<h4>Ch. 181 The Academy’s Secret Lovers (2)</h4>


    When Ste woke again, it was bright everywhere.


    ‘Did I fall asleep...?’


    She felt miserable and blinked a few times, then moved her stiff body.


    “Ah...”


    She looked up, and realized that her head was propped up by something.


    And that something, of course, was Professor Hill’s shoulder.


    “S-sorry!”


    Ste was startled into awareness and swiftly apologized. Idiot! She didn’t want to be a nuisance to the professor, but she had done it again.


    “I’m so sorry! Was I heavy? You were supposed to be busy, but because of me—”


    “It’s no problem.”


    A calm answer returned in between her flurry of confused words. Ste fell silent again, and the professor extinguished the remaining embers in the firece.


    “Perhaps Miss Lapis...”


    “...”


    “You’d better go back to the dormitory to get your rest.”


    And with that, Professor Hill nodded and left the kitchen first. His hurried pace made it clear that he was eager to get back to work.


    Ste looked at the firece where there was not even a single ember left, and sat down in front of it.


    ‘The professor hurried out without even looking at me...’


    She must have been a terrible inconvenience to him. What should she do?


    *


    *


    *


    Since that day, Ste did not go to the greenhouse. Each day she tried to force her feet to walk there, she remembered Professor Hill’s troubled face. She may have been right in her assumption that she wasn’t wee.


    Ste became upset and embarrassed each time. It was a familiar feeling now.


    ‘I think I expected to be special to the professor.’


    She had assumed that theirmon factor—Professor Lassen—would be something that brought them together. But that was just a painful memory. Why did she only realize that now?


    ‘The professor is kind to everyone.’


    Ste had mistaken it for favoritism, and the delusion had grown from autumn until now.


    ‘How many months...’


    Ste pulled out the handkerchief Professor Hill had given to her long ago. It was white and freshly cleaned, unlike the day when he reluctantly gave it to her.


    ‘He was so sweet when he didn’t want to give up because it was smudged.’


    Ste rose from her seat, holding on to her cherished memories. She had to return this handkerchief. It would be even more awkward the longer she held onto it.


    Ste braved the cold wind outside, but when she arrived at his ssroom it was empty. His teacher’s assistant informed her that the professor was in the infirmary since yesterday because he wasn’t feeling well.


    “Is there anything you want me to give to him?”


    The assistant looked at her kindly, but Ste clutched at the handkerchief.


    “N-nothing. Thank you.”


    The reply came out easily. She was a fool and a liar.


    *


    *


    *


    Ste tentatively arrived at the infirmary, but she was able to find Professor Hill without difficulty. Coincidentally, he was asleep in the same bed that she hadid in before. He didn’t know that of course, and she scolded herself for being so self-conscious.


    Ste looked around at the immediate surroundings. Even when the professor was sick, he still busied himself with piles of books and notes at his bedside table. She wished he could just get some rest.


    A booky on his bed, and she carefully picked it up and set it on a stool along with the handkerchief. She looked back at the professor, but found there was still another problem aside from the books.


    ‘He’s thinks he’s being stylish when he sleeps!’


    No he’s not! He was sleeping with his sses on.


    ‘Isn’t it inconvenient? ’


    Ste never wore sses, but she thought it might befortable sleeping with something on your face.


    Ste looked around for a moment. She wasn’t going to do anything bad, but her heart was pounding wildly in her chest. She carefully lifted both arms of the sses off his ears.


    ‘P-Professor, I’m sorry!’


    After making an unnecessary apology, she slowly began pulling the sses away, revealing his face.


    ‘His eyshes...are long.’


    As she had that thought, Professor Hill’s brow furrowed. Ste froze with the sses only midway off his face.


    ‘He’s not waking up, is he?’


    Fortunately, his eyes remained closed.


    Ste breathed a sigh of relief, and began pulling away the sses again.


    Just a little more, a little more.


    After a moment of nail-biting concentration, she managed to take the sses off without waking him up.


    “Huuu.”


    Ste gave another relieved exhale.


    ‘If I ce them on the stool, he can easily find them after he wakes up...’


    Suddenly, something caught her wrist.


    Startled, Ste looked down at the professor as she held his sses. His green irises werepletely visible, and their gazes met. His grip tightened on her wrist.