It might have been a petty sense of guilt, but Guinevere was sincere. Larisa hadn’t begged William to kill her, knowing it would torment him. So, she had made a difficult request to Guinevere instead, which she coldly rejected, for William’s sake.

‘Thank you for loving William so much…’

Tears welled up again.

“Ah? Mother, are you crying?”

“Sand got in my eye.”

Guinevere hastily excused herself.

“Sand?”

“It’s your fault.”

Confused, Larisa scooped up some seawater.

“To wash your eyes with this?”

“Yes!”

“You don’t know much about the sea, do you?”

“Huh?”

Larisa looked bewildered. Guinevere smiled and said,

“Try drinking it.”

Larisa cautiously brought the water to her lips.

“Yuck, it’s salty!”

Guinevere burst into laughter.

“The water’s salty, Mother!”

“Seawater is always salty.”

Guinevere magically created a water orb and took Larisa’s hands to wash them in the orb.

Larisa found the whole experience magical and beautiful. The sea, the sandy beach, the mystical water orb, and Guinevere’s rare, beautiful smile.

But the sun was setting. She wanted to go home now.

“I had so much fun today.”

“Did you? That’s good.”

“Thank you for spending time with me, despite being busy.”

Larisa bowed deeply. Guinevere gently stroked her head and suggested,

“Shall we come back with William next time?”

“Yes! I’d love that!”

“Alright. Let’s go home.”

“Just a moment!”

Larisa hurriedly filled a glass bottle that had contained lemonade with seawater and sealed it with a cork.
The seawater mixed with sand was murky, but Larisa clung to it as if it were a treasure and held Guinevere’s hand.

Upon returning, Larisa let out a sigh of relief unconsciously. Guinevere realized that Larisa was still afraid of being abandoned.

‘I need to spend more time with her.’

She hadn’t realized how downtrodden William had been, as she hadn’t spent time with him. Even the family doctor of the Rodante household had been ignoring him.

If Larisa hadn’t directly conveyed Prosh’s words, Guinevere might have remained unaware.

Observing other employees, she found that William was treated like an unwanted burden.

‘It was me who treated him that way.’

Back in her study, Guinevere waved goodbye to Larisa and collapsed into her chair.

‘How much pain must I endure to understand your suffering, William?’

Tears flowed again, as if by habit.

‘What’s so important about magic?’

Despite dedicating her life to magic and research, why did she push him so hard over it? Guinevere wished she could tear her past self apart.

Yet, she knew she had to continue her research. Even as she wanted to abandon everything, she couldn’t change the fact that she must complete the time reversal magic.

Gritting her teeth, she stood up and gazed at the golden sphere floating in the center of her study.

‘I’ll complete it and protect you both, William, Larisa.’

Guinevere trusted her ominous premonition. If she didn’t finish it, she felt the children would always be in danger.

Even if Siod claimed she was the culprit behind the time reversal magic as per her request, she had to prove it. And…

‘If there comes a time to reverse it, I must be the one to do it.’

William had poured all his magic into reversing time, losing his memory in the process, unable to protect his mind.

If William could’ve reversed time without losing his memory from the start, the tragedy wouldn’t have repeated. William was a wise child.

When that time comes, the dragon lord might try to eliminate her, but what did it matter? Guinevere had lived long enough. And she trusted William.