Chapter 97
She tried her best to mimic the actions she had no awareness of, and smoothed the wrinkled area from her waist to her hips as casually as possible.
"Hmm, it looks quite fitting."
Sylas started giggling for no apparent reason, her bright smile infecting Xerath, which then caused new worries: Am I too easily influenced by her emotions? Is this good or bad? What consequences will it have? Are my self-control skills too weak?
Happiness and worry kept alternating, layer by layer. But Sylas was completely unaware of this. In this moment, her thoughts were incredibly simple, focused solely on the younger version of Xerath, who had the same body shape and used to wear this very outfit. The strange sense of overlapping time and space excited her, as if these clothes allowed her to connect with the same-aged Xerath.
"Did school make you happy?" She had to ask this to ease the awkwardness.
Sylas seemed to realize she was being silly and quickly found a new topic of conversation, "Ah... yes, you're right. There are many things that you cannot teach me, and I need to learn them myself."
"Such as?"
Sylas's beautiful eyes curved again, "Hmm... like wearing skirts. Girls usually wear skirts more often, but you always wear pants, and I didn't even know you had such clothes."
She extended her arm and spun around, unconsciously showing off her slender figure. The fabric of her clothes clung to her slightly raised hips, creating small wrinkles, and the hanging part faintly outlined the shape of her thighs.
This was the light-colored cape that Virgil requested, a pale shade of beige. Underneath, she wore a lightweight linen dress, with a slightly darker lace trim on the hem. Sylas wore white shoes and had bare legs.
Xerath explained, "Regular skirts are not suitable for the desert. They would get blown up by the strong winds. You'll have to start wearing them soon, right? The advanced school at Star Song Castle requires female students to wear pleated skirts that go past the knees. I was also forced to wear a skirt back then, and I found it very cold during winter. It was torture. That's why 'Whirling Breeze' is a spell I found particularly useful."
"Yes, the twins told me that and said that wearing pants is too boyish, but I think it looks nice too."
"Exactly, what you wear is your choice. Just make sure not to show off parts that shouldn't be shown." Xerath hesitated for a moment but explained responsibly. Her fingertips quickly traced over the part marked as 'do not touch', which she had repeatedly reminded Sylas about. "But a uniform is a uniform, you have to wear it unless you really dislike it. Otherwise, I wouldn't suggest getting into conflicts with the school."
"But Teacher, you don't have many chances to go out, right? In the desert?"
Xerath was caught in her loophole, but she didn't feel embarrassed like before when they locked eyes. She admitted with a smile, "I really don't like dresses. I was forced to wear them at school for two years, but after graduation, I insisted on wearing pants. It's a bit childish, a rebellious attitude."
"No, it's not childish." She added in her mind, "But... I'm really curious about what you look like in a dress."
Xerath smiled lightly, avoiding the topic, and said, "You also know that the light in the desert is very intense. Along with sunlight comes heat. Black absorbs heat more easily than white. That's why all the stones in Aimekotes are white or very pale gray."
"I understand that."
"So Virgil requested light-colored robes. But at the same time, the accumulation of sweat can make you feel hot. Skirts allow the body to cool down easily. These are all functional considerations. Shouldn't there be metal trim inside the lace? And the edges of the cloak hold down the skirt so it won't easily be blown up."
"Um... I can understand why you don't like dresses. I feel unsafe... like people would see me..."
Xerath smiled lightly and pointed to something she dropped earlier, "The matching trousers, knee-high socks, and sock garters all need to be worn together with it. Covering your entire body, including your face, with fabric prevents direct sunlight from burning your skin, so even though the socks may be warm, they are necessary. Just try wearing them."
Sylas blushed and nodded. Xerath turned away, just like before. But after a while, she heard her student calling her like a little meowing kitten.
"Teacher... this thing... I can't understand it."
Xerath turned her head, Sylas was wearing a dress that revealed her snowy white arms and shoulders, holding a "garter for long socks" in her hands.
"Can you help me put it on?"
The leather thing in her hands turned into a ball as Xerath hesitantly took it. Sylas noticed her expression and incoherently said, "I'm sorry... I'm clumsy, but I really can't understand it... teacher..."
Bronywn wasn't criticizing her for being dumb, she was just hesitating if this action was reasonable or appropriate - should she "inevitably" touch her only student's body? Touch the areas that were "off-limits to everyone else" but also shouldn't be touched right now?
But for now, the most urgent thing was to tell Sylas that she wasn't being disliked.
"Sylas..." the archmage held her shoulder and took the tangled strap from her hanging hand, "I didn't mean that, don't always think I'm so bad."
"No... no... I didn't mean you're bad..." Sylas became more anxious, Xerath exerted a little force in her hand, intending to stop dwelling on this topic.
She said with a cold face, "Sit down, sit on the bed."
Sylas closed her mouth and sat down obediently. Xerath knelt in front of her, their expensive long robe dragging on the ground. Thankfully, Leunen cleaned the floor every day, so it wasn't as dirty as Sylas felt guilty about.
But the archmage reached out and grabbed her little leg, taking off the shoes on her feet.
The young girl's skin was smooth and tender. Xerath's sharp memory and spider-web-like imagination immediately connected this with the feeling of carrying a young girl's body, creating a strange memory fragment that she subjectively didn't want.
With these complicated emotions, she held onto Sylas's other leg and took off the other shoe, placing it aside. Then she reached for the beige knee-high socks and habitually placed Sylas's foot on her own knee, looking up at her and saying, "Knee-high socks easily slip down, so the garter needs to be worn on the leg, then fastened around the waist, and finally clipped to the edge of the socks."
The girl blushed, her emerald eyes shining as she listened attentively. She put the socks on Sylas's feet and pulled them up, but it felt slightly different.
Yes... She had grown so tall. The habit started from a time when she always had to help Sylas put on her forgotten socks. But she was so small back then, and now her legs had grown so long that there was a big change in the position of her leg and Xerath's.
She was lost in her own thoughts and temporarily didn't think about whether her actions were reasonable or not until she finished putting on the socks and had to fasten the straps onto Sylas's body.
The archmage tried to keep a cool face as they skillfully separated and pinched the messy leather straps together. They gestured for Sylas to lift both legs and put the bunch they were holding onto each leg.
In the end, they couldn't help but look up and glance at Sylas. Sylas also stared at them, and when their eyes met, they clearly saw a slight movement in Sylas's small Adam's apple.
The archmage was amused by this action, and she reassured her apprentice, saying, "Don't be afraid, it just looks strange. In my private estate, there aren't strict requirements for formal attire. It won't be too tight."
"Hmm..." Sylas casually responded, but she wasn't actually scared. It was another kind of feeling that she couldn't quite explain, similar to when she used to read passionate love poems for Xerath.
She felt like she couldn't breathe, her face was burning up, and her hearing became temporarily muffled. Amidst this foggy sensation, her heartbeat raced fast and heavy.
She wasn't scared at all, quite the opposite.
"Stand up."
Sylas quickly stood up, and Xerath held onto her waist to steady her. "Don't worry."
Sylas's face turned completely red.
Seeing her embarrassed expression, Xerath felt less nervous. She smiled and fastened the thickest belt around Sylas's waist, letting the narrow parts naturally hang down her legs.
Sylas's legs felt itchy, but she couldn't scratch them. Xerath looked up at her and smiled, saying, "Just endure it for a bit."
Her hand unavoidably brushed against the soft skin of the girl's leg. The archmage was supposed to lift the edge of the skirt to observe and adjust, but... she ended up going under the girl's skirt... That's just... strange...
So she had to rely on touch and feeling to slowly adjust the tightness of the belt around her leg. Fortunately, it didn't take long.
She fastened the clip and tidied up Sylas's long socks before standing up, as if she had just finished some heavy physical work. The archmage couldn't help but wipe her forehead, even though she wasn't actually sweaty there.
"Phew, let's take a walk and see if it stays in place."
Sylas took two steps and heard Xerath giggling. Although it was an achievement to make the archmage laugh, she still turned her head and asked, "What's wrong?"
The archmage smiled gently, tilting her head slightly as she said to her, "It's just a garter belt, and it already made you coordinate your hands and feet, right?"
"I..." Sylas lowered her head and looked at herself. Her hands and feet were indeed pointing in the same direction. She also laughed, "No wonder something felt off."
"Put this on, and let's go out for a walk. No one will notice anything unusual inside."
After her apprentice had an embarrassing moment, the archmage regained her carefree and graceful demeanor, while her apprentice continued to gaze at her as always.
The confused little girl made the archmage unable to resist reaching out to pull her. Feeling her hand being held, Sylas only realized what Xerath had said. The small delay was enough for the archmage to take a step forward, causing Sylas to stumble and bump into Xerath.
