Chapter 220: Teacher, can I sleep with you for night?

After Sefina finished asking, Kefi’s face still showed no obvious change in expression, only her eyelashes fluttered very lightly.

She shook her head slightly and said in a voice mixed with exhaustion and hoarseness: “I’ll do it myself.”

Sefina nodded and didn’t insist: “Mm, the water temperature should be just right. Don’t soak too long. Call me if you need anything, I’ll be right outside.”

Kefi nodded again, slowly starting to undo the buttons of her coat.

Sefina turned and walked out of the bathroom, gently closing the door, but didn’t go far. She just leaned against the wall beside the door, quietly waiting.

Listening to the rustling sound of clothes rubbing from inside, then the sound of water gently rippling as she stepped into the bathtub, followed by a long silence.

Time passed in the hazy steam and the faint light seeping from under the door crack.

After a while, the bathroom door was gently pulled open.

Kefi came out, wearing a clean set of cotton pajamas with a light plaid pattern, a bit old but very soft.

Her long hair hung wetly over her shoulders, the ends still dripping. Her skin was slightly flushed from the steam, but her eyes remained dull, as if covered by a layer of unremovable gray haze.

“This way.”

Sefina led her to one of the prepared rooms.

The room was small, with a single bed. The bed had already been made up by Ellaria and the others, using old bedding found from the closet.

“Get some rest early.”

Sefina said warmly from the doorway.

Kefi stared at the bed, her eyes hollow. After a few seconds, she nodded lightly and walked mechanically to the bedside to sit down.

Sefina sighed inwardly at her state.

She considered that Mia was cheerful and lively, perhaps like a little sun that could slightly dispel the cold around Kefi, so she wouldn’t have to curl up in a corner alone, licking her wounds.

So Sefina’s tone carried a consultative inquiry: “How about letting Mia share the room with you? Let her accompany you tonight, okay?”

But she also understood that at this moment, Kefi might prefer to be alone.

Kefi was silent for a moment, her gaze falling on her hands clasped on her knees, her fingers unconsciously rubbing against each other.

Finally, in a flat tone without much inflection, she said faintly, “…Okay.”

Sefina added a few more words of advice, tucked in the corner of the blanket for her, then gently closed the door and left.

It was late at night.

Firewood in the fireplace was added again and again, emitting a reassuring burning sound, struggling against the increasingly fierce snowstorm outside the window.

Although the room wasn’t as warm as spring, it still dispelled the bitter cold of winter, maintaining a drowsy warmth.

Ellaria and Sefina each had their own rooms, while Mia, hugging her own pillow, crept into Kefi’s room, lay down beside her, and whispered “Goodnight.”

Soon, Mia fell into a deep sleep from the day’s fatigue and emotional ups and downs, emitting even, light breathing.

However, in her own room, Sefina tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Everything that happened during the day still swirled in her mind like a revolving lantern.

Sefina’s wine-red eyes were open in the darkness, staring at the blurred shadows cast on the ceiling by the faint firelight.

She simply turned over, lying on her side, looking out the window through the gap in the not-fully-drawn curtains.

The snowstorm seemed to have lessened; in the pitch-black night sky, a few sparse stars could be seen twinkling through gaps in the thick clouds.

But just then—

Creak—

A light sound of a door opening.

Sefina immediately turned her head alertly, looking at the door.

The door was pushed open a crack, a figure holding a pillow slipped in silently, then gently closed the door behind them.

By the faint light coming through the window and the warm glow from the fireplace, Sefina recognized the person—

It was Kefi.

“Kefi?”

She immediately propped herself up, lowering her voice with concern: “What’s wrong? Can’t sleep? Or… feeling unwell?”

Kefi stood by the bed holding her pillow, head lowered, her wet hair half-dry and loosely draped.

She didn’t answer immediately, seeming hesitant, her fingers gripping the edge of the pillow tightly.

The room was very quiet, only the occasional sound of wind passing by outside could be heard.

After a brief silence, Kefi finally looked up.

In the darkness, Sefina couldn’t see her full expression, but she could feel those eyes looking at her, filled with struggle and confusion, and a deep longing.

Kefi moved a small step forward, her voice low, seeming to tremble slightly: “Teacher Sefina… I… can I… sleep with you tonight?”

Hearing this, Sefina was stunned for a moment.

The request was sudden, but after a moment’s thought, she immediately understood.

This girl in front of her had just lost all the warm illusions of “home” and faced the cold reality of her mother and sister’s tragic deaths.

Her world had collapsed; everything she once relied on had turned to bubbles.

At this moment, she was lonely, fearful, and sorrowful, like a solitary boat drifting in boundless darkness.

And she, as her teacher, was perhaps the only “elder” she could trust and rely on after experiencing all this.

So Kefi sought closeness, sought the warmth of skin-to-skin contact.

“Of course.”

Sefina’s voice was exceptionally soft, without much hesitation.

She immediately lifted the warm blanket beside her and gestured to Kefi: “Come in quickly, don’t catch a cold.”

Kefi’s tense shoulders relaxed slightly.

She put down the pillow she was holding and carefully slipped into the bed.

The bed was not big, so the two girls’ bodies inevitably pressed close.

Kefi turned sideways, facing Sefina’s direction, and Sefina also adjusted her position to face her.

The distance suddenly became very close, so close that they could clearly feel each other’s body heat and hear each other’s light breathing.

Kefi seemed to shrink back slightly, then as if making up her mind, she immediately lowered her head and buried her entire face in Sefina’s neck and chest.

At the same time, she reached out her arm and somewhat forcefully wrapped it around Sefina’s slender waist, pressing her whole body close.

The atmosphere instantly became somewhat different.

The overly intimate physical contact and intertwined breaths made Sefina feel Kefi’s slightly accelerated heartbeat.

A trace of faint ambiguity, like a subtle electric current, quietly sparked between their pressed skin.

But Sefina didn’t push her away, nor did she show any discomfort.

She just similarly extended her arms and gently hugged Kefi back.

Hiding in Sefina’s warm and reassuring embrace, Kefi’s heart, which had felt as if it had been soaking in ice water, finally felt a trace of genuine warmth.

Her thoughts, like runaway horses, galloped chaotically in the darkness.

‘Mom… is never coming back.’

‘Kelin… is also gone forever.’

‘That “home” with a warm fireplace and the smell of sweet bread never really existed.’

‘She already… has no home.’

Cold despair, like a tide, tried to engulf her again.

But at this moment, the arms embracing her were so strong, the warmth in her arms so real.

She wanted to stay like this forever, in this embrace, away from all sorrow and pain.

She wanted to act spoiled towards her teacher, to cry in her arms without restraint when sad, to be comforted so gently by her.

Kefi knew that Teacher Sefina would surely allow it.

Her teacher was so gentle, so strong, always silently thinking of them, protecting them.

Just like today, her teacher had revealed the cruelest truth, but also held her tightly, cooked for her, tidied her room, and now allowed her to willfully crawl into bed.

But… A tiny but clear voice sounded in her heart:

‘Teacher… is just a teacher.’

‘Her kindness to her came from a teacher’s responsibility and care.’

‘She was her student.’

‘What about when she graduates from Oselenka?’

‘The teacher will have new students, new responsibilities.’

‘She would eventually leave; this kind of relationship where she could depend and act spoiled without restraint would end one day.’

‘Just like mom and sister left, would her teacher… eventually become a passerby in her life too?’

‘No…’

‘She didn’t want that.’

The cold loneliness struck again, sharper and clearer than before.

Kefi couldn’t bear the pain of losing another important person.

If the “teacher-student” relationship was destined to have an expiration date, if “dependency” cannot last… Then…

‘Could she transcend this boundary of teacher and student?’