Chapter 13: Forbidden Warmth and Chalk Dust [1]
When the morning sun filtered through the curtains and hit Alicia's face, the young girl was in the sweetest part of a deep and dreamless sleep.
As her consciousness slowly surfaced, the first thing she felt was an unfamiliar warmth and peace.
She was used to waking up alone, in a fetal position, in the hard beds of the orphanage or in this cold dorm room. But this morning was different.
There was something soft, alive, and warm in her arms. The scent of lavender soap and fresh cleanliness filled her nose.
Before opening her eyes, Alicia buried her head further into that softness.
She rubbed her face against that warmth. It was as if she were hugging a giant, living plush teddy bear.
She had thrown one leg over the other, wrapping her arms tightly. And from the other side, a slender arm was loosely wrapped around her waist.
"How comfortable..." she murmured in a sleepy voice.
However, seconds later, her brain began to analyze the source of this warmth.
This was not a pillow. This was not a teddy bear. This... was breathing.
Alicia's eyes suddenly flew wide open.
The first thing she saw was that jet-black hair, dark as night, resting right at the tip of her nose.
And just below it, a marble-white neck gently rising and falling with regular breathing.
Abyss.
That "safe distance" pillow she had placed between them last night had been leveled to the ground at some point during the night.
Alicia had snuggled up to Abyss like a cat seeking warmth in its sleep, swaddling him like a quilt. And Abyss hadn't objected to this; in fact, he had rested his head on Alicia's shoulder in his sleep.
The blood rushing to Alicia's cheeks turned her whole face into a tomato.
She wanted to pull herself back in panic, but as she moved, her eyes caught the clock on the wall.
Gasp!
Her breath caught in her throat. The clock showed that there were only fifteen minutes left until class started.
The spell of that "romantic" or "embarrassing" moment gave way to pure panic.
Alicia gently untangled her arms, taking care not to wake Abyss. She slipped out of bed silently like a snake. She shivered when her feet touched the cold floor, but she had no time to stop.
Abyss shifted slightly with the loss of warmth, burying his face in the pillow, but didn't wake up.
Those black lashes were still peacefully closed.
Alicia ran to the bathroom and splashed ice-cold water on her face.
While brushing her teeth, she was trying to fix her hair at the same time.
When she returned to the room, putting on her uniform happened at record speed. She buttoned her shirt, pulled up her skirt, straightened her socks.
She didn't even have time to look in the mirror. She grabbed her bag and headed for the door.
She stopped at the last moment. She looked at the bed, at Abyss forming a small mound under the quilt.
"Don't you dare get into mischief," she whispered, knowing she wouldn't be heard. "Behave. I'll be right back."
And she quietly closed the door, throwing herself into the corridor.
Her lungs were burning as she ran through the corridors, but Alicia didn't stop.
When she burst through the main building's massive oak doors, the final echoes of the class bell were still hanging in the air.
She was out of breath when she reached her classroom door. She cracked the door open and slipped inside. Luckily, Professor Monica hadn't arrived yet.
But the class... was full.
The moment Alicia stepped inside, the hum in the classroom was cut like a knife. Dozens of pairs of eyes turned to the red-haired girl at the door.
After yesterday's "fiasco," the school's agenda was clear. The whisper gazette had already thrown its headlines in the corridors.
There were three names being talked about.
First; that mysterious, SSS Rank summoner Darius Blackwood from Class B. Rumor had it he summoned a "Void Dragon" and was already declared the new king of the academy.
Second; Aster Luciano and his dazzling Phoenix in Alicia's class.
And third... The name at the bottom of the list, the subject of mockery: Alicia Emberlune. That girl who summoned an obscure "child" who couldn't even be called F Rank.
Alicia kept her head high, trying not to be crushed under the weight of these stares. As she walked to her desk, whispers surrounded her like poisonous snakes.
"Look who's here... The babysitter." "Did you hear? The thing she summoned doesn't even have an ability." "I bet she threw that thing onto the street immediately. Someone carrying Emberlune blood can't tolerate such weakness."
Pretending not to hear these voices, Alicia went to her seat in the back row, by the window.
However, Seraphina sitting in the front row wasn't one to miss this opportunity.
While gently stroking the twin-tailed mystic fox with silky fur in her lap, she turned her head back. There was pure delight in her violet eyes.
"Good morning, Alicia," she said, her voice so sweet it could rot teeth. "Your eyes are puffy. Did you cry all night thinking about what to do with that 'thing'? Oh honey, I wish you had asked an animal shelter, maybe they would have accepted it."
A few people in the class giggled.
Alicia didn't answer. She dropped her bag on the desk, took out her notebook and book. She fixed her eyes on the wooden patterns on the table.
"I don't have time to deal with you, Seraphina," she said.
Just then, the door opened sharply and Professor Monica entered with her green hair and high heels, radiating an authoritative aura.
The class instantly fell into silence. Even Seraphina had to turn around.
The lesson had begun.