Gaze.
Elarya held Sefina tightly as she quickened her steps down the corridor leading to the infirmary.
Sefina’s petite body curled up in her arms, her burning hot cheeks pressed firmly against Elarya’s shoulder.
The corridor was not empty; small groups of students who had just finished watching the duel were preparing to leave. Upon seeing this scene, they exchanged surprised whispers.
“Huh? Isn’t that Princess Elarya?”
“Who is she holding? What happened?”
“That girl looks so small… Is she hurt? Her face is so red?”
“Wait… that outfit… that hair color… I feel like… it kind of looks like Teacher Sefina?”
“Don’t be ridiculous! How could it be Teacher Sefina?!”
“Yeah, you must be mistaken.”
“Maybe it’s just the clothes… but if it really is her, that would definitely be the biggest headline in Oselenka this year!”
“Pfft—stop guessing! It’s definitely not her!”
The fragmented murmurs stabbed into Sefina’s ears like needles, each word filling her with shame and fury.
Her arms tightened instinctively around Elarya’s neck, as if she wanted to shrink entirely into Elarya’s body and disappear completely.
Yet, more despairing than the gossip was the increasingly uncontrollable sensation rising within her…
Even as she clenched her thighs desperately, she was nearing the limit of her body’s control…
Sniffle… I can’t hold it anymore… it’s really about to…
Elarya frowned slightly at the surrounding whispers, but her greater concern was for the teacher in her arms.
She could feel Sefina’s trembling body and unusually high temperature, thinking that the teacher must be having a sudden medical emergency, possibly a high fever. They needed to get there faster!
She quickened her pace, almost breaking into a run. The white door of the infirmary was already in sight, just over a hundred meters away!
However, just as Elarya relaxed a bit, thinking the teacher would soon receive treatment, she suddenly felt a warm, wet sensation from the palm supporting Sefina’s bent leg…
Hmm?
Sweat? Teacher is sweating so much? Looks like she’s really very ill…
She instinctively lowered her head slightly to check on Sefina’s condition.
But the sight that met her eyes froze her in place.
A dark patch of “sweat” was slowly spreading on the fabric between Teacher Sefina’s light-colored skirt and her thigh…
Elarya blinked in disbelief, trying to confirm what she was seeing.
At the same time, Sefina let out an extremely faint whimper, burying her head tightly in Elarya’s arms.
Her entire body went limp, collapsing softly against Elarya, leaving only a desolate silence.
Sefina: ruined. Completely ruined.
I actually ended up in the arms of a student…
Just kill me… right now…
Aaaaaaaah!!!
***
Infirmary
On the pristine white bed, a small lump lay motionless.
Sefina had wrapped herself tightly from head to toe in the bed roll, not a single strand of hair visible, as if by doing so she could shut out the outside world—and the social death she had just suffered.
Ruined.
The culprit—this tiny little tool—had already been hastily removed and destroyed in the infirmary’s private restroom, with her hands shaking and burning with shame.
Unfortunately, it was all too late. Destroying the evidence wouldn’t change the fact that she had just…
…been like that in front of her student.
She didn’t even have the courage to recall that moment anymore.
Every time she thought about it, blood rushed to her head in a flash, suffocating her with shame.
Elarya sat quietly on the chair beside the bed, watching the “bed roll” that refused to face reality, her emotions tangled.
She had briefly explained to the attending physician that the teacher might have had a sudden medical emergency and needed rest, successfully keeping the medical staff away for now.
At this moment, the silent infirmary held only the two of them. The air seemed frozen, suffused with an indescribable awkwardness.
Elarya’s mind drifted back to the shocking scene in the corridor, and the warm, wet feeling on her palm…
She also recalled the last time in the office, when Teacher Sefina suddenly flushed and hurried her out, breathing rapidly… back then, she thought the teacher might have been unwell or upset, but now, connecting the dots…
A vague suspicion was beginning to take shape in her mind.
Could it be that Teacher…was not suffering from exhaustion from the duel or a sudden fever?
She hesitated, then carefully spoke with tentative concern, eyes fixed on the ball of “bed roll” on the bed:
“Teacher… could it be… that…”
At that moment, Sefina inside the bed roll suddenly stiffened, and Elarya’s heart didn’t just sink—it shattered into powder and scattered in the wind.
It was over. She must have guessed it. Guessed what she had done…
Aaaaaaaaah!!!
I want to die so badly!
“Teacher, could it be that you have Urinary Incontinence?” Elarya blurted out her guess.
Sefina:
Urinary… Incontinence?!
She never expected Elarya’s guess to be this.
Although slightly better than the truth, it was still a disgraceful disease that utterly crushed her dignity!
Either way, it was social death—just a different kind.
Aaaaaaaaah!!!
Sefina furiously clawed at the sheets with her toes inside the bed roll, wishing she could dig out a three-bedroom apartment on the spot and bury herself in it.
Elarya didn’t notice the emotional meltdown raging inside the bed roll. Seeing no objection from the teacher, she assumed her guess was correct and felt a sudden flash of “I see” and a touch of sympathy.
She immediately began seriously offering advice:
“Teacher, you don’t need to feel too embarrassed. Although this illness is hard to talk about, I heard that with active treatment and management, it can be controlled and improved.”
Elarya’s tone was earnest, even soothing.
“First, you need to develop a habit of scheduled urination, and avoid holding it in…”
“Your daily water intake should also be strictly controlled, especially before class or any long periods of standing…”
“There are also some pelvic floor strengthening exercises—I think I saw them in one of the Palace Medical Records books. I can help you find them later…”
“As for medication, there’s no need to worry too much. The Imperial Physicians should have some good prescriptions. Although the effect is slow, it focuses on regulation…”
Elarya continued seriously, chattering on with a host of precautions and remedies for managing this “condition,” fully immersed in the thought of helping her teacher overcome this “embarrassing problem.”
Inside the bed roll, Sefina listened to Elarya’s sincere, earnest advice, each word striking a precise blow to her already shattered pride until she was numb.
Explain? How could she explain? Should she tell her the truth?!
Compared to that truth…
Maybe… perhaps… possibly…
Being mistaken by a student for having this condition was actually…a tiny bit…slightly better…
Probably…
No matter, it was what it was now.
Sefina closed her eyes in despair inside the bed roll, unwilling to say more.