A stifled groan nearly escaped her lips.
Sefina could clearly feel her cheeks instantly burning hot, blood rushing uncontrollably upward, spreading a vivid flush across her ears and neck as well.
Her breathing fell into disorder, the previously steady rhythm shattered into quick, trembling gasps.
‘Trouble, ahhhhhhh!!!’
‘Why does it have to be at a time like this?!’
Sefina’s mind was nearly screaming in panic, her icy rationality being eroded by the magic crest.
She knew all too well the consequences of the crest’s activation—
Rationality would gradually drown under instinct, her body would become abnormally sensitive, craving contact, craving a way to resolve the effects the crest had produced.
Moreover, as her rationality faded, her fine control over magic would suffer immensely!
That meant she might soon struggle to even maintain the [High-level Levitation Spell] under the desk!
And once the magic failed, what would Mia, under the influence of the aphrodisiac potion, do? The thought was unimaginable!
She had to make Versie leave immediately. Before Sefina’s emotions spiraled completely out of control and the situation became utterly unmanageable, she had to take action.
Sefina forced herself to endure the strange sensations in her body, lifting her wine-red eyes to look at Versie, who was still standing before the desk.
Her voice struggled to remain steady but inevitably carried a hint of strained urgency and a slight tremor.
“Is… is there anything else? Versie… if there’s nothing, please leave quickly. I… I have matters to attend to.”
As she spoke, her left hand, still covering Mia’s mouth, felt another wave of damp, stinging pain.
‘That little brat is biting my fingers again!!!’
Sefina’s arm trembled uncontrollably as a result.
And she didn’t need a mirror to imagine how abnormally flushed her face must be right now, nor how hard it was to steady her breathing.
Just then, Sefina keenly caught the faintest upward twitch at the corner of Versie’s gently smiling lips—there for an instant, then quickly returning to normal.
‘She noticed!’
‘She definitely noticed!’
Sefina nearly ground her teeth, her heart pounding like a war drum in her chest, a mix of shame, anger, and anxiety swirling within.
When she herself was “Holmes,” the secret of the magic crest had been spied on by this “bad student”… and even exploited…
How could she not know what this appearance meant?!
There was no way to hide this from Versie’s eyes!
Worse still, the influence of the magic crest was deepening.
Sefina felt her left hand, which was covering Mia’s mouth, growing weak, and her right hand, which had been steadily channeling magic, was now trembling with exhaustion.
The restraint under the desk seemed to loosen a little…
She could feel Mia’s hands, which had been bound by the magic field, gaining some room to move, instinctively groping.
Then…
They actually climbed up to her calf!
“Teacher Sefina? Are you alright? You don’t seem to be in good shape?”
Versie spoke up at just the right moment, her ice-blue eyes filled with the concern befitting a “good student,” as if she were genuinely worried about her teacher’s health, not for any other reason.
“What’s wrong? You really don’t look well… Your face is so red. Is your fever worse? Shall I go call a teacher from the infirmary? Teacher Sefina, if you’re in trouble, I can help you too.”
‘Damn it!’
‘This girl!’
‘Pretending to be ignorant!’
Sefina was furious, her heart racing even faster.
‘This insufferable girl!!!’
She knew perfectly well what was going on, yet she insisted on putting on this innocent, considerate act, dragging things out slowly on purpose—just to watch Sefina squirm, to watch her panic, to watch her slowly edge toward collapse!
“I… I’m fine!”
Sefina forced the words through clenched teeth, trying to make them sound plausible.
“Just… just a slight, slight fever. I’ll… I’ll be fine after resting a bit! You… you get out now!”
Sefina’s voice had taken on an unmistakable urgency, even wavering due to the crest’s influence, but she desperately needed to resolve this situation.
Watching her teacher, who was obviously so flustered and humiliated she was practically steaming, yet still trying to force composure, Versie was almost overjoyed inside.
‘Mm-hmm~’
‘If Teacher doesn’t take care of this, she must be really uncomfortable.’
‘Whoo-hoo~’
‘I want to see more of Teacher’s awkward, embarrassing moments—she must be even cuter~’
She snickered inwardly, a gleam of mischievous delight flashing deep in her ice-blue eyes.
In truth, she could easily have taken advantage of the situation—just like certain “accidental” moments back at the Duke’s mansion—when the crest was active and her teacher’s rationality was weak, unable to resist. She could have gone further, and then…
‘Mm-hmm~’
***
Meanwhile, under the desk, Mia used the brief lapse in magic to hook her fingers around the edge of Sefina’s tights and slowly began to pull them down.
Sefina was going out of her mind!
She could clearly feel—under the desk—
“Get out!”
Unable to maintain even a facade of calm anymore, Sefina nearly shouted, her voice edged with a stern reprimand.
Her wine-red eyes, glistening with anxiety and shame, glared at Versie.
Versie almost laughed out loud.
‘Teacher is panicking!’
‘That flustered, helpless, shy, and angry look is so adorable! I want to see more~’
‘Pfft—hahaha.’
But on the surface, she quickly suppressed any trace of emotion, putting on an apologetic expression.
“Very well, Teacher Sefina. Please rest well. I won’t disturb you.”
She gave a slight bow, her tone still polite.
“If you really feel unwell, please don’t push yourself. Goodbye.”
‘Hmph, I’ll let Teacher Sefina off today.’
‘After all, with the crest acting up, she must be having a hard time—though the process should be… ahem, ahem.’
‘Next time, when Teacher’s crest flares up again, this “good student” will definitely be there to personally help Teacher “resolve the problem”~~’
What Versie didn’t know, however, was that today, the Teacher Sefina she intended to let off would be beaten to the punch by another student…
Having said that, Versie finally turned around, walking lightly and unhurriedly to the door, pulled it open, stepped out, and gently closed it behind her.
Click.
The soft sound of the latch engaging came.
Almost at the same instant, Sefina’s spine, which she had been forcing straight, suddenly gave way, and she collapsed back into her chair.
She immediately released her left hand, which had been covering Mia’s mouth and was now damp.
“Mmph—that little brat, she’s left bite marks…”
But at that moment, due to the crest’s influence, Sefina’s rationality was crumbling bit by bit, and the [High-level Levitation Spell] she had been maintaining with her right hand flickered and abruptly failed—caused by her scattered mind and rapidly draining stamina!
And Mia, now like a bird freed from its cage, regained her free movement, and her hands started getting restless again.
“Mmph—Mia, don’t…”
“Le… let go!”
“Mmph…”