"Yes, it's my fault. I am sorry."
Ernesto sadly responded to Ndulou. His apology was sincere, but Ndulou does not understand the tone of his voice, and he could not fathom what Ernesto meant about what would be Ernesto's fault.
Ndulou was about to turn his body to face him, but Ernesto held his shoulder to stop him.
Ernesto said, "Stay like that," as he sounded depressed. "I won't force you to believe me, but just listen to me. For now."
Ndulou did not answer, but he did not budge either. He opened his eyes, and he could see the blurry reflection of Ernesto on the glass cabinet door.
"A month ago, I realized I was a regressor."
"The moment I went missing?"
"Yes, the day you went missing. Back then, I was mean, right?"
"Yes, and an obnoxious person."
Ernesto chuckled as he repeated, "Okay? And obnoxious." He made a fake cough before continuing, "An hour after you left the luncheon meeting, that's the exact time I remember the future. The first thing I did was look for you."
"Why? Is being cursed something you know I will experience in the future?"
"Yes, but I don't know the details because you never mentioned how you got cursed. The only thing you told me in the future is that while you were visiting our castle, you got cursed by the lady in the statue and got destructive power. At that time, we did not help you, and you got home to the Baron household. Days after you returned home, you unintentionally killed everyone inside the Baron house."
Ndulou jumped up from lying down and faced Ernesto.
"I have destructive power!? I killed everyone?" Ndulou's eyes were shaking. He does not entirely believe him yet, but the story is quite absurd and makes him think that his current situation might be dangerous too.
"Accidentally." Ernesto corrected him. "Your power is so destructive that you cannot control it at first. But don't worry, you just need to learn how to use it."
Ernesto patted his shoulder with consolation, but Ndulou slapped Ernesto's hand.
"What the fuck are you talking about? It doesn't change the fact that I killed my family!"
"But you haven't killed them right now." Ernesto's expression says, "Who cares?"
"I'm getting angry, young master! Don't fucking play with me!" he growled furiously.
"Relax. That's why I am helping you right now."
"Is this why I can't contact anyone right now?"
"Yes, relax. I told you to listen first."
Ndulou tried to calm down and moved back to get some distance from Ernesto.
"Which should I tell you first? The future that I experienced, or how did I find you?"
"First, let me hear about your future nonsense." Ndulou's gaze sharpened, and he crossed his arms to intimidate Ernesto, but his appearance was far from fierce.
Ernesto doesn't even notice Ndulou trying to intimidate him as he was clearing his mind and organizing his memories.
"We were totally strangers at that time. I was mean to you until we became adults. I didn't even help you, even if you ended up killing your family."
"How did I survive? I killed everyone, which means punishment at the guillotine."
"You won't get punished even if you want to kill your family now."
"What nonsense!"
"Your power is something the kingdom has been waiting for for centuries. Do you know the dragon that made his own lair at the center of the South eastern ocean? And the dragon who's sleeping at Mt. Mayon?"
"Yes, they really give the kingdom headaches. The Dragon Bakunawa blocks the sea route to the eastern continent, which leaves us clueless about the other side. The Dragon Fetahaya dominates the whole mountain range, so we cannot have access to its resources. I think the mountain is rich in gold mines."
"You're quite knowledgeable."
"Ahem! Of course! But is that something to do with my destructive powers?"
"You can kill those dragons,"
Ndulou's jaw dropped.
"It's not just one dragon? But dragons?"
"You're pretty amazing, right?"
"Should I be thankful?" he asked sarcastically.
"You don't know? But you successfully killed the two dragons, and you became a wealthy hero afterwards."
Ndulou feels something is iffy. He felt like the heroic thing that Ernesto was talking about was not something he would do. He knows himself. He won't do anything bothersome unless...
"Did they force me to do it?"
Ernesto clapped his hands once.
"Wow! You really know yourself!"
That confirms his iffiness. Ndulou won't do anything bothersome unless they force him to or something is at stake, just like he ignored that mahogany door that screamed danger.
"It is not like they could have threatened me with my life because I guessed if I really killed my family, I'd be suicidal."
How would he survive mentally after killing his beloved family members?
"They may have done something to keep me alive and change my mindset."
"Well…" Ernesto hesitated before revealing, "You killed the mountain dragon because we promised you that I would kill you, and you killed the water dragon because they threatened you with your lover's life."
"Wait. Wait, Wait! That's confusing!"
haaaaaa—
Ernesto sighed and paused for a moment.
"After you destroyed your household, the authorities caught you and killed another set of knights to run away." Ernesto shrugged his shoulders, saying that he did a good job killing the knights.
"We then offered you to the royal family, and the Marquis was the one in charge of taking care of you until you could kill a dragon. My father is quite soft, you know. He takes care of you kindly and patiently waits for you to recover. You were mentally unstable because of the trauma. The royal family became impatient. They pressured my father to speed up your recovery, so I volunteered to take care of you. I took you to the underground prison and gave you our family heirloom, which has regeneration power. That power has fast restoration powers and can heal your wounds almost instantly. It can only be transferred back to an object if the user dies from drying up the heart. You did not know about that at the time, and you thought I held the key to your death, to end your suffering."
Ndulou's mouth becomes dry after hearing such a vicious story, and he would even dare to picture everything in his mind.
"So what happened next?"
"I repeatedly tortured you until you volunteered to fight the dragon."
"It's not called volunteering, you know?" Ndulou corrected Ernesto for his wrong choice of words. Every detail of what Ernesto said made his hair stand up.
"Ah! Sorry! Until I forced you to face the dragon."
Ndulou could not commiserate because it was something he had not yet experienced but it is already giving him the fright.
"How old were you, young master, when that happened?"
"Eighteen,"
Ernesto was still a teenager in that version of the future. How has he become both cruel and vicious?
"You're pretty crazy, you know."
"I know. I acted heartlessly crazy. I have no excuse." Ernesto said as he reflected on his past actions. "But don't worry! I will not do things like that again! Thank you for guiding me."
"I guided you?" Ndulou thought that the future version of himself loved hassle. Why would he supervise a troublemaker?
"Yes, I thought you would seek revenge or wish to punish me, but you and Akisha treated me well." Ernesto moved his body forward to get close to Ndulou. His eyes were sparkling with gratitude.
"Who's this Akisha?" Ndulou shoved Ernesto's face away from him.
"Your lover,"
"Hey! If you spoil me with my future lover, do you think I can fall for her the same way again!?" This time, it was Ndulou who moved closer to Ernesto. He suddenly feels thrilled about having a lover in the future.
"Well..." Ernesto hesitated for a moment. "You can't meet her anymore."
"Ha?" The excitement slowly fades from his face.
"She tried to manipulate the time and ended up vanishing into nothingness. She won't be in this lifetime, and she won't be reincarnated ever again."
Silence filled the room.
Ernesto kept his eyes closed silently. He does not want to show his clouded eyes full of regrets.
Ndulou does not know what to feel since the lover they are talking about is someone he does not know. He does not feel sad or angry.
He pities her, but nothing more.
Moreover, he wondered what kind of bittersweet relationship he had with the regressor, Ernesto. It may seem that Ernesto is talking right now to someone who will be very close to him in the future.
And if he truly is a regressor, how old was he before he turned back?
"There's something I am really curious about, sir."
Ernesto raised his head to look at Ndulou. He has been thinking about what to do if Ndulou's feelings turn bitter towards him. Their relationship was not good at the start, but the current Ernesto is concerned and truly respects Ndulou.
He clenched his fist, causing him to pull some of the blanket.
He was expecting that Ndulou was going to ask him a very important question.
"Hmm, how old are you now?"
Ernesto blinked his eyes twice.
"ha?"
He thought he had heard it wrong.
"Besides your current 13-year-old self, how old are you?"
Ndulou was quite serious about waiting for his response, but Ernesto laughed loudly instead.
"Y-YOU ... HAHAHAHAHAHHAA,"
Ernesto laughed loudly for the first time in a long while.
Ndulou becomes confused once again. He does not know what was going on in Ernesto's head. He just wanted to ask his age because he wanted to adjust to the way he treated him. Unlike the Marquis' son, Ndulou gives importance to good manners when addressing and treating people older than him.
hahahahahahaha
Ernesto couldn't stop laughing, and tears welled up at the corners of his eyes.
Ernesto thought to himself, "Why am I being anxious? I forgot the nature of this child."
ha ha ha~
Ernesto finally caught his breath to end his laughter, but a sweet smile was still there.
"Oh! I'm sorry."
Ndulou's face was frowning from the moment Ernesto laughed until now.
"Are you done?"
"Ehem! I apologize. Actually, I wasn't expecting you to ask my age, so I ended up laughing."
Ernesto fixed his shirt and sat straight.
He became conscious of Ndulou's piercing gaze.
"So?" Ndulou raised one of his eyebrows.
"I am 93."
Ndulou let go of his crossed arms.
"You don't have to address me politely. Treat me the way you want,"
"Damn! You're pretty old!"
Ernesto smiled like a benign old man. He was thrilled as he thought,
"Asking my age means he believes me."