Chapter 81: The Youngest Professor’s Secret Longings

Magic Tower Room 707. There lives a young mage.

The owner of the research lab is Presia Gatina.

Although she is only 16 years old—a very young age—she is an exceptional talent recognized by the Emperor for her aptitude, earning the title of the youngest professor at the academy.

Presia’s daily routine is quite ordinary.

She sleeps soundly on the couch of her research lab, which doubles as her dormitory, until one of her assistants, Tokeng, wakes her up.

Of course, she doesn’t wake up gracefully.

She often grumbles and rolls around for a while. Sometimes, she even resists by lightly kicking Tokeng, the one disturbing her sleep, before finally getting up.

Originally, it was Gomteng who bore the brunt of her kicks. But after Tokeng took over, all her kicks were redirected toward him.

Once she’s finally awake, Presia relies on Gomteng’s assistance to get ready for the day.

Washing her face, shampooing, drying her hair, changing clothes—everything.

Only after completing these preparations does Presia manage to shake off the remnants of sleep.

Her destination varies daily, depending on the class she is scheduled to teach.

It could be a specialized course for the Department of Magic or a foundational course for other departments.

Although these weren’t part of her schedule during the first semester, she accepted the inconvenience just to see her.

“Alright, you just need to do it like this.”

Due to the nature of the Swordsmanship Department, basic magic classes are only a few hours a week. Even with the hassle, the time Presia gets to spend is incredibly limited.

Because of this, she always sticks close to her during class, practically providing one-on-one tutoring in magic.

All the students in her class are aware of Presia’s favoritism but choose not to comment on it.

This is partly because she is a well-liked student in the class, but it’s also largely due to Presia’s own popularity among the students.

Despite being younger than most of them, the students simply find her adorable as she stands at the podium, teaching with all her might.

With her small stature, she often stretches her arms to write on the high chalkboard, drawing involuntary smiles from her students.

This sentiment knows no bounds—whether male or female, from any department or year.

Of course, not everyone views her favorably. There are students who dislike her, but even they remain subdued with just a few gestures from her.

However, there is one student whom even Presia cannot handle.

“El, you just need to do it like this.”

“Ah, okay.”

“Celian, shouldn’t you master the basics before moving on? Practice a bit more—”

Whoosh!

Before Presia could finish her sentence, flames erupted from Celian’s fingertips.

It was the magic Presia had just taught and asked the students to practice.

“Well, if you’ve got that down, let’s move on to the next spell—”

“How about this?”

“Then the next—”

“Like this?”

“The next—”

Presia kept escalating the complexity of the spells she taught Celian, but Celian executed them flawlessly, without hesitation.

Although Elysia was the chosen hero, Celian, once a strong candidate for the position, exhibited extraordinary skill in magic.

Even though Presia and Celian spent much of the class bickering over Elysia, the rest of the students continued to watch with warm expressions.

Everyone, that is, except for Elysia.

“Um, like this… does this work?”

Hoping to end the not-quite-argument between the two, Elysia timidly conjured a flame at her fingertips, attempting to complete her assigned task.

“Brilliant! As expected, Elysia, you’re remarkable.”

“Wow! That’s amazing, El. To think it’s your first time learning magic, yet you handle it so effortlessly…”

Their overwhelming praise drowned out Elysia, leaving her speechless.

And, as a third reminder, the rest of the students merely looked on with delighted expressions.

When all the classes concluded and the students began heading home, one might think that Presia’s day was over too.

But no, this is when Presia’s most important time begins.

“Welcome back.”

“Then, I’ll excuse myself, Boss.”

At least three times a week, Presia summons Elysia under the pretext of experiments.

“Hello, Gomteng, Tokeng!”

As soon as Elysia enters, Gomteng and Tokeng eagerly circle around her, warmly welcoming her.

Of course, watching the two familiars whirl around Elysia, Presia feels a strong desire to join in, but she exercises extreme self-control to resist the temptation.

“There’s no experiment to conduct today. Since you’re here, have some tea before you go.”

At Presia’s words, Gomteng skillfully pours the tea.

He even takes it a step further, handing the teacup directly to Elysia.

Sip.

Following Elysia, who was enjoying her tea, Presia also lifts her teacup to her lips. However, her attention is focused more on Elysia than on the tea itself.

“Oh? Did you change the tea leaves?”

“Yes, I got a new batch recently. Do you like it?”

“It’s very refreshing. It would go wonderfully with some dessert.”

Hearing this, Presia discreetly lowers her hand under the table, sending a quick signal to Tokeng and Gomteng.

Receiving her cue, Tokeng swiftly retrieves a box of premium cookies from the cupboard and sets them on the table.

“Now that I think about it, we had some cookies gifted to us recently. Let’s have them together.”

“Oh, thank you!”

Though Presia told Elysia the cookies were a gift, Tokeng had actually waited in line for hours outside a famous bakery to get them.

“Wow! Boss, you should try some too. They’re really delicious.”

“Alright, let’s see.”

Encouraged by Elysia, Presia takes one of the cookies and pops it into her mouth.

As Elysia had said, the already sweet and delicious cookie paired beautifully with the refreshing tea.

However, Presia only eats one cookie, refraining from having more.

Instead, she simply watches Elysia enjoy the cookies with great enthusiasm.

“Oh no, I ate too much, didn’t I? Hehe…”

Reaching for another cookie, Elysia hesitates upon realizing there’s only one piece left.

“I-I’ve had enough, so you should have the last one, Boss.”

Elysia picks up the last cookie and offers it to Presia.

Normally, Presia would have insisted on letting Elysia have it. However, since Elysia was personally handing it to her, the situation was different.

“Ahh.”

Instead of reaching for the cookie, Presia opens her mouth expectantly.

If it had been anyone else, Elysia might have been flustered or hesitant, but Presia was an exception.

Elysia’s fingers, still holding the cookie, ended up in Presia’s mouth.

Nibble.

Before placing the cookie on Presia’s tongue, Elysia accidentally shut her mouth too soon, causing her lips to close around Elysia’s fingers.

Rather than showing any discomfort, Presia looked visibly disappointed.

“I-I’m sorry! If I knew you’d be so upset, I wouldn’t have eaten them all…”

Of course, Elysia misunderstood Presia’s expression entirely.

“It’s fine. There’s plenty more.”

For the record, when Tokeng was buying the cookies, Gomteng had also waited in line behind him.

“When you leave later, I’ll pack some tea leaves and cookies for you to take home.”

“But…”

Although Elysia was technically receiving a salary and allowances for her participation in magical experiments, lately, there had been no experiments—just tea-drinking sessions accompanied by gifts.

Even so, Presia continued to pay her regularly, which made Elysia feel guilty.

“Don’t worry about it. Helping me handle leftovers is part of your job as an assistant. I can’t finish all this on my own.”

“Understood…”

More than not finishing, Presia had a habit of giving most of the treats meant for her to Elysia anyway.

As observed so far, Presia holds a significant fondness for Elysia and spends quite a bit of time with her.

However, as time goes by, Presia has been feeling increasingly stressed.

It’s not because she wants their relationship to progress further, though that thought isn’t entirely absent.

Rather, it’s because something she originally had has been taken away, leaving her with a sense of lack.

Before the start of the second semester, up until the end of summer break, Presia’s nights had been extremely cozy.

Not just because of her nocturnal rhythm, but a different kind of coziness altogether.

However, with the beginning of the second semester—more specifically, with Elysia moving into a shared four-person dorm room—Presia’s cozy nights vanished.

“Meow…”

When she finds it unbearable, Presia transforms into a cat and leaves her room.

In her feline form, Presia often perches on the windowsill outside Elysia’s dorm room, gazing at her.

Yet, she cannot bring herself to go inside.

It’s not just Elysia in the room; there are other girls as well.

At first, Presia did think about ignoring the others and climbing onto Elysia’s bed.

However—

“Oh! A cat!”

Slide!

Before Elysia could notice her, a small girl with red hair spotted her first.

The red-haired girl, shorter than Presia even though she was two years younger, was Anne.

Anne opened the window and tried to grab the feline Presia.

Having been caught by Anne before and endured her relentless cuddling, Presia quickly attempted to escape.

But—

“Hmm… This cat feels familiar. I don’t think I’ve seen it before, though.”

Floating just outside the window was another girl, hovering behind Presia.

Unlike the four girls inside the room, this was Rinneh, a ghost who had recently begun staying in Elysia’s dorm.

Caught off guard by Rinneh, Presia was unable to escape and was ultimately captured by Anne, who brought her inside.

“Kitty!”

Elysia was now looking at Presia, who was cradled in Anne’s arms.

If she had to be squeezed tightly, Presia preferred Elysia’s embrace to Anne’s. She tried to wriggle free, but Anne held her firmly.

“Hehe. So, your name is Kitty?”

When had she last been treated this way?

Even with her feline face, Presia’s displeasure was evident as she dangled from Anne’s hands.

The only reason she stayed still was because she was in the same room as Elysia. If Elysia weren’t there, she would have run away immediately.

Thankfully, no one seemed to recognize that the cat was actually Presia.

Rinneh, however, tilted her head and gave Presia a curious look, but even her ghostly abilities weren’t enough to see through Presia’s magic.

“By the way…”

Anne’s voice, still holding Presia in her hands.

Perhaps due to the heightened sensitivity of her feline form, Presia felt a wave of unease, even though Anne hadn’t said much yet.

“Is Kitty a boy or a girl?”

As she spoke, Anne looked down at the feline Presia’s underside, but the curled tail blocked her view.

Of course, Presia’s current form was artificial.

Even though her real body was fully clothed, the situation was still incredibly embarrassing.

When Anne’s hand moved toward her tail—

“Meow!”

Presia, who had been calm until now, hissed and thrashed, escaping Anne’s grasp and leaping out the open window.

Anne scrambled to chase after her, but Presia was already gone.

“Aw…”

“That’s what happens when you overdo it. Now I might get blamed for making Kitty hate us.”

Of course, that would never happen.

After sprinting all the way back to Magic Tower Room 707, Presia finally returned.

Inside the room, Gomteng and Tokeng handed Presia a glass of water as she tried to catch her breath.

Gulp, gulp.

After downing the water in one go, Presia finally calmed down and collapsed onto the couch.

She dreamed of the day she could once again share a bed with Elysia.

For the record, Anne was assigned an enormous amount of special homework in the basic magic class the next day.