Sefina picked up the crystal-clear fruit wine and first took a careful sip.
The sweet fruity aroma, accompanied by a faint prickle of alcohol, spread across the tip of her tongue. Just as Teacher John had said, the texture was smooth and not at all harsh.
Finding the taste quite pleasant, she took several more sips in succession. Soon, the small cup was half-empty.
“The taste is indeed decent.” Sefina set down the wine glass and gave an objective evaluation, feeling her cheeks beginning to flush slightly, though she paid it no mind.
However, after only a few minutes, a strange sensation began to quietly creep in. At first, she simply felt her head becoming heavy, as if a thin mist had settled over the edges of her vision.
She shook her head, attempting to dispel the discomfort, only to find the dizziness becoming even more pronounced. The lively chatter around her felt as if it were filtered through a layer of water, becoming muffled and indistinct.
“Mm—” Sefina let out an unconscious whimper, feeling her eyelids grow heavier as her body lost its strength and went limp.
She instinctively tried to prop up her forehead with her hand, but her arm merely draped softly over the edge of the table.
Ultimately, her entire upper body leaned forward uncontrollably, her cheek pressing against the cool wooden tabletop as her breathing became steady and long.
Sefina had actually collapsed onto the table and fallen into a daze-filled sleep.
“Teacher Sefina?” Teacher Shalina, who was sitting next to her, was the first to notice the anomaly. She called out softly but received no response.
She worriedly reached out to touch Sefina’s shoulder. “Teacher Sefina, are you alright?”
The movement here immediately drew the attention of the others. Mia, Kefi, and Ellaria also gathered around.
“What’s wrong with Teacher?” Mia leaned in, blinking in confusion as she looked at Teacher Sefina’s flushed cheek and tightly closed eyes.
Kefi reached out to gently check Teacher Sefina’s forehead. Her temperature was normal, though her breath carried the faint scent of fruit wine.
“Teacher… couldn’t be drunk, could she?”
Ellaria also frowned slightly, looking at the empty glass on the table with a hint of disbelief in her tone:
“She’s down after… one cup?”
Down after one cup?
Was Teacher Sefina’s alcohol tolerance really that poor?
Everyone felt quite surprised. After all, the alcohol content of that fruit wine was truly low; even Teacher Shalina, who didn’t usually drink much, only had a slightly red face after drinking over half a cup.
At this moment, Sefina was completely unaware that the culprit behind her being so “vulnerable” was not entirely that cup of fruit wine, but rather the Vampire Neural Toxin that Mia had injected into her body during the blood-sucking earlier.
That toxin not only brought a strange tingling sensation but also significantly reduced the activity of ethanol dehydrogenase and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase within the human body in a short period of time. These two enzymes were the keys to breaking down alcohol.
In other words, under the influence of the toxin, Sefina’s body’s ability to process alcohol had been drastically weakened, leading to this “one-cup-down” predicament.
Currently, Sefina did not know this information, which was why she had allowed herself to get drunk. A bit later, once she learned of this knowledge, she would silently condemn that gluttonous fellow in her heart…
Fortunately, Sefina was merely drunk. Her breathing was stable and she seemed to be in no great danger, so everyone’s anxious hearts relaxed a bit.
Seeing that dinner was mostly finished, Teacher Shalina began to clear the remnants while saying with concern:
“Teacher Sefina is like this… How about I send her back to the Teacher’s Villa?”
“No need,” Kefi hurriedly waved her hand. “Teacher Shalina, you’ve already worked hard preparing dinner today. Please take a rest. Leave the matter of taking Teacher Sefina back to us.”
Mia also nodded repeatedly. “Right, right, right. It’s better if we take Teacher back.”
Ellaria spoke softly, “Please rest assured, Teacher Shalina, we can do it. Teacher Sefina… she is very light.”
After all, she had already carried this petite teacher in her arms twice and had a fresh memory of that weight.
Seeing the three students’ firm attitude, Teacher Shalina stopped insisting and merely instructed them carefully, “Well then, you must be careful on the way. Pay attention to safety.”
Thus, Kefi stepped forward first, carefully supporting Teacher Sefina’s shoulders.
Mia helped from the side, supporting Sefina’s limp arms and waist. Working together, the two of them helped the sleeping Teacher Sefina up and then gently placed her onto Kefi’s back.
Kefi steadily supported Teacher Sefina’s legs and hoisted her up.
As Imperial Princess Ellaria had said, Teacher Sefina was even lighter than she looked, as if she had almost no weight at all.
After getting drunk, Teacher Sefina was exceptionally quiet and well-behaved. Her head rested powerlessly against the crook of Kefi’s neck, her warm cheek pressed against Kefi’s skin. The warm breath carrying the scent of wine brushed past, making the tips of Kefi’s ears turn slightly hot.
“How is it, Kefi? Can you carry her?” Mia asked with concern.
“No problem. Teacher is very light.” Kefi adjusted her posture and answered with certainty.
And so, the three of them said goodbye to Teacher Shalina and the others. With Kefi carrying Sefina and Mia and Ellaria guarding her on either side, they left Teacher Shalina’s warm home and stepped into the cool night air of the academy’s paths.
Walking along the quiet trail, Mia couldn’t help but start teasing again. “I really didn’t expect it. Teacher Sefina looks so powerful, but her alcohol tolerance is actually so poor. One cup of fruit wine knocked her out, haha.”
Ellaria also echoed softly, “Mm… it is indeed a bit surprising. I’ve tasted similar fruit wines at the Court Banquet before. Although drinking them makes one a bit dizzy, it is far from reaching this point.”
Kefi felt the light weight on her back and the warmth coming from her neck, murmuring in a low voice:
“This side of Teacher Sefina… is actually quite cute.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she herself froze for a moment. Her cheeks turned slightly red, though fortunately the night masked this unnaturalness.
The three chatted as they walked, soon arriving at a fork in the road.
Ellaria stopped her footsteps, a faint hint of regret appearing on her face. “Kefi, Mia, I have to go this way. The Wand I ordered earlier should be finished today. I need to get to the Royal Capital City to pick it up before the shop closes, or I might not make it back for the Dormitory curfew.”
She actually really wanted to accompany Teacher Sefina for a while longer, but time was pressing, so she had no choice but to say goodbye.
“Alright, then be careful, Princess,” Mia waved her hand.
“Mm, you all be careful taking Teacher back too.”
Ellaria nodded, gave one last worried look at Sefina on Kefi’s back, and then turned toward the other path leading to the academy’s main gate.
The remaining Kefi and Mia continued toward the Teachers’ Villa Area. However, before they had gone very far, Kefi suddenly felt that Teacher Sefina on her back was beginning to become a bit “restless.”
Perhaps it was the night wind turning colder, or perhaps it was the change in body temperature brought by the alcohol, but the sleeping Sefina unconsciously curled up a bit.
Her slender legs, encased in thin black stockings, suddenly tightened around Kefi’s waist, pressing closer to Kefi’s body as if seeking warmth.
At the same time, her arms, which had been loosely draped around Kefi’s neck, tightened, pulling Kefi closer.
She frowned slightly, letting out a weak and pitiful murmur like a kitten next to Kefi’s ear:
“Cold…”