Sefina’s ice-blue eyes flickered with wariness. She looked at the seemingly innocent smile on Versie’s face and asked calmly.
“What price?”
Versie curled the corner of her mouth slightly, the curve carrying a triumphant delight.
“Hug~~”
‘Just… a hug?’
This request seemed unexpectedly simple.
Sefina couldn’t help but be slightly stunned. It felt inconsistent with that girl’s usual “style.”
Seeing the fleeting daze and hesitation on her teacher’s face, Versie immediately tilted her head, her pink lips pouting even higher.
“What’s wrong? Could it be… Teacher isn’t even willing to give me a hug?”
Seeing this, a glimmer of understanding flashed through Sefina’s heart.
“Of course.”
Sefina agreed decisively. She stood up and walked toward Versie, who had her arms open.
Deep in Versie’s eyes, a sly glint flickered by.
‘How could it just be a hug? There’s no way it’s that simple~~’
Her inner Little Demon waved its pitchfork, grinning smugly.
‘When Teacher gets close and lets her guard down, the moment of the hug is the best chance for me to “ambush” her again!’
‘Plan successful√!’
So, Versie maintained an expectant expression on her face. As Sefina approached, she pretended to open her arms toward her, and the distance between them quickly closed.
Seizing the moment, Versie immediately rose on her tiptoes, closed her eyes, and leaned in toward her teacher’s lips—
However, a slightly cool palm firmly covered her mouth.
‘Hm? The texture doesn’t feel right?!’
Mmph?!
Versie’s ambush came to an abrupt halt. Her raised foot stopped awkwardly midway. Her closed eyes flew open, ice-blue pupils filled with shock.
Sefina looked down at her from above. There was no surprise in her ice-blue eyes, only a calm “just as I thought.”
‘Hah, the same trick? How could I fall for it twice?’
‘I knew it!’
‘This little witch had no good intentions at all!’
‘After all that, she was still using “hug” as a guise to ambush me!’
‘This insolent, incorrigible bad student…’
Sefina also raised her other hand, steadily held Versie’s shoulder, and forcibly pressed her back to her original spot, widening the overly dangerous distance between them.
Versie’s ice-blue eyes were wide round, filled with the chagrin of “plan failed.” But Sefina had no mind to deal with her little emotions at the moment.
She no longer looked at Versie’s puffed-up face. Instead, she silently took out a photo from the inside pocket of her coat and gently placed it on the coffee table between them. Then, she silently pointed at the photo.
Versie, although still a bit upset about the failed “ambush” in her heart, pouted, but her gaze was involuntarily drawn to the photo. She knew that this was the real reason her teacher had come to see her today.
For her teacher’s request, although she would haggle and act spoiled on the surface, deep down she had never thought of truly refusing. So Versie restrained the deliberate dissatisfaction on her face and reached out to pick up the photo.
However, when Versie’s gaze carefully scanned the face of the woman in the photo, a clear surprise flickered in her ice-blue eyes.
“This is… the Former Saintess? Isn’t she…?”
“Mm.”
Sefina gave a light response.
“I’m counting on you. Carefully investigate everything related to her. The more detailed, the better.”
Sefina paused again and added.
“After you finish investigating, I’ll give you a reward.”
“Reward?”
Versie’s attention was indeed caught by those two words. Her ice-blue eyes instantly lit up, as if little stars were twinkling. A sly yet expectant smile reappeared on her face.
“What reward will Teacher give me? I’m really looking forward to it~~”
Sefina didn’t answer directly. She only gave her a faint glance.
“You’ll find out when the time comes.”
Sefina stood up, looking ready to leave.
“I’m counting on you. If there’s progress or results from the investigation, contact me through the usual method. I’m going now.”
Sefina turned and walked toward the door. When her hand rested on the doorknob, her movement paused slightly.
With her back to Versie, a trace of subtle hesitation flickered across Sefina’s face. Asking her for help today, and then exposing her little trick… Although it was her own doing, but…
After a few seconds, Sefina suddenly turned around. In Versie’s somewhat surprised gaze, she quickly walked back to her. Then, before Versie could react, she reached out, gently wrapped her arms around her shoulders, and gave her a brief, soft hug.
This hug was over in an instant, so fast that Versie didn’t even have time to feel the embrace of that cool, crisp aura.
“I’m off.”
Leaving those two words, Sefina didn’t linger. She quickly pulled open the door of the private room, and her figure vanished outside.
Versie stood alone in place, still holding the slightly dazed posture from the hug.
After a few seconds, she raised a hand and gently touched the shoulder that had been hugged, as if a trace of sensation still lingered there. Then, a faint smile curled at the corner of Versie’s mouth.
‘Although the ambush failed… Teacher’s final proactive hug—seems pretty nice, doesn’t it?’
Time slipped away like sand between fingers.
The season at Oselenka Magic Academy began to change.
On this day, fine white snowflakes began to fall from the leaden gray sky, rustling down.
At first just a few scattered specks, they soon connected into a hazy veil, covering the entire magic academy.
Students changed into thick winter uniforms, also putting on scarves and gloves.
Sefina naturally changed her attire as well.
She changed into an off-white knee-length coat.
To ward off the harsh cold, she even switched to an extra-thick style of tights, the soft fabric clinging to her slender legs, indeed much more comfortable to wear.
As frost and snow covered the ground, the semester gradually drew to a close.
Amid the students’ mix of anticipation and nervousness, Oselenka Magic Academy was about to welcome the most important event of each semester—the final examination.
Seats in the library became hard to come by.
Students carrying thick notebooks could be seen everywhere in the hallways.
The frequency of use of the practice fields and magical laboratories reached its peak.
Whether ordinary students wanting good grades, or “problem students” with diverse motives, or teachers burdened with teaching duties, all began to invest more energy into this semester’s final assessment.
However, the final examination differed from the previous midterm examination.
The midterm was usually set independently by the course teacher.
The final examination, on the other hand, was uniformly set by senior veteran teachers from each magical school, aiming to test students’ learning outcomes for the entire semester more comprehensively.
Therefore, when students recalled those scalp-tingling “novel” question types that Teacher Sefina had unleashed during the midterm, many still had lingering fear.
In contrast, although the final examination covered more knowledge points and a wider scope, the question types tended to be more “traditional” and “standard.”
This gave many students a sense of relief instead, at least they didn’t have to worry about encountering completely unfamiliar question formats.