his fighting technique. It became easier to counterattack with the slight adjustment, and Raine slowly inched closer to victory.

After a series of rapier thrusts from Marie, Raine sidestepped and gently placed the flat side of his knife against her throat.

“Does this count?” Raine asked.

Marie bowed her head in defeat. “You win the duel. I concede.”

Raine was almost certain that Marie had gone easy on him. It left a bad taste in his mouth, but as long as it worked, it didn’t matter.

“Does this mean that you accept my explanation?” Raine clarified.

Marie nodded and sat down on the floor, closing her eyes. “Yes. I am one of the past reincarnations of a sorcerer. The sin that governs my actions is Wrath.”

Raine followed suit, kneeling down to support Nikolay as he fell limp again.

“Goodbye, Marie. I hope you found who you were searching for,” he quietly said to himself.

And with Marie’s departure, that marked the final seventh life.

Finally, finally, it was over. Raine was getting tired of being called a weirdo by Nikolay’s various personalities. He was even beginning to think that he was the weird one, not them.

“Kolya?”

Nikolay mumbled, “Ale-”

He quickly tore himself away from Raine and staggered away.

“Who are you think you are?!” Nikolay shouted with a scowl. “What makes you think you can just call me that, you lunatic?”

Nikolay then looked down at himself. With shaking hands, he touched his face in disbelief.

“This isn’t my body,” Nikolay said, resentment tainting the edges of his words. “What have you filthy humans done to me? Did you make a contract with the gods?”

Ah. He’d forgotten that Nikolay had lived one more life; one where he was also called Nikolay. This must be the ‘King of the Damned’, the leader of the Crown Guild.

Raine opened his mouth to explain the situation for the eighth time, but wisely closed his mouth again once he saw a spear manifest in Nikolay’s hand. Blue strands flowed from the sharp head, a faithful replica of flames.

“You humans can burn down my home, kill my family in front of me, beat my comrades to death…” Nikolay took a threatening step forward. “But to dabble in contracts and gods that you shunned and spat on; that is an unforgivable sin.”

As Nikolay stalked his way towards him, Raine found himself slowly backing away. A flick of Nikolay’s wrist sent strings bursting forth from the ground, wrapping themselves around his arms and legs. They pulled tightly in opposite directions, stopping Raine from moving any further. The thin strings cut deep into his skin, enough to sever his blood circulation. Each infinitesimally small wound throbbed painfully against his otherwise numb limbs.

Oh god. It didn’t look like Nikolay was joking. Was he really going to die here? What about Nikolay — both of them? Would the temple’s spell release once he died? Raine really hoped that his corpse would magically turn into ashes post-mortem. The last thing that the current Nikolay needed to see was his body shredded like paper through a machine.

Raine suddenly found his brain devoid of all ways to talk his way out of the situation. He must’ve used up all of his charisma when dealing with the others, because the only thing he could do was stare dumbly at the spear that was certain to end his life.

Nikolay lifted the spear and pointed it straight at Raine’s heart. This was the end. There was nothing Raine could do to stop him.

He suddenly paused, the spear’s edge glinting dangerously close.

Nikolay narrowed his eyes. “You can see the conjured spear. Why would you hide your magic from me?”

Oh, shit. Raine forgot that humans usually didn’t see magic. Marie must’ve assumed that he had magic — or she frankly didn’t care about his unique situation, knowing that it didn’t pertain to her single goal.

“Ah- Hahaha,” Raine nervously laughed. “Well, you know, it’s complicated. Family problems, societal issues, personal choice…”

Nikolay gave him an unimpressed look. “If you’re going to lie to me, at least don’t insult my intelligence by half-assing it.”

Was it really okay to admit that he wasn’t a sorcerer? From what he’d heard about this version of Nikolay, he REALLY hated humans. As in, that spear was probably going to have his severed head stuck on it as home decor. On the other hand, though, Raine didn’t have any magic to show if Nikolay asked to see it.

“I would recommend telling the truth,” Nikolay tightened his grip on the spear.

Nikolay clearly didn’t think of the possibility that the punishment for the truth might be worse than whatever he was going to do now. Actually, both would probably end in Raine’s death.

He might as well pick the lesser of two evils, then.

“I don’t have magic at all,” Raine quietly said. “So I haven’t been hiding it; I can only see magic, but I can’t use it.”

Raine darted his eyes towards Nikolay to gauge a reaction, then back to the spear again. It looked like this Nikolay also had a perfect poker face, because Raine couldn’t tell a single thing from his expression.

Nikolay withdrew his spear and let it dissipate into its individual threads. He gestured towards the strings binding Raine, and they, too, loosened and fell away. Silently, Nikolay watched them all fade away into the air and return to the wispy clouds that surrounded him.

When the last of the magic returned to their original position, Nikolay directed his gaze towards Raine.

“There’s no need to be so apprehensive,” he said. “I don’t normally use a spear; it was a test to see if you could see magic. If I wanted to make an example out of you, it would’ve been over before you could even register it.”

As if that was comforting. Though, he was already all too familiar with this unsettling fact. Raine thought back to the Order of Truth sorcerer that Nikolay had vaporised upon his first day of regaining his magic. He hadn’t used any weapons like Marie or this Nikolay — it barely even took a flick of the wrist.

“But I still have one more question for you, though. Are you familiar with my reputation?” Nikolay asked. “Your attitude towards me is… unpredictable.”

His confusion made sense: after all, Raine had heard of him and yet, he was simultaneously much closer to him, beyond simply having ‘heard’ about Nikolay.

“It’s complicated, like you might’ve guessed. At the bare minimum, I’ve heard about what you’ve done. Like leading the Crown Guild, for example. I know people call you the King of the Damned.”

His response only added to Nikolay’s apparent confusion showing on his face. “And yet, you act unlike any other human in my presence. You know that I’ve killed countless humans for the sake of the revolution.”

Ah, this part wasn’t complicated at all.

“Even if everybody likes to paint a picture of a cold-hearted murderer, it doesn’t mean that it’s the only piece of the painting,” Raine softly replied. “And underneath all the layers of paint, there is a kind-hearted bird keening a mournful elegy to be carried upon the frigid winter breeze, waiting for somebody to hear its lament.”

Nikolay’s reaction was so unlike the stony expression that usually graced his face. He shyly looked away from Raine, clasping his hands protectively in front of him — and was that a blush on his face?

“I- I didn’t realise I was in the presence of a poet,” Nikolay attempted to compose himself with a meaningful cough, but his cheeks still flushed a bright pink. “Regardless… that doesn’t answer my question. You know more than just the legacy of the King of the Damned.”

Should he tell Nikolay? It wasn’t like he was ‘alive’ anymore, so it wouldn’t have any repercussions if he knew. But it didn’t mean that Raine felt bad for disrupting the natural order of how Nikolay was supposed to face things.

Eventually, Raine pursed his lips and forced himself to speak. “You took a divine contract with the gods. Reincarnation, where one of the cardinal sins dictated each of your seven new lives. The Nikolay that I know is currently inhabiting the vessel for his — and your — final life. The only reason why you’re here now is because there’s a time-related mechanism here, and it’s reverted his memories.”

It seemed like Nikolay believed him, at least. A thoughtful expression crossed his face, and the magic aura around him coiled into agitated spirals.

After a long period of contemplation, Nikolay finally spoke.

“Tell me,” Nikolay spoke hesitantly. “What does the future me think of my actions?”

A good question. Even Raine wasn’t too sure about the answer, given how vague Nikolay was towards his past.

“I think he knows the gravity of his past choices. When we first met, he hid this portion of his past from me — until somebody exposed it against his will.”

And said person’s head was promptly exploded into a million pieces, but he’d rather avoid mentioning that if he could.

“But other than that,” Raine continued. “He feels guilty. It’s as if everything he does is a way to repent for his past actions. Despite his insistence that he isn’t affected by anything, he has a genuine heart.”

Nikolay deflated slightly. “So, he does regret what we’ve done.”

“I don’t think it should affect how you see it, though,” Raine interjected. “What matters is that you stick to what you believe in.”

“It’s just… Who else will stand up against the humans? I have the power to do it, so it’s my duty to do so. For those who can’t defend themselves: the children, their mothers, the elderly — I have to protect them all. It’s the duty of the strong to protect the weak. If not me, then who will?”

Raine’s heart tugged painfully at the purity of his words. Subconsciously, he stepped forward to comfort Nikolay.

“I wish I could’ve met you several hundred years ago,” Raine tenderly cupped Nikolay’s face. “Before things turned out this way.”

“You…” Nikolay bit his lip and glanced away. “I don’t deserve this.”

“Yes, you do,” Raine insisted. “Just stay here for a moment longer.”

Gradually, the anxious blue coils around Nikolay smoothened out into calm waves again.

It was cute when Nikolay showed his expressions through his magic. A shame, though, that Raine could only charm the past Nikolay. If only it worked on the one that he liked.

“I can feel the time magic dragging me away,” Nikolay said urgently. “Farewell- what was your name?”

Raine held him close in anticipation. “It’s Raine. Goodbye, Nikolay.”

“That’s a beautiful name,” Nikolay whispered. “Farewell, Raine.”

After uttering those final words, Nikolay slumped into his arms. This time, Raine was certain that everything was over. He silently waited for Nikolay — his Nikolay, not a reincarnation — to regain consciousness.

Not longer after, a flash of recognition sparked in Nikolay’s eyes. Naturally, a hint of exasperation followed, but it was far more friendly than what Raine had received recently.

“What are you doing?” Nikolay frowned, stepping away from him. “Now isn’t the time to be fooling around.”

If only Nikolay knew just how much trouble he’d caused.