Chapter Music: "Piano" from the otome game "Cinderella Phenomenon"
It was hot yet a familiar woody smell immediately filled my nostrils. Feeling my body slightly sweaty, I stood up and removed the bed sheets that were wrapped around me. Immediately, my gaze fell on Mr. Astar who was now looking at me as well, for he must have sensed me wake up. He was sitting in an armchair close to the lit fireplace with another large book in his arms. He was lightly dressed just like the previous time I had found myself in that room and, as always, all in black. But I didn't remember the fireplace being lit the last time I opened my eyes, neither the covers enveloping me.
Before I had time to speak, he stood up from his seat and left the bedroom/living room spreading within my field of view. Sensing that there must have been a reason behind his usually peculiar behavior, I decided to wait for him patiently. But then I remembered: Where was Merihem? How much time had I been sleeping and why hadn't they woken me up? From what I could tell, glancing outside the window, it looked as if it was late at night. Even the street lamps outside the building had been turned off.
A few moments later, Mr. Astar returned with a glass of water. He stood expressionless beside the bed and gave it to me.
"Thank you," I said, taken aback by his unexpected kindness and emptied the whole glass. "How did you know I was thirsty?"
"Your face is all red."
Wow. And I almost never get flushed. I must have been hotter than I thought.
"Did you cover me with these?" I pointed to the bed sheets.
He nodded with a sneer: "You're easily cold it seems."
Well, that was true. But, at least, that explained the condition I had woken up in. What I couldn't interpret was that man's sudden change of heart. He still seemed cold and scornful but his grey eyes looked more gentle now. I couldn't stop gazing at them.
"You expect an explanation, correct?" he said in an aloof tone and returned to his armchair.
"You don't have to do this now. I've been sleeping in your bed for a long time. I can leave." Somehow his consideration made me more considerate as well. Although I wished I didn't have to leave just yet.
He only shot me an intimidating glare, demanding that I stay in place.
"If you're willing to tell me, I have no objections," I held back a smile.
"How much do you remember?"
"I suspect that my thoughts were the cause of this."
He reluctantly nodded, urging me to continue. Wasn't he certain?
"I remember that as long as I tried to remain positive, black magic didn't really affect me. But I usually make a lot of associations which leads me to mood swings."
"What did you think and stayed positive?"
"Matters that boost my self-confidence. But this is linked to my whole belief system and past experiences," I hesitated, unsure of whether or not to start such a big conversation.
"The night is yours then," his lips curled into a provocative grin.
"You've changed," I simply stated, wondering why an infamous man like him would ever care about my sensitivities. I could see why he would be concerned as a professor but that was too much for him. The first time that had happened, he didn't even care to visit me while I was in bed.
He has indeed changed, I assured myself when I realized how unreal that felt. Maybe not from one moment to another, but he was definitely much kinder since the first time I saw him. Was it just the usual familiarity one has after getting to know the other? Something was telling me that this wasn't the case. Mr. Astar never seemed to warm up to people even after knowing them for months. Inadvertently, my mind wandered to Luna. He couldn't be so nice to her, could he?
His eyes turned harsh as he raised an eyebrow and said: "Who are you to make assumptions about my mentality?"
That was worse than I expected. Why had he got so defensive all of a sudden? I was merely pointing out the obvious.
"Sorry," I avoided looking at him and fixed my gaze on the floor. "You should be the one to know best."
I couldn't believe that I was so wrong to the extent that I would anger him. Sarcasm was the only natural answer that I could think of. He could deny my words as much as he wanted but I didn't think he was the type of man to lie to himself.
"Look at you following my lead."
When I raised my eyes, I saw that his expression was more amused than expected. He wasn't really angry, was he?
"Your shyness ruins it though," he continued.
"Are you changing the topic?" I tried to remain as polite as I could. He was still my professor and nothing much had changed to give me the right to speak to him as if he was a friend (and behaving as though he was something more was out of the question).
"Do you think I've changed? Prove it," he scoffed.
He was definitely aware that he was different towards me, compared to the start. But if I tried to prove it, it would appear as if I was implying that he had started to fall in love with me – something that sounded ridiculous in my head. There was no way I could imply such a thing.
That man. That's what he counts on.
Seeing that I had decided to stay silent, he went on with an even more arrogant expression "You're like an open book right now, you know."
"Really? And what are you reading?" it was about time I asked a similar question.
"Are you sure you want me to say it out loud?" he challenged me.
Why was I so confident about this? How could I make it appear convincing that I didn't like him but there was an eventuality that he did? This conversation had derailed to the point I was wishing it could get back on track.
"Sure," I replied, finally, but choked on the word. Who was I trying to fool?
"I see," he only said with a sad smile and didn't drag it any further. He seemed to have got the answer he wanted.
Oh no. What answer had I given him? His unusual perceptive skills couldn't stop embarrassing me. But why would the conclusion he had come into cause him sadness? I was curious to find out what he was thinking about but decided not to insist for fear that I would expose myself even more.
"The effect of black magic on your body was worse than the previous time," he suddenly changed the subject in a flat voice, as if nothing had happened. "So your friend and I gave you some of our energy."
I cannot say that I didn't suspect things to be bad, but for some reason, I had been foolishly feeling safer this time. He did save me after all. I wasn't sure what to ask first.
"Thanks," I spoke in a troubled voice. "Is Merihem alright?" His joke from before wasn't reassuring at all.
For a moment, he narrowed his eyes at my question but went on to answer me: "He's fine. He went back to his apartment a couple of hours ago."
"He didn't collapse, did he?"
"What if he did?" I could see in his eyes an answer I didn't like.
"He did?!" So he was only kidding about Astaroth strangling him.
"There's no way he can be harmed if he's the one giving you energy. The moment he loses his senses he stops draining himself and his body grows stronger again."
"So you–"
"I obviously couldn't stop myself on time when you collapsed," he correctly guessed my thoughts "The harm I caused to your body after that point was immense. But it could have been worse," he remained pensive for a while.
"But how is this possible? Weren't you saying that you could control your magic?"
He simply looked at me, his grey eyes piercing through mine, "I could. But I didn't really expect this to happen." A solemn expression was carved on his face.
I furrowed my brows, "I'm sorry but I don't think I understand."
"You don't need to. And don't speak of this to anyone."
"Why?" Despite the warm feeling that shared secret aroused in me, I couldn't help my curiosity which was growing stronger and stronger.
"I'm not going to tell you. Don't make me threaten you."
I stayed silent trying to figure it out on my own but no explanation came to mind.
"You can ask other questions if you want," he said after a while and his gaze turned to the fire that was burning silently.
Just like the previous time, he seemed deep in thought. However, he didn't look as distant as back then. I still believed that his attitude towards me had changed somehow. But there had always seemed to be a wall around him, keeping everyone away. Only time would tell what would become of it.
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