Ch.62Return (4)

# The Sun’s Awakening

The sun drove away the darkness, marking the time when all living things awakened.

A ray of light slipped through the curtains, tickling Riano’s face and causing her to open her eyes.

Along with waking came a splitting headache that made her grimace—not from the brightness, but from the pain.

“Oh my… my head hurts…”

As she muttered to herself and sat up, her entire body ached despite having slept.

Alcohol—it was all because of alcohol.

After hearing that her disciple had been injured, she’d been restless for days, and had turned to drinking to somehow forget her worries.

Thanks to that, she had managed to sleep somehow, but…

‘I shouldn’t have drunk…’

Once she started drinking, she simply couldn’t stop.

Falling asleep with alcohol, waking up and drinking again. She had been repeating this cycle for days.

‘But what happened yesterday…?’

Riano sat on the bed and tried to recall yesterday’s events through her throbbing headache.

Alcohol, disciple, bed, embrace, intimacy.

Several words that seemed strangely connected floated in her mind.

Kiss.

The final word hit like a nail.

Her heart began to pound and her face flushed hot.

At the same time, she started remembering yesterday’s events in detail, causing her to lie back down and burrow under the covers.

What on earth had she been thinking when she kissed him?

She must have been out of her mind from the alcohol.

Not that she didn’t want to kiss him, but…

She hadn’t wanted it to happen in such a terrible atmosphere, with her in such a pathetic state reeking of alcohol.

Nevertheless.

‘He kissed me back once, didn’t he?’

The fact that her disciple had kissed her back once filled her with joy.

She wondered if it had been his first kiss too, touching her lips with a fluttering heart.

Then suddenly, she remembered someone.

Fiery red hair, a face so cute it could be mistaken for a doll, a girl always full of charm—Lady Lael Gideon, daughter of the Duke of Gideon.

And Derin, who always wore flowing feminine clothes that revealed her enchanting slender figure—looking similar in age to Lael but more woman than girl.

Those two clearly seemed to like her disciple, and had surely expressed their feelings actively.

So perhaps it wasn’t his first kiss, which made her feel slightly disappointed.

But then she thought—maybe being first isn’t particularly important.

It suddenly felt that way to her.

Of course, it depends on what meaning one attaches to being first, but at least Riano didn’t place much significance on it.

What mattered was the frequency, emotion, and depth.

Rather than a quick peck, doing it several times with love, a bit more intensely…

As her imagination grew increasingly vivid, she buried her face in her pillow.

‘I wonder if he’d mind if I asked him to do it again today…’

With that thought, she kept kicking her feet under the covers.

* * * * *

Sleeping in a soft bed rather than on a hard floor—just a change in sleeping arrangements, but the speed of my recovery was remarkably different.

Despite falling asleep later than usual, my body, which had felt weighed down as if chained, was considerably better now.

Of course, I hadn’t completely returned to normal, but this was satisfying enough.

Rising from the bed, I immediately began preparing to go out.

I should at least show my face at the Academy.

The headmaster must be worried, especially after receiving that letter.

After finishing my preparations and leaving the room:

‘I wonder if Master is alright?’

It was natural to worry since she had drunk so much in the past few days.

Though I thought she might still be sleeping, I couldn’t help feeling uneasy without checking on her myself.

I carefully opened the door to Master’s room.

In the tidy room, a beam of light came through the curtains, reflecting off a transparent flask, creating a scene like a painting.

There, Master was sleeping with the covers pulled up to her head, as if disliking the morning sunlight.

Seeing how uncomfortable her breathing seemed, I carefully closed the curtains to block out the sunlight.

As the room darkened, I gently folded down the top part of the blanket she was covering herself with.

I saw her face, eyes closed somewhat awkwardly.

‘Is she pretending to sleep?’

She must be uncomfortable meeting me because of what happened yesterday.

Though I didn’t feel the same way, I could understand.

“Master, I’ll be back soon.”

Just as I was about to leave the room to avoid making her uncomfortable:

Her lips slightly protruded forward, as if asking for a kiss like yesterday.

It seemed that yesterday’s actions were indeed her true feelings, aided by alcohol.

Understanding how much courage it must have taken her now, without the influence of alcohol:

Without any hesitation, I pressed my lips against hers.

Calmly, seriously, at this moment I gave my heart completely to the woman before me.

Smooch—

With that brief sound, our lips parted, and her trembling eyelids opened.

Beautiful, jewel-like eyes gazed at me.

The emotion in that gaze was, indeed:

Love.

The moist, glossy lips that mine had touched began to move.

“Be careful. Don’t get hurt.”

Her voice was so elevated with happiness that it seemed to directly express her emotions as she worried about me.

To such a Master, I gave a light nod.

“I’ll be back.”

After sharing that brief, innocent moment, I left the workshop and arrived at the Academy, which was exactly the same as usual.

The peaceful atmosphere naturally put my mind at ease as I headed toward the headmaster’s office.

Knock knock—

Two knocks echoed through the corridor.

“Come in.”

A voice I hadn’t heard in a very long time came from inside.

Opening the door, I saw the headmaster reading documents early in the morning. He looked up and met my eyes, then stood up abruptly.

“Professor Crow! Are you alright?!”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

As I answered calmly, he seemed to regain his composure, clearing his throat before continuing the conversation.

“Please, sit down. Let’s talk over a cup of tea.”

As I took a seat on the long sofa, he prepared two cups of tea with practiced movements and placed them on the table.

The fragrance tickling my nose indicated that the tea leaves were of very high quality.

After silently sipping the tea, I casually opened the conversation.

“It really wasn’t anything serious. I’ve returned alive, haven’t I?”

“Returning alive has nothing to do with whether the matter was serious or not. Some people return alive even from battlefields where thousands die.”

He stated this principle and took a sip of tea.

The teacup was placed back on the saucer without a sound, and I began to explain what had happened in detail.

“The second semester assessment for the Black Magic course was to depart from the Royal Capital, bypass the Great Forest, reach the Un-drying Pond, and return. The problem was that we encountered a Great Red Bear there.”

“A Great Red Bear…?”

“Yes, I had only read about it in books while preparing lecture materials, but had never seen one before. S-Rank. It was definitely S-Rank.”

A brief silence followed, broken only by the short sound of tea being sipped.

“That was truly unfortunate. There’s no other way to describe it. It’s a miracle you returned alive.”

Having been an adventurer before becoming the Academy’s headmaster, he knew very well what it meant to encounter an S-Rank monster.

“Yes, I think so too. Somehow we managed to defeat it, but I nearly lost my life in the process.”

Though I said it jokingly, it was something I could say only because I was alive.

“Since you haven’t mentioned the students, I assume they’re all safe.”

“Yes, everyone returned safely yesterday.”

“You’ve done well. Please rest thoroughly today, and tomorrow—let’s continue our conversation tomorrow.”

He said this with a gentle smile and stood up, extending his hand to me.

“Yes, understood.”

I responded by taking his hand.

After finishing this brief but weighty conversation and leaving the headmaster’s office, I didn’t return directly to the workshop but went shopping for ingredients.

It was uncertain whether Master could eat right away due to her hangover.

Having left Master lonely for a long time, I intended to quickly fill that void.

When I returned to the workshop with both hands full of ingredients, Master was…

“You’re back?”

She was wearing a sky-blue dress with white frills, and had clearly made an effort to dress up.

…Could it be because of me?

“Yes, I’m back.”

“D-d-disciple. I have a favor to ask.”

Asking a favor as soon as I got home was one thing, but her stuttering suggested it wasn’t a normal request.

But I wouldn’t know unless I heard it.

“Yes, what is it?”

A moment of silence, during which Master swallowed and carefully opened her mouth.

“Would it be alright… if you called me Riano?”