The Extra's Regressor Wives

Lathel lowered his gaze to Leviana.

Her face was peaceful, almost as though she were merely asleep. Her breathing remained steady, her skin was still warm, and even her heartbeat showed no sign of immediate danger.

Yet that only made him more uneasy.

It was too similar to three years ago.

He had only just seen her open her eyes.

He had heard her voice.

He had watched her get angry, smile, and even deliberately mistranslate his sign language just to tease him.

And now Leviana was lying motionless in his arms again.

Lathel’s fingers unconsciously tightened around the fabric at her waist.

’Because of me.’

If he had not entered this shop on his own, Leviana would never have needed to chase after him.

If he had been more cautious about that strange pull he felt, Pandora would never have gotten the chance to approach him.

The guilt on his face was so obvious that Pandora noticed immediately.

"Stop making that face like you’re about to go find a rope and hang yourself. She isn’t dead."

Lathel’s head snapped up.

Pandora seemed to have expected exactly that reaction. Her voice carried its usual trace of mockery.

"I said she isn’t dead. I didn’t say she’s fine. Those are two completely different things, so don’t just pick the half you like hearing."

Lathel immediately raised one hand, pointed toward Leviana, then made a motion as though pulling something back toward himself.

"You want to save her?"

He nodded.

Pandora went silent.

Lathel gestured again.

’How?’

"I don’t understand sign language."

He stopped and glanced around the shop.

There was no paper or pen nearby.

Lathel pointed at Leviana with one hand, then at his own head before miming pulling something from a distance back into a body.

Pandora let him repeat the gesture twice before finally speaking.

"All right, I know. You want to know how to wake her up."

Lathel: "..."

For some reason, he had the distinct feeling that Pandora understood far more than she admitted.

But that was not important right now.

"There’s a medicinal herb called Soul-Anchoring Grass," Pandora said. "It can stabilize a soul that has begun separating from the body. Use it as the primary ingredient, add a few ordinary supporting herbs, and find an alchemist skilled enough to refine the medicine. There’s still a chance to pull her back."

Lathel immediately gestured for its location.

"You’re quite lucky." Pandora sounded almost cheerful. "You won’t need to cross half the continent, slay a dragon, or dig up the tomb of some ancient mage."

She paused.

"It’s inside the Church’s Magic Academy."

Lathel’s hands stopped.

"More precisely, the Garden of Eden. It’s a special area protected by the Church. Outsiders aren’t allowed inside. Even great nobles willing to pay ridiculous amounts of money may not be granted access to anything grown there."

Lathel looked down at Leviana.

Then he asked how he could obtain it.

"Simple."

The way Pandora said that word immediately made him feel that nothing about the next part would be simple.

"First, you become a student."

As expected.

"Then you enter the Academy’s annual tournament, defeat every opponent, and take first place. The champion is given the right to enter the Garden of Eden and choose one reward."

Pandora spoke as if she were explaining how to buy bread from a market stall.

"Once you’re inside, just take the Soul-Anchoring Grass. Done."

Lathel stared at his hands.

For a long moment, he did not react.

Pandora remained silent as well.

Several seconds later, she suddenly sounded as though she had only just remembered something.

"Oh."

Her voice filled with completely fake sympathy.

"I forgot. You’re mute."

Lathel: "..."

"You can’t chant incantations, your mana core isn’t complete, and the amount of mana in your body is pitiful."

Pandora considered the situation before adding,

"Trying to defeat geniuses raised by noble Houses and the Church since childhood in your current state would be like a rabbit deciding to enter an arena full of wolves."

Lathel did not react to the mockery.

His eyes remained fixed on Leviana.

Pandora was silent for a while.

"But you have me."

This time, Lathel looked up.

He immediately remembered their earlier conversation.

Pandora had told him that by borrowing her power, he could use magic without chanting.

In exchange, she would take something from him.

A little each time.

Lathel had refused without hesitation.

Pandora did not mention the price now. She simply continued in a calm voice,

"I can let you use magic. It doesn’t matter if you can’t speak an incantation or if your body only has a single mana pathway. Neither of those things will stop you."

Lathel looked down at his hand.

He had never wanted power.

That very morning, the only things on his mind had been finding work, somewhere to sleep, and enough money for food.

How powerful magic could make him had never mattered to the life he wanted.

But Leviana was lying in his arms.

"You don’t have to decide immediately if you enjoy thinking things over," Pandora said. "There’s only one small problem."

Lathel immediately looked up.

"Three years."

His pupils contracted slightly.

"If her soul isn’t pulled back within three years, the connection between her body and soul will completely dissolve. Once that happens, bringing the entire Garden of Eden here won’t help."

Pandora paused before continuing in a tone so gentle that it became even more unpleasant.

"What you’re holding right now will become nothing more than a cold corpse."

Lathel’s arms immediately tightened around Leviana.

Deep within her consciousness, Leviana heard everything.

She could not open her eyes.

She could not move.

But every word Pandora spoke reached her clearly.

’No.’

She knew what Pandora was doing.

Pandora was leading Lathel toward the Academy.

Soul-Anchoring Grass.

The Garden of Eden.

The annual tournament.

Each name pierced straight into Leviana’s memories like a needle.

Her previous life had unfolded almost the same way.

Lathel had been unable to use magic normally. But because he wanted a medicinal herb that could help her recover, he had borrowed Pandora’s power and entered the Academy.

At first, it was only once.

Then another time.

Each payment had been small.

So small that Lathel believed he could endure it.

In the end, what Pandora had taken was his lifespan.

Leviana desperately tried to move her hand.

Nothing happened.

’Don’t trust her.’

She wanted to open her eyes.

She wanted to tell Lathel that she was still conscious.

But her body felt completely severed from her soul.

Outside, the only thing Lathel saw was a single tear slowly sliding from the corner of her eye.

He froze.

Then gently wiped it away with his fingertip.

Pandora noticed as well, sounding slightly surprised.

"Her soul can still react. Looks like she can hear at least some of what’s happening outside."

Lathel immediately took Leviana’s hand.

He instinctively began to raise his own to sign, only to stop halfway.

Leviana’s eyes were closed.

She could not see him.

In the end, just as he had done throughout the three years she had been unconscious, Lathel placed her hand over his palm and slowly traced words across her skin with the tip of his finger.

Don’t be afraid.

Leviana felt every stroke clearly.

More tears immediately slipped from her eyes.

Lathel paused for several seconds, then continued.

I’ll find the Soul-Anchoring Grass.

’Don’t.’

I’ll wake you up.

’I don’t need you to.’

His finger moved again.

Wait for me.

Something inside Leviana nearly shattered.

She wanted to tell him to leave her alone.

She wanted to say that three years or thirty years did not matter.

If the price for her opening her eyes again was Lathel’s life, she would rather never wake up.

But he could not hear her.

Leviana could only remain motionless in his arms, feeling each word he traced into her palm while tears continued flowing down her cheeks.

’Everything already changed.’

She had awakened earlier.

Her parents were still alive.

Catrina had returned.

Anna had come back as well.

Aldric had been forced to use the Void Step Talisman, and what happened at Grail Gorge had completely diverged from their previous life.

Even Pandora no longer remained outside Lathel as she once had. This time, she had merged directly into his soul.

They had changed so much.

And yet Lathel still met Pandora.

Leviana still fell unconscious.

The Soul-Anchoring Grass was still inside the Garden of Eden.

The Magic Academy still appeared before him.

And what hurt Leviana most was that this time—

she had become the reason.

If she had not forced her way through the barrier, Lathel might have simply awakened and returned home.

She had rushed here to pull him away from Pandora.

Instead, she had turned herself into the chain binding Lathel to Pandora even more tightly.

’What have I done...?’

Leviana’s soul trembled.

She remembered Lathel from their previous life returning from the examination with a deathly pale face, still clutching the medicinal herb in his hands.

"Thank goodness. I made it in time."

That was what he had written back then.

At the time, Leviana had not known what he had exchanged for it.

By the time she found out, the years already taken from his life could never be returned.

And now—

Lathel’s fingertip was still gently brushing across her palm.

Pandora asked,

"Have you decided?"

Lathel did not answer.

He lowered his head and carefully lifted Leviana into his arms.

One arm slid beneath her knees while the other supported her back, deliberately avoiding every visible wound on her body.

Worry and guilt were still written across his face.

But the panic was gone.

He had a goal now.

The Magic Academy.

Within the darkness, Leviana felt her body pressed against his chest.

The familiar beat of his heart sounded so close.

This time, however, it only made her more desperate.

’Lathel.’

More tears escaped her closed eyes.

’Please.’

’Don’t go.’

But just like so many times in their previous life, the person she desperately wanted to stop could not hear her.

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