Chapter 82
Therefore, without any surprise, when Xerath gently traced the tender pink tip, it stood up, small and round, but firm. Sylas looked at Xerath, wanting to ask for help, but at that moment, Xerath seemed to suddenly lose her "sensitivity." Her teacher unbuttoned her cuff and helped her take off her shirt. The shop assistant behind her then asked her to raise her hands while measuring the size of her chest under the ribcage with a measuring tape.
With this gentle touch from the kind woman, Sylas no longer felt any tension. She even had the ability to look at Xerath in the mirror and ask a question, "Teacher... didn't you say... that no one, except for you, can touch... touch these areas?"
Xerath smiled and said, "I'm glad you remembered what I told you, that's why I'm observing now." She raised an eyebrow meaningfully at the mirror, causing her easily embarrassed apprentice to turn her face away.
After this incident, whenever Sylas thought about the dizzying lines traced by her fingertips, she would feel nervous, which made her subconsciously avoid Xerath's gaze.
Xerath did a lot of exercise today. She walked all over the streets and from the mountaintop to the foothill. Sylas couldn't help but look at her from time to time, seeing her relaxed and happy like a spring breeze, and she couldn't help but be infected by her, feeling more and more cheerful.
Sylas's courage probably ended when they arrived at the hotel in the evening after running away from home. As she secretly watched Xerath talking to the receptionist, she couldn't really hear what they were saying.
"Because you arrived a little late, the twin room is already taken. How about..."
"Do you have a suite?" The archmage had a lot of money on him and didn't mind spending a little more on accommodation.
"Sorry... the suite is under maintenance. Can we switch to a double room? It's a good choice for two female guests traveling together... or if you really don't want to compromise, how about two double rooms?"
Sylas suddenly snapped back and asked, "Huh? What happened?"
Xerath shook her head and quickly turned her head to whisper to her, "It's nothing, sleep with me tonight."
Before Sylas could react, she had already turned back to the staff and said, "Double room, no problem."
Xerath got the key and room card and held Sylas's hand as they walked upstairs. It took Sylas a couple of steps before she realized that Xerath had just said, "Sleep with me tonight." The unexpected joy of being able to share a room with Xerath for two days made her feel that going to school was really worth it.
"But... but... why?"
Xerath motioned for Hyectra to put down the things and asked as she brewed tea, "Why, what's the matter, my little creature?"
Sylas arranged the cups for her and a small whirlwind appeared at the brim, swiftly carrying away the hot air. "Why just one room?" she asked.
Xerath paused for a moment and said, "You don't like it? I'm sorry, then I'll request another room."
Sylas grabbed her arm and said, "No, no! It's... um... it's because I feel like you might not want to share a room with someone, especially during sleep."
Xerath had to consider this question, even though she did have a lot to say to Sylas, it didn't seem necessary to insist on sharing a room.
"Well... for your concern, I do dislike it when someone invades my personal space and makes me uncomfortable. However, I have slept with you a few times now and I haven't found anything that bothers me," Xerath replied.
There was one sentence she didn't say out loud, "I think it might be because you're my contract demon." But this assumption didn't hold up because she couldn't stand Titus snoring by the bedside either.
"Oh..." Sylas seemed unsure how to respond and politely said, "I am glad not to disturb you."
After taking a bath, Sylas lay on the bed while Xerath walked out of the bathroom wearing a set that looked like pajamas. Sylas had never seen her dressed like this before: a loose collarless shirt that appeared to have nothing underneath, with the hem hanging straight down, revealing light-colored long pants on her legs. She had bare ankles and part of her calves showing. Her hair was down, casually walking over to Sylas.
Hyectra placed a blanket in front of her feet and said with a smile, "My lady, just underwent express treatment."
The express laundry treatment for the water elemental involved placing the blanket in the middle of the body and stirring it quickly, using the power of the elements to banish most of the water elementals. They would take away the excess moisture, and then the warm Son of the South Wind would blow dry the blanket.
Now the blanket is fluffy and filled with a warm southern breeze. Xerath opened the blanket and covered herself with it, said thank you to Hyectra, and then turned to Sylas and said, "I hope you don't mind me using your blanket to sleep for a while."
"No, no, of course I don't mind." To ease her embarrassment, she made a not-so-funny joke, "You've worn all my clothes, so what's a blanket to me?"
Xerath leaned against the headboard, took Sylas's hand in hers and played with it, but it was clear that this wasn't her purpose. Even Sylas felt that her mind was somewhere else.
"Teacher?"
"I was just thinking about how to start this topic," Xerath smiled, "Human society is very complicated, and books cannot fully describe all the details, so you have to understand for yourself. Do you remember what I said... about the shortcut to understanding anything?"
Sylas said, "Understanding the underlying patterns, and grasping theoretical framework, observing individual events guided by them."
"That's right. But at the same time..." She turned to look at Sylas and reached out to tug on her collar. "There's one more thing that I don't know how much you understand. It doesn't have any ready-made theories, and I think only a few scattered pieces of basic human nature knowledge could help understand it."
"What is it?"
Xerath's gray eyes became even more hazy and elusive under the dim Illumination Spell, and her voice sounded the same way.
"...romance."
"I..." Sylas's expression of doubt showed her confusion and innocence.
Xerath chuckled softly. "Perhaps only those poems you've read for me come close to it."
Sylas obviously had no concept of romance, but when it came to those poems, she could vividly recall the fluttering sensation in her heart.
"Maybe there's some vague emotional understanding." She answered with great happiness.
"I'm sorry I can't define it accurately to make you understand. Because I don't really understand it myself, and there are many things related to it, including what I told you before..." Her slender fingers suddenly reached out towards Sylas's backside, gently pinching the flesh and lightly tapping her groin area.
"These places that should not be touched are also related to it."
"Uh... I... can't think of the connection."
"..." Xerath looked a bit embarrassed, "You need to secretly absorb the relevant knowledge, but it's not particularly important..."
She adjusted her sitting position to conceal her slight embarrassment, "Romance often happens inevitably during adolescence... I've seen a lot when I was in school."
Sylas looked at her with concentration, "Is it the same for teachers?"
"Uh... no, when I said 'often', it's because I... have never experienced it myself."
"So..."
"But, that doesn't prevent others from liking you. You're a lovely girl and, by ordinary standards, a great beauty."
"...But Uncle Virgil said I'm just a little beauty?"
Xerath looked at her seriously and said that she was a pretty girl. She laughed softly, shook her hair, and gently tapped her face as she replied, "Soon I will become a beautiful girl. Many boys will like me. Love is a special feeling that usually happens between a boy and a girl. Two completely strangers are mysteriously attracted to each other and feel particularly happy when they communicate. They miss each other after being apart, to the point that they can't think about anything else, not even their meals."
"It sounds... magical," Sylas's eyes filled with speculation.
"When you meet such a boy at school... I suggest you give it a try, but don't go beyond... this limit." She gestured to the places "not to touch" again, "Even with girls."
"Girls? Didn't you just say it happens between boys and girls..."
Xerath smiled and whispered, "I said 'usually'." She gently kissed Sylas's forehead. " 'Liking' someone is usually an uncontrollable feeling. You can't just decide to like someone freely. Although it's an active emotion, often you can only wait to be attracted."
"Hmm..." Sylas looked into those gray eyes and realized that she actually understood the explanation.
She would be attracted to Xerath. Thinking of this, her green eyes suddenly lit up. "So I understand! I really like my teacher, I am attracted to you."
Xerath wasn't surprised by this. "That's right, it's a similar feeling. 'Liking' is quite a broad range, and love usually develops from liking. You can like many people, but usually there's only one you like the most, and it also has to fit the definition I just mentioned. My favorite teacher is me, my favorite loved one is my mom, my favorite pet is Titus, and my favorite drink is honey lemon tea. But you can't mix them up and compare which one you like more, Titus or the honey lemon tea, can you?"
Sylas felt confused and didn't think it was like that, but... she couldn't really understand the difference herself.
Xerath put a soft pillow behind her so she could lean comfortably, "You can like someone at school, but it shouldn't affect your studies, and you should also tell me."
"Hmm, I promise."
Xerath smiled, pursing her lips, "I accept your promise. Now, sleep, my little wild one."
Sylas smiled and closed her eyes under the gaze of Xerath's gray eyes, seemingly forgetting about the upcoming separation.
But the separation still came. On the first day of class, after Xerath took Sylas to school, she had to leave the city. Sylas knew she shouldn't keep holding on to Xerath, but her hand just couldn't let go. The wind beside the archmage started to swirl and gently pushed her away. The wind created a barrier between them, and Xerath took two steps back and said, "I'll wait for your letter."
