Chapter 225: Windows and Reflections

A few moments ago.

There was dead silence after Roxana’s stalking question backfired spectacularly. Jax had simply ignored it, and she was left sitting there with the embarrassment rotting inside her.

Some time later, the owner of the stall appeared. Nyara was wearing her usual apron, and several students followed behind her carrying dishes.

She greeted them warmly. "Professor Jax, I didn’t expect to see you today. I know how much you hate events like these. You should have told me you were coming. I would have prepared something special."

Jax shrugged casually. "That’s true, but mood swings brought me here today."

Roxana murmured from beside him. "Or rather some ulterior motives."

Jax ignored her completely. But Nyara didn’t.

"Is this the famous Professor Roxana?" Her eyes sparkled with interest. "I’ve heard quite a bit about you."

Roxana’s expression shifted to suspicion. "Heard what exactly?"

"Only good things." Nyara winked at Jax. "Well, mostly good things."

There was an uncomfortable pause. Roxana was staring daggers at Jax while the students placed dishes on the table.

Then Nyara turned to one of the students. "Bring a glass of wine for Professor Roxana."

Roxana’s face flushed with embarrassment. "No, I didn’t ask for that!"

Nyara looked confused. Her gaze shifted to Jax, who was laughing openly.

Roxana turned on him immediately. "You bastard, what kind of rumors are you spreading about me?"

Jax raised his hands in mock innocence. "What? Isn’t alcohol the fuel that keeps you running? Besides, everyone already knows you’re a drunkard."

"No one thinks that!" Her voice rose with genuine offense. "And for your information, I don’t drink in broad daylight."

Jax’s smile turned teasing. "Is that so? Then why don’t we test it? Nyara, bring some alcohol and put it on the table. Let’s see how long her willpower lasts."

Roxana was cursing him under her breath.

Jax leaned back with satisfaction. "That’s what you get for meddling in my business."

"Says the guy who peeks through my wardrobe like some pervert!"

Seeing the exchange, Nyara smiled knowingly. "I’ll be taking my leave now. We have quite a rush today."

Jax scanned the surroundings. The stall was completely packed with customers. He nodded, and Nyara disappeared back into the crowd.

Meanwhile, Elira had been completely ignored from the very beginning. Yet she didn’t feel offended in the slightest.

She was too busy processing the scenes unfolding before her eyes. The rumors she had heard about Jax contradicted so sharply with how he actually interacted with these two women.

Finally, she cut through the ongoing argument about wardrobe invasions.

"Professor. How do you do it?"

Jax looked at her with confusion. Her eyes held genuine determination. "Do what?"

Elira took a moment to form her words properly. "Everyone talks about you differently. Some call you a monster. A pervert. Others call you a savior. Students fear you like you’re some demon walking among them. Yet people like that woman genuinely care about you."

She paused. "How can one person be seen in so many contradicting ways?"

Jax set down his chopsticks.

"Because people don’t actually see people. They see reflections of their own experiences. Their own fears. Their own desires projected onto whatever stands in front of them."

He met her gaze steadily. "You could stand perfectly still in the center of a room, and ten different people would describe ten completely different versions of you. Not because you changed even slightly. But because each of them is looking through a different window."

Movement caught Elira’s attention above them.

In the branches of a nearby tree, a bird was attacking another’s nest. She watched as it snatched something small and fragile from the woven twigs. A newborn. Still blind. Still featherless. Still too young to even understand it was dying.

The mother bird screamed and dove at the attacker with desperate fury. But it was already too late. The thief had fled with its prize clutched in its talons.

Elira’s expression darkened. "Cruel."

Jax followed her gaze. He watched the scene unfold with calm detachment. "Is it?"

"It just stole a baby from its mother. Murdered it in front of her eyes. How is that not cruel?"

"From your window, yes." Jax returned to his food. "But from its window? That bird has its own nest. Its own children. Mouths that have been open and screaming for days because their parent couldn’t find food anywhere."

He paused to let the image settle.

"It didn’t steal because it wanted to. It stole because somewhere in another tree, three other babies were about to starve to death. And that bird had to choose between being a monster to one family or a failure to its own."

His voice grew quieter. "It’s just perspective that separates cruelty from duty. Evil from necessity. The act itself never changes. Only the eyes watching it."

Elira remained silent, processing his words.

Jax continued. "The same applies to people. One man burns down a village to protect the ones he loves, and history brands him a villain. Another man burns down the exact same village because it was cursed and history calls him a hero. The flames are identical. The corpses are identical. The screams sound exactly the same."

He looked directly at her. "The only difference is who survived to write the story afterward."

His voice dropped to something almost philosophical. "Villains are just heroes standing on the wrong side of someone else’s narrative. And heroes are just villains who happened to have better storytellers."

He let the words hang in the air.

"So in the end, it doesn’t matter what names people throw at you. Monster. Savior. Pervert. Saint. Those are just costumes other people dress you in so they can sleep better at night."

His eyes grew distant for a moment. "What actually matters is the person staring back at you in the mirror when all the noise fades away. Live for that reflection. Die for that reflection. Because when the stories end and the storytellers are dust, the only judge left standing will be you."

He recalled his life on Earth briefly. All those years surrounded by same people.

Then he added with a slight smile. "I stopped caring what people think a long time ago. So you can see me however you like. But let me warn you of one thing."

His smile turned darker. "I consider myself the most evil villain in any story I’ve walked through."

A silence of understanding settled between the two girls. Neither spoke. They simply started eating the food in front of them.

Jax casually reached over and snatched the ramen bowl sitting in front of Roxana. In exchange, he slid the hamburger toward her.

Before she could even open her mouth to protest, he had already buried his face in the noodles, slurping loudly and obnoxiously.

A few minutes later, while Jax was still inhaling noodles, a woman appeared before their table.

The moment he looked up and recognized her, the noodles that were halfway to his mouth slowly slid back down into the broth. His chopsticks went slack.

He muttered in genuine confusion. "Jenny?"

The reaction from Roxana and Elira was immediate. Both of them shot to their feet and bowed deeply with practiced grace.

Roxana spoke with a voice dripping in reverence. "Your Holiness, we are honored beyond words to stand in your sacred presence. May the light of the divine continue to guide your path, Saintess of the Holy Order."

Jax was completely confused. He scanned Jennifer from head to toe.

She was dressed in flowing white robes with intricate silver embroidery woven through the fabric.

A ceremonial sash bearing the church’s sacred symbol hung across her chest. Her sleeves were so long they nearly brushed the ground with every movement.

She looked nothing like the woman he remembered.

Roxana leaned toward Jax with a sweet smile on her face, though her eyes were screaming murder. "Professor, this is Saintess Jennifer of the Holy Church. I believe you haven’t had the privilege of meeting her before. Nor do you seem to know anything about her esteemed position."

She was desperately signaling him to bow with her eyes. To show some basic respect. To not embarrass everyone present.

But Jax wasn’t getting any of it.

"Jenny, what the hell is going on? What’s with this getup?"

Roxana’s soul nearly left her body. She immediately jumped in with damage control.

"Please forgive him, Your Holiness! Professor Jax just... he just sniffed a cheap hole."

She froze.

"I mean! He fell in a pothole! And hurt his head! Yes! That’s what happened!"

Her face turned crimson with mortification at her own words. She was panicking so badly that her brain and mouth had completely disconnected from each other.

Jax turned and gave her a slow, deadly glare. She was still signaling frantically with her eyes for him to bow. To show literally any form of respect at all.

But Jennifer simply raised her hand with a gentle smile.

"It’s quite alright. There’s no need for such formality."

She looked at Jax with warmth that seemed out of place for a holy figure. "Besides, the professor and I go a long way back."

Roxana’s jaw dropped.

Elira’s followed immediately after.

Jennifer turned to both of them. "Would you mind giving the two of us a moment alone? We have some matters to discuss."

They nodded dumbly, still processing the revelation.

Jennifer began walking away from the crowded stall. Without looking back, she spoke softly. "Jax. Follow me."

Jax stood from his seat and started after her.

Roxana grabbed his sleeve with desperate urgency. "Professor, please. I’m begging you. Control your tongue. And whatever you do, don’t you dare try to defile the Saintess with your filthy techniques."

Jax paused.

His mind flashed briefly to memories of Jennifer. Specifically, memories of pinning her down and fucking her senseless for an entire day straight until he was satisfied and still remember it as some of the best moments of his life.

He smiled cryptically and pulled his sleeve free.

"What if that warning came about a day too late?"

And before Roxana could process his words, he was already gone.