A gentle smile slipped on my lips as I watched Professor Irina staring me down.
"Do you know why I have called you here, Eugene Hall?"
"I, unfortunately, don't, ma'am. But if I have done anything to displease you I will fix it immediately."
"Hah," Irina scoffed and stood straight. Evening lights spilled into her office through the gridded windows and their open curtains, lightening up the pale ivory walls and the light oakwood furniture.
I lowered my gaze as the professor shook her head and walked around as if finding something very funny, her pink heels pushing into the red carpet of the room.
"Something to displease me?" She spat. "I don't even want to see your face. What kind of student comments about their teacher on the first day?"
Is it alright to comment later then?
Well, I did understand where she was coming from.
"As you saw that day, ma'am. I was struggling with something severe. I have already consulted the priests in the academy about it—"
"That doesn't really explain your comments. Or your stares now."
This would be pretty easy to solve with a bow of the head and a quick apology.
But even if I was willing to drop everything to gain strength, I wasn't going to abandon strength too. Bowing down until I had truly made a mistake wasn't to my taste.
Well, there were other ways to handle it.
"Ma'am," I said, standing up.
Irina stopped and shot me a fierce glare. I placed my hands in front of me and kept up my gentle smile, trying to be as amicable as I could.
"Allow me to brew you some tea." Her gaze followed my finger to the set at the side.
"What? Don't cozy up, I am not done yet. You have also been skipping classes and you still act this way…"
Irina continued on with her complaints.
Hm…
Did I want to use her or not?
I flipped a coin in my head. Heads it was. She seemed to be worth putting a minor amount of effort into. After all, villains needed all the sidekicks they could get.
Since the coin in my head said to use her, then use her I will.
"Ma'am. I do not find you attractive at all."
"Pfft."
The cat in my bag laughed while the professor herself stared at me with wide eyes.
"Get out."
"Sorry? You don't want any tea?"
"It's fine. Get lost, now."
"But—"
The woman started seething with rage. Mana levels soared to the sky as she trembled.
I stuck my tongue out and turned around before grabbing my bag and dashing out of her office.
The door slammed behind me, but the chilling aura she emitted wasn't gone, so I rushed away a bit more.
After turning through a corner, I sighed deeply.
"Why didn't that work?"
"What were you even thinking, Eugy?" Titania grabbed her forehead and said.
"I mean, smiling and being soft-spoken but honest worked wonders with Dawn!"
"You were close enough to do that with her, Eugene," Dantalian chimed in this time. "Why would you harass a girl when she just complained about your harassment?"
"I just said I didn't find her attractive."
"You don't comment about the other person's looks at all, Eugy."
Was that so…?
It seemed I really made a mistake this time.
Well, I had time. I could slowly turn her my way.
As I peeked out of the long passageways of the academy and its windows, I could see darkness filling the night sky. It was already getting late today.
I had surprisingly done a lot of things today alone, but days were just going to get longer from tomorrow.
Sighing, I hung my bag from my shoulders, the cat still nestled inside it, and made my way down the stairs.
"Let's go back home for today."
"Yup!" Titania cheered, settling herself on the top of my head.
And with that, off I went from the academy city and toward my new home.
When I reached back to the island assigned to our faction, I heard no noises. It was too early for Keith to be back from his escapades and Albert's goon was also probably busy. Albert and Luka themselves were probably still stuck with that swordsmanship class. Their fault for sucking.
I was probably the person that spent the most time on this silent, enormous island.
My stride slowed down as I reached my room. I climbed up the stairs and pushed the door open, the dark room with its spacious emptiness appeared in front of me.
There were no greetings and no one to come around to greet me.
I stepped inside and tossed the bag away.
I had forbidden Keith from coming up to my room. As for Maria and Lily, they wanted to meet me and even join Albert's faction, but I told them to focus on their own things for a while.
I unbuttoned my shirt. The light seeping in from the windows was enough.
My siblings wanted to meet me too, but I had told them the faction had kept me busy.
Dawn, too, told me anything she needed to through the others.
And Lethe…
"I'll go take a bath. Wait here."
"Want me to join, Eugy?"
"No. I'd like to think for a bit," with a smirk, I picked up a towel and bathrobe and stepped inside the bathroom.
I hung them aside and stripped down.
The bathtub let out a thud. One foot, and then the other.
Water drizzled down with a twist of the faucet and the bathtub started filling up
My body stretched, and my eyes closed.
Until the water filled up to my forehead.
I would hear nothing, I would see nothing, I would think of nothing.
Until the water filled up to my forehead.
I would just sit in the bathtub.
This was… my life now, I guess.
But it was fine.
As long as I grow stronger.
As long as I grow stronger.
As long as…
***
[A/N: Phew, long start to the new arc. This is the turning point of the story so it was necessary. That aside, I wanted to mention there has been a lot of foreshadowing, symbolism, and parallels in the last few chapters and this one too. I don't think I am good at any of it, though, for example in this chapter, Eugene says 'he really made a mistake' but in the first few chapters he was of the mindset that original Eugene's mistakes were his mistakes too. This is me trying to say he's rejecting that mindset and that Eugene, but I am not sure if I am doing it well. Please do let me know if things are 'too' confusing and seem inconsistent and I'll do my best to make it clearer! Thanks a lot for reading as always!]
