Chapter 286

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Chapter 286

"Yes, I think it’s fun, I didn’t mean to… to scare you, I’m sorry."

"No, it’s nothing, I actually found it quite exciting." Xerath regained their calm tone. "Did I hurt you with the collision?"

"…No." Xerath was much slimmer than she had imagined, perhaps because they always wore robes. Their teacher looked stronger than being carried would suggest. Maybe wizards wore robes to make themselves appear stronger, so they wouldn’t be blown away with just a breath.

The other side of the bank was much gentler. Rough, grayish stones were built into the riverbank. Xerath saw Sylas climb a stone about half their height, reaching out a hand towards them. Xerath held Sylas’s hand and climbed up, gripping it a little tighter when Sylas pulled away.

Sylas couldn’t retract her hand, but she stopped struggling. Xerath’s face burned, immediately letting go of their hand. They awkwardly clasped their hands together in front of them, afraid of displeasing Sylas with any further contact.

On the way back, their conversation noticeably diminished. Sylas could feel Xerath’s stiffness and had an instinct that it was because of the hug. Maybe it would have been better if the hug hadn’t been so tight, if it had been loosened sooner, then at least she would still have a chance–

Did she still have a chance to hug Xerath? It was just an accident earlier, an accident that only happened because Xerath didn’t know there was a cliff ahead.

Before Xerath realized she was hopelessly in love with her student, they had a lot of physical contact. Virgil took care of her like she was a wild beast – which means he hardly took care of her at all. So on Sylas’s first day in Aimekotes, Xerath had to bathe her herself. Sylas couldn’t dress herself in "complicated" pants and shirts, so Xerath had to dress her every morning.

But when she truly desired physical contact, it was already too strange to do so.

Xerath and Sylas walked through the group of stone tablets in front of the mage tower. The symbols on the tablets lit up one by one, and the gate opened. Leunen and Hyectra were standing at the gate to welcome them. The teacups were already set on the table, still filled with the lemon herbal tea from earlier. Xerath sat down gracefully and picked up her teacup, while Sylas watched her finish before starting to drink the water in her own cup.

"Are you hungry? I’ll have Hubert prepare afternoon tea…" Sylas, the owner of Lake Yongning, paused and carefully observed Xerath’s expression before adding, "That way you can still have a light dinner tonight without feeling hungry."

Sylas’s thoughtfulness left Xerath with no reason to argue. In fact, being looked at so attentively by her emerald-like eyes prevented her from saying anything disappointing.

Hubert is a Fire Lord and the cousin of Aimekotes’ fire lord chef, Elvis. Because of this family relationship, the food at Lake Yongning is almost indistinguishable from that of Aimekotes, even down to the ratio of sugar and salt in the rock cakes.

Sylas couldn’t help but sneak glances at Xerath while she ate. Xerath ate slowly and deliberately, using her spoon to cut the cake into small pieces and savor each bite. Sylas watched her chew slowly, her gray eyes gazing at the view of the lake and mountains from the terrace, gradually becoming distant.

Xerath felt her heart race as she was being watched. She struggled to resist the urge to touch her own chest, lowering her head to avoid Sylas’s gaze, and asked, "What’s wrong, is something on my face?"

Sylas snapped out of her thoughts, "No… I just didn’t want to give you something you wouldn’t enjoy."

"Once the Fire Lord family’s recipe is set, the taste will not be different," she said, immediately regretting it. Sure enough, Sylas no longer looked towards her.

Spending the afternoon was always easy. Sylas took a book about the history of the Elemental Realm to read, while Xerath looked at a book about alchemy and precious metals, which they borrowed from Mordant’s public library for Sylas’s thesis. The one she held in her hand was a copy they made together, with beautiful handwriting. She admired her own calligraphy while recalling Sylas sitting at the table, working diligently.

When Sylas glanced at Xerath, she noticed a mysterious smile at the corner of her mouth. However, due to their previous experiences, she dared not stare at Xerath anymore. Instead, she discreetly glanced at her face, shoulders, chest, waist, thighs, and calves as if nothing was happening.

After dinner, the two of them spent some time in the living room before returning to the bedroom. After taking a bath, Xerath walked around the bedroom with her hair down.

This version of Xerath was quite novel to Sylas. Rarely—almost never—had she seen what Xerath was like privately in the bedroom. In other words, there was at least one side of Xerath that Sylas didn’t know throughout the twelve years they had lived together. But now, Xerath suddenly gave her this opportunity.

Sylas secretly stole glances at Xerath from the corner of her eye, afraid to look too openly. However, Xerath kept occasionally looking in her direction, making Sylas very nervous.

After being nervous for a while, she finally realized that she was being overly nervous. She quickly asked, "Um… do you need anything? Maybe… new pillows? Or… a water cup? Or a pen?"

Xerath shook her head and stood outside the carpeted area, looking a bit puzzled. She said, "No, no. I just… can’t sleep yet and wanted to… find a place to sit. But I wasn’t sure if you… "

Sylas felt a bit confused. Xerath didn’t need to be so polite when speaking to her. After all, the archmage was still her true master, and it was not unreasonable for a master to have requests from their servant, morally speaking.

But Xerath is probably like that, she has an unusual dedication to "being independent", "being free", and "being equal to all the magicians in the world." Sylas thought optimistically: If she were visiting another magician’s house, she might feel even more restrained than now.

The side sofa set was empty, but when Xerath was with Aimekotes, she would always sit where Sylas is sitting now. As Xerath hesitated in front of her empty sofa, Sylas quickly understood her habit and instinctively moved to offer her "special seat".

Xerath still hesitated, so Sylas patted the vacant seat that she had just given up and said, "Please, have a seat?"

Xerath nodded gently and walked over to sit down.

Surprisingly, Sylas became a little self-conscious at this moment. Her blanket was placed on the other side of the sofa. She had actually intended to lie down and indulge in her imagination, anything about her and Xerath, most likely continuing from those sweet moments she had previously imagined.

"Do you… want to take off your shoes?"

A needless question, Sylas’s own soft-soled shoes were placed outside the black bear fur, obviously not convenient to wear and step on.

"You… can wear them if you feel cold, but this is the fur of a magic bear, the fur is long and soft, stepping on it won’t make you feel cold."

Xerath nodded and took off her shoes, stepping barefoot onto the fur. The long fluff immediately covered her feet, only revealing her ankles, which were as white as Saint Trelanxi’s marble carving.

Look here, there’s no need to feel embarrassed, so Sylas watched her slowly walking past her step by step, feeling the cushion sinking slightly and a gentle fragrance wafting towards her.

Xerath sat next to her, before even in the living room they were close, but Sylas sat on the side while Xerath sat on a nearby lounge chair, they had never sat together side by side like this before.

Except… two days ago.

She was very surprised that Xerath didn’t ask her to move away a bit, but she also had a expected feeling, she never hoped Xerath would agree to sit beside her, but it didn’t feel particularly strange, as if she could understand it.

"Well… we don’t have a footstool yet, actually… compared to Aimekotes, our house lacks a lot of things," she laughed shyly, "Sometimes I go sleep in the activity room, I’m not often at home."

Xerath placed the book on her lap, turned her head and smiled at her, the smile was still bright, it was the kind that made her heart beat, to the point where she clenched her fist to restrain the impulse to kiss her and hold her down on the couch.

But the archmage didn’t sense any threat approaching at all, still asking casually, "Sounds risky, so even if I come over, you might not be home, right?"

Sylas relaxed a bit in her relaxed tone, leaning back on the couch, "Well, it’s fortunate, Mrs. Slote’s house is going to be torn down, and everyone has things to take care of, so everything got moved to my place, and I can only stay at home."

"Um… you didn’t mention in your letter, I also… didn’t want to rudely inquire about your emotional state as a form of politeness and greeting?"

"Emotional state?" It was a strange word that she didn’t understand what Xerath meant at the moment.

"Do you have…a boyfriend or girlfriend?" Xerath blinked her eyes, slightly lowered her head, and looked up at her from below.

Sylas quickly shook her head. Xerath had taught her that she should be with someone she truly liked. And if she couldn’t be with them, then she should remain single.

"It’s really…such a pity," Xerath turned back and shrugged her shoulders.

Sylas widened her eyes, showing a hint of panic, and asked, "Why is it a pity?"

Xerath innocently looked at her. "Firstly, when you’re young, you should experience more things. Secondly…" She paused for a long time, then looked up and replied, "You are very deserving of someone’s affection, it makes sense."

Alert bells rang in Sylas’s mind as she stared at Xerath for a while, trying to figure out her thoughts from her face. Unfortunately, Xerath’s face seemed to be covered by a mask.

To the point where it made her think that she had some special thoughts about what happened a few days ago, which is why she came all the way.

They…back then, were sitting on the sofa in the same position as they are now.