I Became a Kindergarten Teacher for Monster Babies!-Chapter 542 I am so scared

The chamber felt less confident now.

The elders were no longer laughing, no longer scheming with cruel satisfaction, no longer congratulating themselves on their brilliant plan. Instead, they were pacing. Back and forth, back and forth, like caged animals sensing a coming storm.

"Look," Elder Hellder said urgently, gesturing toward the small collection of items they had awkwardly placed beside her earlier. A delicate silver bracelets. A soft silk shawl in pale blue. A few jeweled hairpins that looked antique and expensive. "When Lord Dante comes, you are going to say we took care of you. That we treated you well. That we were respectful hosts who merely invited you for a visit."

He pointed at the bracelet now loosely hanging around Alina’s wrist, the silver catching the torchlight.

"We even gifted you things. Expensive things. Host gifts."

Alina sat on the edge of the bed, legs crossed comfortably, staring at her fingernails as if they were infinitely more interesting than the three ancient demons arguing around her.

She tilted her hand slightly, inspecting a tiny chip in her pale pink polish.

"Hm."

Elder Roman’s jaw tightened visibly. His horns seemed to gleam sharper in the flickering light.

Elder Haron folded his arms sharply, his weathered face creased with irritation.

"We did not harm you," Roman said defensively, stepping closer to the bed. "We did not even mistreat you! Not a single hair on your head is out of place. You are in the finest chamber. On the softest bed. With silk sheets!"

Alina slowly lifted her gaze toward them.

Her eyes shimmered faintly, catching the light in a way that made her look suddenly vulnerable.

"But..." she whispered, drawing the word out.

They stiffened collectively.

"But what?" Haron snapped, his patience already thin.

She sniffed softly, her lower lip trembling just enough to look convincingly distressed.

"You made me scared."

The elders blinked in unison.

"I am so scared," she continued, her voice small and shaky. "You are all very scary elders. First you bring me to unknown place while I am unconscious. Very scary. Then you stand around my bed staring at me while I sleep. Extremely scary. Then you laugh loudly at my confusion."

She pointed directly at Roman.

"Especially you. Your laugh is the scariest."

Roman looked deeply offended, his chest puffing up.

"I do not laugh loudly. I have a dignified laugh. Refined. Centuries of practice."

"You do laugh loudly," Hellder muttered. "It echoes."

"It does not echo."

"It echoed just now. In my head. Still echoing."

Alina wiped at imaginary tears, her shoulders shaking faintly with suppressed emotion.

"And now you are looking at me with your... scary faces," she added weakly, gesturing vaguely at all of them.

Elder Haron turned to the others with genuine confusion.

"Are our faces scary? I never considered this."

Roman bristled indignantly. "This is my natural face. I was born with it. It is not scary, it is distinguished."

"It is frightening," Hellder muttered under his breath. "The horns do not help."

"Your horns are bigger than mine!"

"Yes, but mine curve gracefully. Yours jut aggressively."

Alina covered her mouth with her hand as if suppressing another sob.

"I thought I was going to be sacrificed," she added dramatically, her voice cracking perfectly. "I thought you were going to drain my blood or offer me to dark gods or make me clean your tower forever."

All three elders spoke at once, voices overlapping in protest.

"We would never—"

"That was not discussed—"

"Sacrifice is outdated and inefficient—"

She looked up at them with wide, watery eyes, tears threatening to spill.

"Promise?"

"Yes!" Roman snapped, throwing his hands up. "We did not sacrifice you. We did not even scratch you. Not a single scratch!"

"That is true," Hellder added quickly, nodding vigorously. "We made sure you were comfortable. I personally checked the mattress. Very firm, very supportive."

Haron gestured awkwardly toward the luxurious bed, the velvet curtains, the ornate furniture.

"And we placed you in the best chamber. This is the guest of honor room. Important visitors stay here."

Alina sniffed again, dabbing at her eyes with the edge of the silk sheet.

"You covered my face with cloth."

"That was ceremonial silk," Roman protested. "It is expensive. Antique. We were being respectful."

"I could not breathe properly," she mumbled, looking down.

Hellder looked genuinely alarmed. "You could breathe. The silk is breathable. I checked."

"I panicked," she replied quietly, her voice small. "When you wake up and cannot see and do not know where you are, you panic. It is a human thing."

The elders looked at one another, exchanging uncomfortable glances.

Roman cleared his throat stiffly, adjusting his robes.

"We... may have miscalculated the human emotional threshold. Slightly."

Haron pinched the bridge of his nose hard enough to leave a mark.

"Listen carefully," Hellder said, crouching slightly to be closer to her eye level. His voice took on a pleading edge. "When Lord Dante arrives, and he will arrive because he is terrifying and we all know it, you will tell him we were respectful. You will say we did not hurt you. You will mention the gifts. The comfortable bed. The breathable silk."

Alina blinked slowly, her expression unreadable.

"And if I do not?"

The room grew colder.

Roman’s eyes darkened faintly, his ancient power flickering at the edges.

"You will," he said, his voice dropping to something more threatening.

She stared at him for a long second.

Then her expression shifted.

The tears vanished completely, like someone had flipped a switch. Her spine straightened. Her eyes cleared. The vulnerable human act dropped away, leaving something calmer underneath.

"But I cannot lie," she said simply, folding her hands in her lap.

All three elders froze.

"You cannot lie?" Haron repeated, his brow furrowing.

She shook her head slowly.

"I am a teacher."

They stared at her as if that explained absolutely nothing.

She tilted her head slightly, meeting their gaze with innocent directness.

"If he asks me if I was scared, I cannot say no. That would be lying. Teachers do not lie. It sets a bad example."

Roman’s eye twitched. "You were not harmed."