Chapter 331: How a Sweet Drink Turned Into a Social Disaster [3]

For a while, none of us spoke.

The noise of the others faded into the background—Leona’s dramatic sniffles, Nora’s quiet humming as she drank water, Violet giggling at nothing in particular. It all felt distant, like I was standing behind a thin pane of glass.

My father cleared his throat.

"So," he said, eyes fixed somewhere over my shoulder, "you’ve... made friends."

I followed his gaze. Leo was pretending not to watch us. Pretending badly.

"Unfortunately," I replied. "They’re loud, irresponsible, and terrible at handling alcohol."

Rachel let out a small snort before she could stop herself. She quickly covered her mouth, then looked away.

My father blinked. Then, to my surprise, the corner of his mouth twitched.

"...You sound like your mother."

That caught me off guard. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

I didn’t respond right away. I wasn’t sure how. The name carried weight—memories I didn’t fully own, emotions that felt borrowed and yet painfully real.

"I’ll take that as a compliment," I said finally.

He nodded, as if relieved I hadn’t shut down. "Good."

Another pause. Shorter this time. Less suffocating.

Rachel shifted her weight. "You know," she said carefully, "when we heard you were lost in the dungeon, Father was worried sick. He just... didn’t know how to say it without making it worse."

I see. So she’s talking about that time when I found myself in dungeon during our club trip.

"I did make it worse," he admitted quietly. "I always do."

I glanced at him. His shoulders were stiff, posture too straight—like a man waiting for a verdict. For a moment, he didn’t look like someone powerful or frightening.

He just looked tired.

"...You don’t have to fix everything at once," I said. "You know that, right?"

He looked at me then. Properly this time.

"I don’t," he said honestly. "That’s the problem."

Something in my chest loosened.

Maybe it wasn’t forgiveness. Maybe it wasn’t understanding. But it was... a start.

Rachel exhaled softly, as if she’d been holding her breath this entire time. "Well," she said, forcing some lightness into her voice, "this is awkward, but I’m glad we’re not yelling."

"Give it time," I replied. "Leon might start another incident."

Right on cue—

"I’m telling you, this fabric is EVIL—!"

"LEON."

She froze at the sound of my voice, then slowly sat back down, sulking.

"...He’s scary when he’s calm," she muttered.

Leo finally approached, glass in hand. "I see peace negotiations are progressing."

"Don’t push it," I said.

He smiled anyway. "I won’t. But for what it’s worth—" he glanced at my father, then back at me, "—you’re doing better than you think."

I wasn’t sure if he meant tonight... or my life in general.

My father hesitated, then spoke again. "Rin. When this is over—when you’re ready—I’d like to talk. Properly. No assumptions. No orders."

I met his gaze.

"...I’ll think about it."

That was enough for now.

The night wasn’t fixed. Neither were we.

There were still questions I didn’t have answers to—about the past, about the future, about the role I was playing in a story that refused to follow its original script.

But for the first time in a long while, the weight didn’t feel crushing.

Just heavy.

Manageable.

I leaned back, listening to the messy, imperfect noise of people who—somehow—had become important to me.

Yeah.

I had a lot to do.

But maybe... I didn’t have to do it alone.

----

Frustrating.

Lena exhaled softly and leaned back in her chair.

She was still at the academy, working overtime long after most of the lights in the faculty building had gone out.

The stack of exams beside her desk had finally thinned, but her shoulders ached from sitting too long, and her eyes burned from staring at papers filled with cramped handwriting.

The exams had just ended, and on top of grading, she still had to catch up on all the work she had deliberately put off back when she claimed she had "free time" while following Rin around.

"...This is exhausting."

She rubbed her temples and glanced at her phone.

Earlier, she had received a message from Rachel.

According to the text, Rachel’s father had invited Rin’s friends over today. Lena had declined immediately, assuming it was meant to be a private family gathering. She hadn’t wanted to intrude.

But now...

If she had known she would end up buried in paperwork and alone in her office like this, she might have postponed grading for just one day.

"...What am I even thinking?"

Lena let out a short, self-deprecating laugh.

It was ridiculous.

No matter how much she felt that she had been losing her self-control lately, there were still lines she shouldn’t cross.

She was a professor. Rin was a cadet. Chasing after him or rearranging her responsibilities because of him was completely inappropriate.

She straightened her back.

She had always taken pride in her ability to restrain herself. Desires were meant to be controlled, not indulged.

Compared to that, this kind of impulse should have been easy to suppress.

"...Still."

Her fingers paused above the keyboard.

"It’s a shame, though."

That feeling of disappointment refused to fade, no matter how rational she tried to be about it.

She glanced at her phone again.

"...He’d probably hate it if I suddenly showed up later for a home visit, wouldn’t he?"

The thought alone made her frown slightly.

Honestly, following him on that trip already felt like too much when she thought back on it. At the time, she had justified it as supervision. As protection. As necessity.

But Rin’s words afterward still lingered in her mind.

— No? We were saved thanks to you, Professor.

— There might’ve been casualties in the dungeon if it weren’t for Professor Lena.

— Hehe, you’re the best, sister.

"...That last one..."

She blinked.

"...No, that had to be my imagination, right?"

Lena tried to recall it more clearly, but her thoughts felt sluggish. After working nonstop for several days, her concentration was clearly deteriorating.

She shook her head and reached for another paper.

"Phew... I’m almost done."

The silence of the office was broken only by the faint scratching of her pen.

When she finally placed the last graded exam onto the pile, she slumped forward slightly.

"Ah... finally done."

The grading hell that had been tormenting her for days was finally over.

She glanced around the empty office.

Other professors usually had assistants handle this kind of work.

She didn’t.

Either because she never asked for one, or because she didn’t think she needed one. In the end, it always meant doing everything herself.

She picked up her phone again.

Should I call him?

She hesitated.

Would it be strange to contact Rin now and ask whether he was having fun with his friends?

Rachel had mentioned earlier that the atmosphere had been tense for a while.

Apparently, something awkward had come up between Rin and the others.

’Maybe I should’ve gone after all...’

If she had been there, she could’ve mediated. Smoothed things over. At least made sure nothing escalated.

Her thumb hovered over the screen.

Just then, her phone vibrated.

----

Rachel:

> Professor, are you still at the academy?

----

Lena blinked, then replied.

----

Lena:

> I just finished grading. Is something wrong?

----

There was a brief pause.

----

Rachel:

> Not really wrong... it’s just kind of awkward here.

Rin’s trying to act normal, but you can tell he’s tense.

----

Lena’s lips pressed into a thin line.

----

Lena:

> Did something happen between him and the others?

----

Rachel:

----

> A little. Leo said something careless, and Kiera snapped back.

Ryan tried to joke it away, but it didn’t really work.

---

She could almost picture the scene.

Rin standing quietly to the side. Leo looking apologetic but stubborn. Kiera clearly irritated. Ryan forcing a laugh to keep things from falling apart. Violet probably taking Leo’s side.

Lena sighed.

----

Lena:

> I see.

----

After that there’s wasn’t any reply from Rachel.

"Maybe I just should go home and rest."

As soon she said those words.

Lena suddenly started to feel dizzy.