Chapter 759: Timelessness
Among the many observing the pair at the centre of the dance floor was a young woman who rolled her eyes at the sight of the two casually chatting as they danced.
Her face was heart-shaped, with high cheekbones and a slightly pointed chin. Her almond-shaped eyes tilted upward at the outer corners, the emerald green of her irises contrasted by her dark pupils.
She sat at a table with her legs crossed, one hand propping up her chin as her fingers idly tangled with the strands of long black hair that fell over her shoulder, its green underlayer reflecting the same hue as her eyes.
"Control your expression, Layla. You were the one who told Arthur not to roll his eyes if he overheard anything he didn’t like, so if he sees you like that, you won’t hear the end of it."
A voice came from beside her, prompting Layla to turn her gaze toward the young woman seated to her right.
She had a pale complexion, long black hair, and ruby-red eyes. Her bangs were cut straight across her forehead, framing a face that bore minimal makeup except for a subtle lip colour that complemented her overall look.
There was an air of elegance and sophistication about her as she held a wine glass in one hand, her long hair braided and draped over her shoulder.
"Look at that guy, Esna. Do you really think he’s going to pay attention to me now?"
"..."
Esna remained silent, understanding Layla’s point more than she wanted to admit. Arthur clearly wasn’t paying attention to anyone but Nicole at the moment.
"Still, you should at least control your expression," she finally said.
"Everyone’s so focused on the couple of the day. No one’s paying attention to me," Layla said as she reached for the snacks in the centre of the table.
At that, Esna turned to her, raising an eyebrow.
"Even with my eyes closed, I’m sure I could point out thirty different guys who have their eyes on you right now."
"Thirty different what?" Layla asked, arching her brows.
"Thirty different guys," Esna repeated.
"Thirty different what?"
"...never mind," Esna changed her answer, knowing this back-and-forth wouldn’t end unless she did.
Layla turned her gaze back to Arthur and Nicole dancing in the centre of the hall, holding back the urge to roll her eyes again as she said,
"But seriously, doesn’t watching both of them just piss you off?"
"All I see is a couple dancing a slow waltz. I fail to see what part of that is supposed to upset me."
Esna’s calm reply earned a click of the tongue from Layla.
"The fact that they’re practically all over each other, that’s what."
Right then, Esna snapped her fingers and created a barrier to isolate the sound of Layla’s next words.
"Even a blind man could see they’re clearly into each other. I still don’t get why they haven’t put a ring on it already."
"Pfft... Come on, Layla. It’s not that you don’t get it, you do. It just pisses you off because it’s not turning out how you expected."
Esna set her drink down and turned to Layla as she spoke.
"For the first half of my life, I believed I was human and perceived time like the people in my home world did. But the second half, which I’ve spent with all of you, has completely changed how I perceive time, so much so that I didn’t even realise when I started saying things like ’it’s just a decade’."
She gestured toward the pair at the centre of the dance floor while continuing.
"For those two, who have seen time that way since they first learned to think, their priorities are a bit altered.
Timelessness does that to someone.
When you’re functionally immortal like Arthur, or have tens of thousands of years ahead of you like Nicole, the typical relationship milestones lose their meaning. There’s no ticking clock pressuring them to define things or take the next step.
That gives them the luxury to exist in that ambiguous, grey space between friends and lovers, where they are now, for however long they want.
They probably don’t feel the need to label their relationship since most defined relationships couldn’t manage what they have now, but you already know that. You’ve watched them just as much as I have over the past few years, and you know how they can be intimate without formalities.
And that’s what’s visible to us. Who knows what they get up to behind closed doors?"
Her question made Layla’s brows momentarily furrow, before she sighed and plopped her head down on the table.
"Posture, Layla. The Grand Duchess wouldn’t like your current posture."
Not wanting to provoke her strict mother’s wrath, Layla silently pushed herself upright, and at that moment, another voice chimed in with a chuckle.
"Layla’s just frustrated watching her childhood friend and best friend stuck in an ambiguous state, and is torn between wanting to step in and letting them be."
The words came from the person seated to Esna’s right, a young man with long brown hair and sky-blue eyes, dressed in a three-piece suit with his blazer draped over his shoulders.
He held a tablet in his hands, scrolling through it as he spoke.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Not everyone’s like my parents, who got together quickly even by human standards."
Layla sighed heavily as she spoke, eliciting a wry smile from both Edward and Esna.
Just then, the music began winding down, and noticing this, Layla got up from her seat, prompting Esna to question her.
"What’s up?"
"Hmm? Oh, regardless of whatever’s on with both of them," she gestured toward Arthur and Nicole, who were ending their dance, "Arthur and I still have a deal where he helps me fend off unwanted advances."
"So basically, you want to dance with him?"
"Basically," Layla replied with a shrug.
At that, Edward looked up from the tablet in his hands and asked,
"Isn’t it usually the guy who asks the girl to dance?"
"Why should it be?" Layla asked back. "If you want to dance with someone, just say it. I never understood those who stand in corners, giving side glances to guys while fluttering their eyes and waving fans and all that."
Esna, still keeping her sound-blocking spell active, sighed softly, relieved she hadn’t turned it off yet. Otherwise, Layla would have just made enemies with a good number of noble ladies who behaved exactly that way.
Not that Layla would have cared anyway.
She headed toward the dance floor, and Edward, now alone with Esna, put away his tablet and stood up.
"Speaking of dancing," he said, extending his hand to Esna, "May I have this dance, my lady?"
Esna chuckled lightly at his slightly exaggerated gesture and nodded, taking his hand. "You may."
Then, almost as if they planned it beforehand, Arthur and Nicole separated the moment the song ended, and as the next one began, Arthur took Layla’s hand and led her to the centre of the hall.
"Happy Birthday, Arthur. I got you a gift, but it’s outside, so you can check it out later."
"Hmm? Why outside?"
"Because it couldn’t be brought inside, duh."
Layla responded as she matched Arthur’s steps, and her words only served to spark his curiosity.
"I’m curious what it is this time."
"It’s nothing too serious. But you’d better reciprocate with a gift of equal value. My birthday’s in four days, after all."
At that, Arthur sighed softly, a wistful tone in his voice.
"Four days, huh?
Once, I only got to be older than you by four days. But now... look at where we are."
His words made Layla’s brow twitch, and she barely held her expression as she looked up at him and shot back.
"You’re a 30-year-old man, Arthur. Do you REALLY still care about such little things?"
"Says the 29-year-old woman who clearly cares about being younger than me."
Leaning in, Arthur whispered just loud enough for Layla to hear,
"And do I need to remind you that I’m actually 31, not 30, little Layla?"
It took every semblance of self-control in Layla’s body not to smack that smug grin off Arthur’s face.
"I’m taking back my present."
"Pfft—bahaha!!"
Arthur burst into loud laughter, while Layla silently stepped on his toes.
From their little banter, it was clear just how many years had passed since Arthur’s journey to the Valmone universe—where he met his fellow Protagonists, Jamie and Evan, and fought the Consciousness of Prime World Cruotis, Bewússtsein, in a close battle that ended with the Protagonists’ victory and Arthur becoming a candidate for the Eternal Seats of Time and Destruction.
It had been twelve years.
Arthur’s trip outside of Hell remained a secret known only to the Royal Family and his close circle of friends, so while he publicly celebrated his 30th birthday, he was actually 31.
Despite looking like he hadn’t aged a day past 18, which was, in fact, the truth.
Arthur’s ageing had come to a complete halt, and just as the nobles had been whispering earlier, it had stopped earlier than it should have.
Normally, he would have stopped ageing once he reached the peak of physical maturity, as is the case with all long-lived races and functionally immortal beings like the Progenitors.
But Arthur had deliberately stopped his ageing, and thanks to the power of the Aspect of Time he now wielded, he could maintain this state indefinitely.
Why did he do it? About 20% for Aspect power control training, and 80% ’just because’.
"I guess I won’t have another birthday for the next ten years, huh?" Arthur muttered quietly as he and Layla danced, and she nodded in agreement.
For races with extreme longevity, celebrating birthdays every year quickly lost its appeal, so they spaced them out to keep their significance.
As a result, the older Devildom Nobles and Royalty got, the less frequently they celebrated their birthdays.
From ages one to ten, every birthday was celebrated. After that, it was every five years, then every ten years after twenty.
Once they reached a hundred, celebrations happened every century; after a thousand, every millennium, and so on.
Of course, the day itself wasn’t forgotten. There were ways to remind people that, even without a celebration, it was still that individual’s birthday.
For example, the past nine years had seen December 31st marked as a public holiday across the Devildom.
’Still, 12 years, huh?’
There was a time when that was all the time Arthur had lived. Now, he was more than twice that age.
It had been a long twelve years for him.
For one, he hadn’t left the Hell Universe during that entire time.
Originally, his plan was to spend a year in Hell at most before heading straight to Draco Sirus.
But that plan had long since been abandoned.
