Chapter 229

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Chapter 229

"These two letters are from Diego and Eilan, respectively."

"Eilan… why! Is she writing to tell on me?!"

Xerath reached out and gently pushed the excited Sylas into the sofa, making Hyectra transform into a throne for Xerath to sit comfortably.

"Let’s talk about Diego’s letter first."

Sylas stared at her with perplexed emerald eyes.

Xerath glanced at her and said, "The letter roughly explained to me about your questioning by the Oversight Committee because of the crystallization measurement report."

"What, why! Who is Diego… Inspector Diego? It’s Diego Westcounty?!"

Xerath glanced at her again, as if wondering why she hadn’t thought of the connection yet (but Diego is such a common name), "Lucius Manel confessed to being instructed by old Sauran and attempting to murder his informant, Swis. You’re involved in such trouble and didn’t tell me, huh? How many things have you done at school that you didn’t want me to know?"

"That’s… that’s it! I promise! Really!"

Xerath’s face showed distrust, "We’ll see what Eilan says."

"How could she! I thought she wasn’t that kind of teacher!"

Xerath’s cold gaze forced her back onto the couch, calmly explaining, "Graduating students each receive such a school evaluation. Ideally, it should be sent to the Tower mentors, but it’s not wrong to send it directly to me. The letter introduces the nightmare sisters you encountered at Mount Borliboli, as well as Kuowa’s unusual interest in you. Can you guess what this means?"

"What… does it mean?"

Xerath tapped the letter on her delicate and fair finger, making a crisp sound. "It means that if you can’t protect yourself, you’ll always be someone else’s prey. First, it was the hunters and the mysterious black lantern, and now it’s the demons. I hope you understand that you’re not an ordinary person. Non-ordinary people don’t have the privilege of living a normal life. Misfortune and opportunities will always find you. If you can handle it, it will give you power, but if you can’t, it will devour you."

Sylas pouted in disbelief.

Xerath really wanted to poke, pinch, and stroke, but in the end, resisted the temptation.

"Sylas, I can protect you forever, but that means you’ll always be under my control. You will lose your power to make your own choices, you will lose your freedom."

The word "under my control" acted like a sudden splash of hot water on a crowd. It raised everyone’s heartbeats to a high level. Sylas even heard herself gasping for air.

Their gazes tangled together.

She also wanted to see what Xerath meant by using that word, but she would most likely be disappointed. It didn’t mean anything else, just those novels hidden in the secret section of those small bookstores.

"B-b-but you’re mine…"

Xerath firmly interrupted her, "I’m your teacher, and that’s all."

Xerath’s cold gray eyes stared at her, with a hint of anger on his face. But it was Sylas’s heart that pounded like a drum as she trembled and said, "If it’s you, I can… I’m willing to give up my freedom…"

"But I don’t want to!" Xerath stood up and blocked the overhead light, casting a shadow on Sylas. Hyectra’s tentacles pulled her up from the couch as the archmage looked at her, calmly but seriously saying, "I am unwilling and unable to be responsible for your life. You are an independent person, and you must take responsibility for yourself and fulfill all the choices in front of you. Didn’t you dare to escape on your own when you were a child? Weren’t you afraid of losing your freedom once you were caught?"

"B-but you’re different from them."

Xerath shook her head and took a step closer. "There’s no fundamental difference. When your will conflicts with your master’s, you won’t have any choice."

"But you won’t…"

"Won’t I?" Xerath continued to lock her gaze onto her, the very pressure almost crushing her. "Did I make you feel a false sense of safety?"

"I…"

"A person’s long-term behavior is one of the hardest things to predict. I don’t know if I’ll still want to treat you like this tomorrow, and you don’t know if you’ll still want to listen to me in the future. What if I wanted you to marry Diego’s son and never return to Aimekotes again?"

"I…"

"Do you want to?" She took another step closer, and Sylas resisted the urge to step back. Xerath’s nose was almost touching hers.

"No!"

Xerath took a step back and sighed, asking, "Do you have your own thoughts? You are not someone’s possession. Haven’t I taught you this after so many years?"

Contrary to her wishes, Sylas looked even sadder, while Xerath became a bit uncertain. "I didn’t mean to scold you, nor did I… nor did I really want you to be with someone you don’t like. I was just giving an extreme example to make you understand the flaw in that viewpoint. Can I take you back to your room to sleep?"

Sylas nodded gently as Xerath held her hand. Her hand, like the beast’s, was still flexible. Her rough palms, a result of her wandering childhood, felt rougher than others’, especially compared to Xerath’s hands, which had never done any physical labor except for holding books and pens.

But Xerath loved holding these hands. If possible, she wished she could hold them forever without letting go. However, it wasn’t possible due to "the right of independent individuals to make their own choices."

The living room was only two floors away from her room, just a short walk, so Xerath turned to leave. Sylas leaned against the door, watching Xerath go.

The archmage was unaware of this situation. She had been facing away from Sylas this whole time, feeling ashamed and unsure how to face the girl she had just scolded.

She didn’t want Sylas to dislike her, so she tried to convince herself that this lesson was absolutely necessary.

Sylas lay on her bed, remembering only that Xerath didn’t want her company and wanted to exile her from Aimekotes.

She understood Xerath’s expectations and knew that her talents met those expectations, but the more Xerath tried to fulfill her duties, the more she felt ashamed.

Which student sees their teacher and fills their mind with thoughts of kissing her?

However much she tried to stop herself from thinking, her thoughts became increasingly uncontrollable. She had seen Xerath’s body covered only by a thin shirt, witnessed her long limbs, and remembered the feeling of embracing her. The more she couldn’t have these things, the clearer these memories became.

Even the scent lingering in the air felt as if it had escaped from her imagination. She curled up in bed, grabbed the blanket guiltily, and imagined Xerath accepting her embrace, securely locking her in her arms, allowing her to bury her nose in her favorite scent.

Just like this…

She lifted the hem of her shirt, revealing her slender waist. She draped a corner of the blanket over her waist, and the soft fabric caressed her tender skin like gentle hands. She sighed softly, but then felt unsatisfied. So, she raised her shirt to reveal her smooth back.

She pulled on a corner of the blanket, making it a little longer. It slithered across her waist, gliding slowly along her back.

Sylas became captivated, recalling the moment when the two of them were about to share a passionate kiss. Time rewound to that very moment. Without hesitation, she boldly leaned in and kissed Xerath, suckling on her alluring lips. As Xerath tried to pull away, Sylas reached out and forcefully held her by the neck, compelling her to continue the kiss.

Her blouse was undone, exposing her bare chest. The skin came into direct contact with the blanket, causing an almost unbearable sensation of touch and friction. The lingering breath made her believe it was Xerath embracing and caressing her.

She closed her eyes, carefully imagining how a kiss should be, but then she realized she had no experience and didn’t even know how lips touching felt like. However, this didn’t discourage her. Despite the difficulty in constructing detailed imagination, in her mind, she slowly outlined Xerath’s soft lips. She pressed her lips against Xerath’s, causing a slight deformation of her lip petals.

She sucked gently, even sticking out her tongue to trace the shape of the entire mouth.

Was her teacher willing to be kissed? Maybe she was. She imagined Xerath with a faint smile on her face, imagining her lips slightly curved, waiting for her kiss.

This required a lot of mental effort. She fell into a sleepy daze while imagining the kiss, deeply satisfied and fell asleep.

Sylas still hadn’t shown up at the dining table even after an hourglass had passed. Xerath closed her book and walked towards the living room. The wind blew up her robe, which stuck to her because of her quick pace, outlining a mysterious and elegant shape.

Sylas’s room door was not fully closed. She worried that Sylas might have run out on her own and nervously pushed the door open. She saw Sylas’s not-so-graceful sleeping position without any defense.

She was clutching the sheets, which weren’t covering her much. Her shirt was wrinkled, revealing her smooth and white abdomen. The buttons had somehow come undone and didn’t cover anything when she turned over, revealing the girl’s fair and tender bosom.

It had a slight pinkness, trembling slightly with her breath. And the young girl, unaware, continued to sleep soundly.

Xerath was hit with a suffocating feeling. She tried to breathe and after a while, her breathing returned to normal. She couldn’t help but turn her head to look at this beautiful scene, staring in a daze for a long time. Her heart was fiercely at odds, one side strongly agreeing that she should walk over immediately and use both hands, no, both arms to carefully check if Sylas caught a cold. The other side strongly disagreed, suggesting leaving immediately to avoid any strange implications.

During the intense battle, her legs moved uncontrollably and slowly walked over, extending a trembling hand towards Sylas’s unprotected chest. The archmage furrowed their brow slightly, examining the unicorn that rightfully belonged to her with seriousness and focus.