Chapter 156

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Chapter 156

But a letter broke the peaceful facade of the home. Shamodial stood on the perch in the library, feeling restless as the wind rushed through her body.

"Sylas," the archmage calmly called her name. She took off her golden glasses and wearily closed her eyes.

Sylas approached her cautiously and asked, "Teacher? Do you need to rest?"

"Perhaps, I need to talk to you about something. Let’s go to the living room."

Sylas nodded and watched as Xerath pushed the chair away and walked out from behind the table, clasping her hands in front of her chest. Xerath led the way out of the library, and Sylas quickly followed. She had a vague, unsettling feeling and worried that the worst possible outcome would be Xerath learning to read minds and then cruelly humiliating her because of her shameful fantasies, ultimately banishing her from the tower forever.

Xerath sat on the sofa, and Sylas returned to her own seat, crossing her legs nervously.

"Do you know? Every semester, your report card is sent directly to your home."

Sylas was taken aback, suddenly understanding why Xerath looked displeased. She truly didn’t know and naively believed that school and home were strictly separated.

Xerath pulled out a stack of papers from the envelope with her slender fingers. When she unfolded it, it was a page of a table. She took the second sheet and said, "This is a letter from the dean, it says you missed the world history exam, so your grade is very low. Can you explain why you didn’t take the exam?"

"Well…" Sylas fell silent. She didn’t want Xerath to know that someone was spreading rumors behind her back, and she couldn’t explain her anger and disgust. Finally, she said with restraint, "I don’t like the history teacher. I think this is a way to express my protest."

Xerath took a deep breath and asked, "Who teaches world history?"

"…Sauran."

Xerath frowned beautifully and asked, "Reed Sauran?"

Sylas looked at the tip of her eyebrows and heard a clear voice in her heart, saying: Yes, it’s because of you, and I will never tell you.

"Hmm."

Xerath’s breath was unsteady, she turned her head away, lost in thought, and after a while she said, "Your rationality should understand that it’s not worth it to do this for someone like him."

Sylas bit her lip and closed her eyes as she said, "I really, really dislike him."

Xerath took a deep breath, probably trying to hide her anger. Her voice even trembled a little as she said, "I think you… have gone against my expectations."

"…I’m sorry, I am willing to accept your punishment."

Xerath gently closed her eyes and said, "Punishment won’t solve this. I just don’t understand why you would choose not to take the exam for Sauran. Doesn’t our friendship mean that you should do well in this subject for me?"

Sylas’s eyes widened in fear and he stammered, "N-No, it’s not like that!"

"Sylas, I am very disappointed," Xerath said as she held her forehead with her knuckles. Sylas couldn’t see her expression, which made him even more anxious. "It’s not just because you didn’t fulfill the promise you made to me, but also because you momentarily lost your reason. You should understand that if you fail this subject, you’ll have to retake it and continue seeing Sauran. Have you forgotten the things I taught you about being rational, weighing your options, and taking responsibility for your actions?"

"But I did it for you…" she sighed, acknowledging that this was the consequence of a hasty decision.

An uncomfortable silence lingered, even Titus remained motionless in the corner. The chilling aura emanating from the archmage slowly filled every corner of the room, leaving all living creatures trembling in fear.

"Sylas," she spoke softly, as if suppressing something, perhaps anger or disappointment, or maybe just fear of startling her little wild creature. "Have you thought of any way to make up for your mistake? Have you come up with any solutions to fix your error?"

Sylas pondered for a moment and replied, "A makeup test? Well, I heard the questions are difficult this year and Sauran intentionally didn’t provide a specific scope. Maybe there will be many other people who will also take the makeup test with me."

"Not too bad." After saying this, she left and Sylas followed closely behind, afraid that she might abandon her again. But Xerath’s suppressed voice said, "Don’t follow me." She went upstairs and returned to her own room.

Sylas was locked outside the door, trying to knock but couldn’t. Eventually, she curled up on the couch outside Xerath’s room.

It had been many years since the first time she curled up here. Her body had grown a lot, and she couldn’t fully fit on the soft cushion. Her hands and feet were sticking out, but the feeling was still the same: there was a person inside, but she couldn’t make any movements to get closer.

Delusion is a subjective obsession, where your eyes have filters and beautify, turning an ordinary person into a world-renowned hero. At this time, a person often takes the subjective projections of delusion as the person they like, but there is a significant difference between the two.

She sat cross-legged on Hyectra’s back, lost in thought. She doubted if she had fallen into delusion before, projecting the illusions of delusion onto Sylas. In reality, she was still a child, lacking rationality, always choosing what she wanted based on animal-like intuition and preferences, without thinking about the consequences.

It’s time for the archmage to wake up from delusion.

Thinking this, she suddenly felt relieved: yes, I shouldn’t have fallen for such a young child. It was only Virgil’s suggestions that made me suggest to myself. Maybe she meets my criteria, but I don’t necessarily have to fall for everyone who meets them. I’ve just been lost in illusions these days.

She jumped off the water bed, walked towards the door, and opened it, only to find a stiff footstool standing at the entrance.

"Titus？"

"…waaah…" Behind Titus was a tray, which sat steadily because of his flat back. Inside the tray were sliced steak, a spoonful of mashed potatoes, utensils, and her favorite milk tea.

Titus couldn’t carry things on his own back, and he didn’t seem like he had been in contact with the Fire Lord either. It was obvious that only one person could command Titus like this. Xerath didn’t know what to say, but her spiderweb-like imagination immediately pictured the adorable black-haired girl asking Titus to do a task in a soft voice. This footstool couldn’t resist such a request and nodded with a whimpering sound. The girl’s eyes, like emeralds, filled with laughter as she cut the steak piece by piece and finally sat by the stairs, placing the tray on Titus’s back and instructing it to walk to the door.

She laughed silently. Sylas’s detailed observations made it easy for her to imagine all of this.

She squatted down, lifted the tray from Titus’s back, and handed it to Hyectra next to her. Titus let out a big sigh of relief, and the cushion visibly relaxed.

"Let’s go downstairs," the archmage said to the footstool, "Has she finished her meal?"

Titus replied with a series of barks and whines. The footstool’s language was difficult for the archmage, maybe only contract demons could understand each other. She had no way of knowing how Sylas could understand Titus’s words without any obstacles.

"She hasn’t eaten?"

"Bark bark bark…" This could be a sign of protest.

"Then she must have eaten," the archmage ruled out the only incorrect answer and followed the sound of the footstool’s footsteps back to the living room.

The sky has turned dark, and she is eating dinner much later than usual, almost an hour. Surprisingly, her stomach doesn’t protest, maybe because she didn’t have work in the afternoon, so there was no energy consumption.

There was a dim yellow light coming from the house. Xerath gently opened the door, and Titus, relying on his agile body (although not thin), squeezed in first. Sylas leaned against the thick stone wall beside the floor-to-ceiling window, appearing like a silhouette painting on glass.

She wore black pants and a vest, with a white shirt. Her long black hair fell over her shoulders, and her slender figure looked lonely.

All this beauty dragged Xerath back into chaos: unsure whether madness really exists, but only knowing that the lonely girl with the slender figure still had a deadly attraction to her.

She should walk over to hug her, to make her feel better. Most likely, she would also be happy, as her little wild creature loved physical contact just like her pet stool.

But she didn’t.

The sound of Titus coming in slightly disrupted her contemplation. The girl’s originally clear voice sounded hoarse from not speaking for a long time. "Titus, good dog, she accepted? I knew you could do it, you’re the cutest. Even an archmage couldn’t resist your cuteness."

Titus made a pleasing sound and kept trying to bite Sylas’s pant leg, trying to make her look back.

"She accepted." Xerath carried a tray of food and sat down at the table, starting to eat her dinner. "Thank you for helping me cut it."

Sylas’s figure suddenly froze, and she didn’t even dare to turn around. Xerath continued, "Come over and sit with me for a while."

It’s not too much to ask for the little creature she likes to sit with her for a while, right? Not sitting too close, just facing each other, without even needing to make eye contact, just knowing that she’s there.

Sylas sat across from her, staring at the table. Xerath glanced at her, then lowered her head and ate quietly.

The room was unusually quiet. Without their usual conversations, the constant wind and burning fire became more noticeable in the background.

And the sound of knives and forks cutting through plates.

Xerath’s mood seemed to have completely recovered, or rather, returned to a state of not being angry but also not wanting to pay attention to her. Sylas didn’t understand why Xerath wanted her to sit here, so she just took a book and continued reading.

This book belonged to Xerath and was always kept in the living room. It was about the war between dragons and undead, a history book.

A significant part of world history is about how the ancient Sithe people were blessed by the gods and taught magic, and how they carried the seeds of magical civilization throughout the continent during their migration. The war against the undead occurred two thousand years after the establishment of the Sithe Empire. After the decline of magical civilization, the last prince of Sithe turned himself into a Lich and established an undead kingdom.

In world history, this is just a brief section. The invasion of the Lich, the fall of the dragons, and the places that both sides fought over repeatedly became Elemental Gates. However, judging from the number of related books in the house, this is a history worth studying, with many secrets waiting to be uncovered.

She used to not understand why Xerath insisted on her going to school to study world history, but now she suddenly realizes… at a normal time, she suddenly realizes that maybe she herself really likes it, so she wants to find someone to chat with.

Why doesn’t she talk to other people?