"Go ahead, Professor."
Lucien glanced between the drink and Rhea's expression. It would be a cruel joke if he ended up collapsing from poison now.
He decided to speak instead. "I'll find a reason to excuse your absence for the last three days. But the ones before that? That's out of my hands. You'll need to work hard to make up for your poor attendance with your grades."
"You really do care about me, huh?"
"That's... what teachers are supposed to do?"
"But I was hoping for something more than that."
"Sorry?" Lucien raised an eyebrow.
"Professor ..." Rhea looked straight into his eyes. "Do you love me?"
What? "In what sense?"
"In any sense."
Lucien gave a small sigh. This is exactly why I never wanted to be a teacher. Especially not at a secondary academy.
Teenagers on edge were worse than unruly children.
"As much as any teacher who doesn't want to see their student fail." Lucien found the words drier than a cup of black coffee.
"Yay~" Rhea beamed and hugged herself. "Then ... would you die with me?"
The strangest part was her expression hadn't changed. Still cheerful. Still innocent. Like a kitten.
A demon kitten, maybe.
Lucien had had enough. "You should save that line for someone more appropriate."
"And that person is you." Her eyes glistened. "Don't you remember our promise?"
A promise? Did the old Lucien know someone in 1-F other than Roy Bellvace?
Maybe this girl was more broken than she looked. "Did we even make a promise?"
"Not yet." Rhea giggled, scratching the back of her neck. "So why don't we make one now?" She held up her pinky. "To love each other, in life and in death."
Lucien eyed her hand.
Maybe playing along a little would be the fastest way to get her back in class.
But promises...
He hated that word. "Ms. Calven, thank you for being honest. But let me make this clear: you're a student, and I'm your teacher. If anything were to happen between us, it would be... problematic. Socially awkward, at the very least."
"Who cares what society thinks?"
Fair enough.
"... the real issue is, I don't feel that way about you."
Rhea's face went blank, as if her spirit had slipped out of her body.
Lucien figured that was his cue to leave. "See you in class tomorrow, Ms. Calven. Thank you for the dri—"
Before he could turn away, a hand shoved him off balance.
A weight slammed down on top of him, and when Lucien opened his eyes, Rhea was straddling him.
Her eyes shimmered with tears again. "Professor... please ... please love me. Just this once. Please."
Lucien couldn't find any logical path through her words. "Ms. Calven, would you mind getting off me?"
Instead, Rhea leaned in, pinning his wrists with her hands.
Their faces were barely inches apart. "If I do that, will you love me, Professor?"
"I don't think that's going to happen."
"Then we're both out of options." Rhea leaned closer. The scent of lavender overwhelmed his senses. "It's my first time, you know. Does that make you more excited, Professor?"
Lucien struggled underneath her. She's strong.
But Rhea's hands were either reinforced with mana, or she was just physically stronger than he'd expected.
"Aah!" A scream. From the left.
From the direction of the door.
Lucien was silently grateful he'd left it open.
#
"You're not looking so good, Professor."
Lucien glanced to the person who'd just joined him at the vending machine he was leaning on.
It wasn't rare to run into Roy Bellvace here.
After all, the Dean's office he had just left was right next to the Journalism Club room.
"Out past curfew? You could fail before the monthly evaluation even starts, Mr. Bellvace," Lucien quipped, checking his watch. Nearly 8 PM.
"Club work. The dorm inspectors will understand." Roy inserted a coin and tapped a few buttons. "So you did visit Calven?"
Lucien said nothing.
Roy whistled. "Sometimes, there's a fine line between bravery and recklessness."
"You told me to take her presence seriously."
"Not to confront her directly."
"It was the fastest way."
Roy retrieved a can of honey tea. It hissed open. "She attacked him too when he tried visiting her."
"Hm?"
"You asked what happened with Professor Ianosa, didn't you?"
"Brilliant timing to tell me now, Mr. Bellvace," Lucien said, sarcasm thick in his voice. But at least, it gave him a new theory. "Is that why he was fired?"
He had assumed Doran Ianosa had crossed the royal family—but maybe that wasn't enough. They needed a stronger reason. One that sounded valid to the public, whether it was true or not.
"No idea."
What?
"My memory's a bit fuzzy."
But Lucien caught the loaded look Roy shot him. He snorted. "How much?"
"Hmm? Why are we talking about money?"
"Fifty?"
"Professor, it's not exactly ethical to buy gossip."
"Two hundred?"
Roy's eyes bulged.
That was probably a huge amount for a student like him. And for once, Roy spoke with a stammer. "I-I don't really have a choice if you insist."
Lucien stood, pulled out his wallet, and handed over two bills. His last ones.
Roy accepted them with trembling hands. He inspected them thoroughly.
"It's real money. Don't worry."
Roy took a long sip of his tea before continuing. "This might sound weird, but Ianosa's firing had nothing to do with it. The academy would've done a quick investigation and realized Calven was at fault. She's caused problems before."
"So she's always been like this?"
"No idea."
Lucien narrowed his eyes. "Mr. Bellvace, that was the last of my cash."
Roy flinched. "I seriously don't know that much, okay? We were only in the same class for like three months, and she only shows up a few days a month."
"Did she seem off in class?"
"Not really. She was... normal(?). Answered questions, chatted with people, participated."
That image felt too normal. Hard to picture that behavior in someone like Rhea Calven. "Those people... include Ms. Crowne?"
"No one really talks to Crowne in class." Roy downed the rest of his tea. "Bottom line: you're not getting fired over this. If anything, it was inevitable."
Before walking off for real, Roy left him with one last warning. "What you should worry about... is how people are going to react."