I Became an Unknown Professor at the Academy

As Claire’s body fell back with a loud clatter, it suddenly sprang up into the air.
“Ky, Ky, Shwit–!”
Her face turned bright red as she tried to call out to me, but she bit her tongue again and clamped her hands over her mouth. Before I could say anything, a faint light emanated from her body.
“Ahem.”
In an instant, she gathered the light and coughed softly, feigning nonchalance as if nothing had happened.
She had shown me so many different sides of herself in such a short time.
A smile naturally formed on my lips.
Even the slightest sound made my head throb, and my body felt heavy as if weighed down by chains. With each breath, it felt like a sharp object was piercing my lungs.
But the impact of her presence on me was stronger than all of that combined, enough to make me forget about those pains for a moment.
‘Is she also affecting me…?’
Claire, with her beautiful face flushed slightly, didn’t know what to say, so she just waited for me to speak first.
Looking at her, I felt my lips curling upwards as if I were looking at Baek Hana, who sometimes did silly things and then got flustered.
It was a clear sign that my emotions had changed.
‘…It’s strange.’
I hadn’t ruled out the possibility, but I never expected that the emotions that were suppressed thanks to Emptiness would affect me now.
I pushed aside the subtle sensation, not sure if it was from the pain or the strange change, and got up.
“Ky, Professor…”
“I’m fine.”
My body had recovered enough for me to walk if I used my magic, although I would have to endure the accompanying pain.
“If you don’t mind, could you get me a cup of coffee?”
“…I’ll bring it right away.”
She turned around with wide eyes.
Clatter.
“Ah…”
Her foot caught on the chair she had tripped over, and her body leaned forward.
Whoosh!
With a gentle breeze, Claire’s body spun in the air and landed gracefully over the chair.
Swish, thud.
She quickly righted the chair and left the room with quick steps.
“Phew.”
As soon as she left, the subsided pain began to flare up again.
‘…This will take quite some time.’
If I wanted to be active right away, it would take about a month.
‘If I push myself a little more, two weeks should be enough.’
‘As for my strength…’
At the moment, my body was so damaged that I couldn’t make a proper judgment. However, even after a full recovery, it would be difficult to regain my former strength.
My body was based on my soul, after all.
Since a part of my soul, which was the foundation of my body, had been torn away and diluted, it would affect other parts of my body as well. But it wasn’t a problem. This was also an expected outcome, and with this incident, I had gained some control over Greed. I would be able to fill the weakened parts and more.
‘The risk is significant, but I can still handle it. More importantly, I have…’
I raised my head and looked at the door.
Not long after, the door opened, and Claire, who had left in a hurry, returned with a tray carrying a steaming cup of tea.
“Here you are…”
Without a word, I took the cup she handed me and sipped the coffee, which smelled familiar. The thirst in my tongue and throat was quenched, but my still-recovering insides ached.
But that was only for a moment.
The raging pain began to dull again with her appearance. It was a truly incomprehensible phenomenon; I couldn’t understand why my own body was changing without my knowledge.
‘How amusing.’
But it was a good kind of amusement.
“You’re too far away. Come a little closer.”
“…Yes.”
She had been sitting a few steps away, but now she carefully pulled the chair closer to the bed. However, she adjusted it so that she was facing sideways, not directly at me.
“Claire.”
“…Yes.”
Her voice was slightly tense.
“The festival is over.”
“…Yes, it is.”
I heard her swallow, and from her reaction, it seemed she hadn’t forgotten what I had said that day.
“I said that after the festival, I would give you the answer I had been putting off.”
“…Yes.”
Her voice trembled slightly.
“But before that, there’s something I’d like you to hear.”
“…A story?”
Her blue eyes, which had been avoiding my gaze, finally turned back to me.
I looked into her eyes, which, unlike usual, were filled with raw emotion, and spoke words that would dash her expectations.
“The time I can stay by your side is not long.”
“…What?”
Her eyes widened slightly, and her face came closer. I continued, looking into her trembling blue eyes.
“Five years, maybe even less.”
“No, Professor…?”
She came closer, as if she didn’t understand what I was saying. I placed my hand on her cheek, which was now close enough to touch. The warmth of her skin gradually seeped into my cold hand.
“It’s something I decided a long time ago.”
“Why…?”
“Because it’s necessary.”
I forced my still-uncomfortable arm to move and slowly stroked her beautiful golden hair.
“Claire.”
“…”
She didn’t respond.
I called her name again, looking into her unsteady eyes.
“Claire.”
“Yes.”
She didn’t blush at all as I caressed her cheek and stroked her hair. She just looked at me with sad eyes.
“After I leave, I don’t want you to look for me. I don’t know if you’ll listen to me then, but…”
“I won’t listen.”
“Is that so?”
For some reason, I laughed.
I tidied her hair that had fallen over her face.
“Maybe, if you’re really lucky, you’ll find a human who looks just like me, so much so that you might mistake them for me. But… that won’t be me. I hope you won’t be too disappointed then.”
“That…”
Her lips, which had opened slightly, clamped shut.
I, too, held back my words.
“Hana…”
The name that came out of her tightly clenched lips was his.
“She’s an adult now. She can take care of herself.”
“She’ll be very, very sad.”
“Yes, she might be happy that she can be independent.”
“She’s not that kind of person.”
“Right.”
I lowered my arm, which had lost its warmth, with difficulty.
“But she won’t be as sad as you think.”
Neither you nor Baek Hana.
A slight smile appeared on my face as I looked at Claire’s face, which showed anger beyond sadness.
I didn’t add that I was entrusting her to him.
She loved and cherished that white lump even more than I did.
“Claire.”
Her blue eyes, now free of trembling, looked at me with even more intensity.
“I’ll leave one day.”
“Yes.”
Her voice was no longer trembling.
“Do you still feel the same way as before?”
“Yes.”
And she answered with determination, as if declaring to me.
“Sometimes I might use you.”
“If that’s what you wish.”
A response without a moment’s hesitation.
“You’ll regret it.”
“That’s also my choice.”
As if she were taking revenge on me.
“Come closer.”
“…”
She blinked her blue eyes a few times, slightly surprised, and leaned towards me.
“A little closer.”
“…”
She approached me cautiously, slowly placing her hand on the bed.
Slick.
The hair I had just tidied fell down, tickling the back of my hand.
“Claire.”
“Yes.”
Her breath touched me.
“I’m going to give you the answer I put off then.”
“Gladly.”
She closed her eyes as she rested her forehead against mine.
I turned my head to meet her slightly trembling lips with mine.
Just to confirm each other’s feelings.
Very briefly.
“It tastes like coffee.”
“Because I just drank coffee.”
I showed her the cup of coffee that was still half-full.
“Excuse me.”
In a short moment, she blushed and took the cup from my hand, setting it aside. Then she leaned towards me again, even closer than before.
She rested her forehead against mine again and shyly moved her lips.
“Once more…”
“Gladly.”
A short, heavy breath escaped.
Our lips slowly drew closer.
“Mmm…”
Her long eyelashes trembled.
“Haa…”
“It’s okay to breathe.”
“I, I know that…”
She still kept her forehead against mine, her face flushed, and averted her gaze as if pouting. But it didn’t last long, and she looked at me again.
“Can I… take off your glasses?”
“It’s a secret from Baek Hana.”
“Yes.”
Claire’s hand reached out and lifted my glasses.
“You’re beautiful.”
My face was reflected in her blue eyes.
She looked into my eyes for a while, then averted her gaze as if suddenly feeling embarrassed.
“I want to be your lingering attachment.”
She looked back at me, coming even closer.
“I want to make you stop and turn around at least once…”
She hugged me, burying her head in my shoulder.
“I want to leave my mark… my mark on you…”
I didn’t respond.
I just gently hugged her trembling waist.