episode_0071

Watching the thick snowmelt instantly is quite a sight. What I was doing now wasn’t much different from that. It was like pouring hot water over a snow woman’s head. It wasn’t a big deal; I just wanted to make the wicked (?) snow woman, who was trying to hide her true form, drop her disguise.

“W-what are you doing, Disciple-nim…?!” Of course, the person involved might not think so. Seol Hayeon, my Teacher-nim, startled by the sudden hot water shower, knelt down and curled herself into a ball. I replied inwardly. *I’m inheriting the title of Archmage, Teacher-nim.*

“Didn’t I tell you every time? Your appearance, Teacher-nim, just doesn’t suit you, and it makes my toes curl.” I let out a sigh and emptied the hot water from the plastic bottle, not leaving a single drop. *Plink!* The very last drop touched Teacher-nim’s silver hair and burst, and Teacher-nim flinched violently.

She screamed. “Your voice is as loud as ever, Teacher-nim.” My ears felt a sharp ringing, but I was used to it. I lightly tossed the plastic bottle, easily scoring it into a distant trash can. *Sizzle*, like meat cooking on a griddle, and finally, Teacher-nim completely melted away.

Goodbye to the superior figure of a twenty-five-year-old woman. What stood before me now was just a girl with the appearance of a high school student. I nodded with a satisfied expression. *Mhm.* *’This is how Teacher-nim should look, after all.’*

*Whiz!* And icicles shot towards me in the form of arrows. They looked ready to pierce my head, so I flinched and had to pull back.

“Damn it, you wanna die…?!” Teacher-nim showed me her palm, her eyes brimming with tears. Her clothes, now relatively larger due to her shrunken stature, hung loosely. Normally, I might have taken off my outer garment and wrapped it around her. But now, it was a little different. I paused for a moment, focusing on Teacher-nim’s face. The moisture welling up around her eyes.

“…Ah.” Did she quickly realize my gaze was on her eyes? Teacher-nim flinched and turned her head away. Of course, I was the type of disciple who was quite persistent… With the mindset that avoiding eye contact didn’t matter, I just pushed my head closer.

And I wondered. *’She’s crying…?’* Crying. Shedding tears? Who? Teacher-nim? *That* Seol Hayeon? The Ice Empress? It was usually an utterly bewildering sight, but of course, as her favorite disciple, I was someone who knew her many secret facets.

Even so, Seol Hayeon shedding tears was an extremely rare sight. With a mix of curiosity and bewilderment, I vaguely scratched my cheek.

“Are you crying?” “…What nonsense are you spouting?” “I see tears.” “Well, sweat can come from the eyes too…”

She was spouting truly ridiculous excuses. I made a subtle expression, my mouth twisting distastefully, and tried to organize my thoughts. Frankly, it was confusing, but there was also a peculiar premonition.

So, why was Seol Hayeon shedding such pathetic tears at this moment, in this place? It was probably a question that no one but the person herself could dare to guess.

*’…Hmm.’* But I thought a little differently. Perhaps I should say that, based on several experiences, this view couldn’t help but change slightly. Maybe it was overconfidence, but no. Think about it.

What was the commonality among those who had burst into emotions I couldn’t easily understand, showing tears or anger in front of me until now? First, they were all women. Second, they were individuals who harbored some kind of feelings for me.

Cheon Soyul after the start of school was like that, and Baek Ayun after the ranking battle was like that. And somehow, Teacher-nim now seemed similar to them. So, to put it bluntly.

*’…No way…’* Somehow, it led to a thought that could be called baseless confidence (?) and self-infatuation. It was an overly presumptive guess that I wouldn’t have even entertained a few months ago.

I feigned a serious expression and stared at Teacher-nim. She was still avoiding my gaze, but she was definitely conscious of it. She was my teacher. Older and superior.

However, the age difference was at most five years… Personally, I didn’t think I was that distant from her. Rather, I thought we were as close as family, and as affectionate as lovers?

So, in fact, my approach to her inevitably differed from how I treated others in many ways. Whether it was a matter of speech or attitude.

“Teacher-nim.” At this moment, my unfiltered, direct words towards Teacher-nim were also part of that. I tilted my head to the side.

“Have you, by any chance, been seeing me as a man all this time?” “…” And all of Teacher-nim’s movements ceased. Not just a ‘pause’, but an absolute ‘halt’.

Everything about her movement swayed unnaturally, as if frozen. Her eyes lost their light and vitality, becoming lifeless. At that point, awkwardness prompted me to try to add something, but…

“Haha.” Fortunately, Teacher-nim also showed a new reaction without delay. Her blue gaze, accompanied by a short, hollow laugh, shifted.

Her blue eyes, which moved with a piercing light as if leaving a long trail, stared at me, and for some reason, they held a rather terrifying emotion. To put it bluntly: shame and resentment.

Her eyes, burning coldly as if asking how I could possibly say such a thing, began to reproach me as if they would devour me. She parted her lips.

“Disciple-nim.” I immediately nodded. “Yes.” “Do you want to die?”

And then I received a death threat. I blinked, momentarily stunned. …Well, such words were hardly new, but…

I was perplexed, not quite understanding the context. So, what exactly was making her ask if I wanted to die? There was no need to ask for the reason. Teacher-nim’s further explanation followed immediately.

“What was the phrase I kept saying as a habit from the beginning?” With burning eyes, she placed her hands on her hips and looked up at me. She seemed to want to project a very threatening expression, but perhaps I should tell her about her current apparent age. It felt like a small Eurasian tree sparrow trying to flutter its wings, not very threatening at all.

“…Hmm, as for a habit…” Regardless, I had to answer the question. I thought for a moment. Of course, my Teacher-nim had several habits of speech. But in this situation, there were probably only a few things worth mentioning. The scope narrowed.

And my intuition and instincts were telling me. That there was surely only one correct answer to this.

I met Teacher-nim’s gaze with a wry expression. She remained stern, arms crossed, as if waiting for an answer. I rolled my eyes. Once up, once down. And once left and right.

Then, returning my gaze to the front, a strong eye-contact with Teacher-nim… With complex and subtle emotions, I scratched the back of my head and let out my voice.

“So, um…” That was, in my opinion, the most likely answer to the question she had asked me. Seol Hayeon’s habitual phrase. I decided to just recite it as it was.

“‘Disciple-nim, do you want to have sex with me?’…?” “…” “…Uh, is that right?”

Even after saying it, I felt a little uncertain and watched Teacher-nim’s reaction. Indeed, she didn’t immediately nod. But she didn’t deny it either. She merely blinked thoughtfully, with the same expression as before.

A short silence flowed. “Disciple-nim.” Soon, Teacher-nim opened her mouth. Her voice and tone were much calmer.

A somewhat awkward smile, which could even be described as trembling slightly, appeared on her lips.

“Why do you think I said such things to you in the first place, Disciple-nim? Was it because I was a woman driven mad by lust?” *’Wasn’t she?’* I momentarily harbored such a thought, but of course, it wasn’t serious. It was more like I was about to retort half-jokingly, but I read the atmosphere and held back. Fortunately, my Teacher-nim, who hadn’t mastered mind-reading, continued speaking.

“It was to smoothly transfer my unique ability to you, wasn’t it? As I’ve repeatedly said, if you acquired my ‘Frozen Core,’ you would surely be able to surpass me.” “Ah.” “Seeing you resist my temptations for five years, even with that incredible ability… What on earth was I thinking, truly…?”

And around that time, I was slightly dumbfounded. Thump. I wanted to refute it. I wanted to say. *No, Teacher-nim.* *But.* *At that time, I was a minor.*

Rather, wasn’t Seol Hayeon, then in her early twenties, who said such crazy things to a minor, the truly insane woman? It was impossible not to think such thoughts. Even if I couldn’t utter them aloud…

With complex emotions I couldn’t quite articulate, I mumbled. It was an awkward time to say anything, so I just tried to look off into the distance, but then Teacher-nim’s next words followed.

“But, Disciple-nim.” Her voice was a little. Chilling.

“If I truly had no feelings for you, Disciple-nim, would I have uttered such insane things every night? While clad in nothing but a flimsy piece of clothing?” “…” I involuntarily shivered, and Teacher-nim took a step closer to me.

Along with slightly heavy footsteps, her unique, pleasant chill wafted strongly towards me.

Her blue eyes stared directly at me. From bottom to top. Without evasion. *Grind!* She softly gritted her teeth, uttering a suppressed voice as if chewing.

“There’s no way that’s true. You damn Disciple-nim.” “…” “You trampled on my pure heart.”

Teacher-nim’s voice changed abruptly. Her eyes instantly sharpened as she glared at me, and at the same time, she began to stir her mana. That, yes. It was a reaction I truly hadn’t expected at all. I couldn’t help but react belatedly.

… … … Stirring mana? *’Ah.’*

“Coincidentally, today’s meeting is the very first reunion between master and disciple since you became an adult, isn’t it?” “…Teacher-nim, wait a moment. What do you mean by that?” “Oh, don’t worry. As you know, I don’t like beating around the bush.”

*Whoosh!* She conjured cold air, and I realized one of my legs had merged with the floor without me even noticing. My clumsy cold resistance was utterly useless before the peak of an ice mage. Having so easily blocked my escape route, Teacher-nim quickly approached right under my chin.

*Smiling sweetly*, she gave a truly light eye-smile.

And then, the most chilling words followed.

“I’m going to take you today.” “…” “If you want to report me, go ahead. It’ll be a fun rumor, won’t it, about how well a master-disciple relationship is going, ahaha…”

To explain it, it was… The time when the moon was about to rise in full. …Deep night was approaching soon.