Vol. 6 Ch. 79

"I’m going to confess to Professor Melkvey."

“Pffft—cough, cough…”

Rebecca hadn’t even swallowed her juice before she spat it all over Leon’s face.

Leon had returned home from his off-campus training, and Martin had invited both him and Rebecca to a high-end restaurant for a meal.

He hadn’t expected the conversation to start off with such a bombshell.

Leon wiped the juice off his face, looking at Rebecca with resentment.

"I’m confessing. Not you. Why are you so worked up?"

Rebecca rubbed the corners of her mouth and asked in confusion,

"Confessing? Haven’t you already met the parents?"

Leon froze. "Met the parents? When did I meet the parents?"

The two of them stared at each other in bafflement, neither understanding what the other was talking about.

Only Martin, who had already seen through everything, remained calm.

"I did mention a month ago that Professor Melkvey visited Leon’s house, but I didn’t expect you two to have met the parents so soon."

Hearing that, Leon was even more confused.

He glanced at Martin, then at Rebecca.

"How do you guys even know about the home visit? …You followed me?"

"It wasn’t you we were following! Let’s be clear about that—it wasn’t you!"

Rebecca insisted, full of conviction. "We were following both of you!"

"…Is there a difference?"

"Not a big one, but it exists."

Leon rubbed his face in exasperation, deciding not to argue with Rebecca over whether it counted as "following" or not.

"So, you’re really planning to confess to a teacher?"

Now that the conversation was back on track, Rebecca leaned back and said,

"But there’s quite an age gap between you two. What, at least… four or five years?"

"Plus, in terms of school years, you’re about to leave for off-campus training. And from what I’ve heard, Professor Melkvey was only temporarily assigned to our academy—she’ll be transferred back in a few months."

Martin added, "Are you sure this is the right time to confess?"

"This is the perfect time!" Leon said, full of conviction.

Rebecca blinked her large, pretty eyes. "Why’s that?"

"If I confess and get rejected, I’ll be leaving for training the very next day. A few months later, Professor Melkvey will have transferred out.

After that, we might never see each other again for the rest of our lives."

"…"

Rebecca and Martin exchanged glances, then both shook their heads.

"Even after explaining it, I still don’t see how that makes sense," Rebecca muttered.

Martin shrugged. "If you like someone but won’t get to see them, won’t get to be with them,

then what’s the point of confessing?"

"A confession doesn’t have to mean you end up together."

"Huh?" Pure-hearted Martin looked even more confused.

Even Rebecca reached out and lightly pressed the back of her hand against Leon’s forehead, mumbling,

"No fever… so why are you talking nonsense?"

Leon pushed her hand away and continued his explanation with complete seriousness.

"Rebecca, you said it yourself just now—there’s a considerable age gap between me and Professor Melkvey.

That’s an insurmountable barrier between us."

"Then there’s the fact that she’s my teacher, which affects the way we interact as equals."

"So, logically, this confession is very likely to fail."

"But the point isn’t about whether I succeed or not."

"The most important thing is—I want to let Professor Melkvey know how I feel before she leaves."

"I don’t care if she accepts it or not. I just want her to know that I like her. And that’s enough."

Leon had spent the entire night thinking about it.

So long that Aju had already fallen asleep,

while he still lay on the grass outside his master’s farm, staring up at the night sky,

replaying the evening from a month ago when he had walked side by side with Rosvisser under the streetlamps.

Finally, he had understood what that vague, ambiguous feeling he had toward her was.

It was simply liking.

A liking untainted by any other desire—pure and simple.

That was why he said the outcome of the confession didn’t matter.

What mattered was that before he and Rosvisser parted ways, she needed to know his feelings.

Honestly, when he got home last night,

Leon was still wavering, unsure if he should actually go through with it.

His master and stepmother had noticed his gloomy mood and asked a few probing questions.

Once they figured out what was on his mind,

his stepmother had analyzed the situation for him in great detail, and he had taken in quite a lot.

But in the end, it was his master’s words that had completely solidified his decision.

"If you like someone, tell them.

Don’t wait until you’ll never see them again and end up regretting it in some lonely corner."

Liking someone was just that—liking them.

That was all.

He didn’t care about the outcome.

He didn’t care whether or not there was a future between him and Rosvisser—

The only thing that mattered to him was making this confession. Purely, honestly.

He had never once expected to receive anything from her in return.

Her liking him back, or caring about him in return—none of that was something Leon sought.

For a moment, the table fell into silence.

Rebecca pursed her lips, lifted her gaze to Leon, and asked softly,

"You know this is a confession that’s almost guaranteed to fail, and you're still going to do it?"

Leon nodded firmly.

Seeing the determination in his eyes and expression, Rebecca was stunned for a moment before shaking her head with a smile.

"I don’t get you guys at all."

Then she raised her glass and clinked it against Leon’s.

"But no matter what you want to do, Martin and I will support you."

"Yes, Senior! To do something despite knowing it’s impossible—that’s what makes a real man!"

Martin lifted his juice and echoed her sentiment.

With the support of his friends, Leon felt a little more at ease.

He raised his glass and lightly clinked it against theirs.

"Wish me luck… and that I don’t fail too miserably tonight."

—

—

"You asked me to go for a walk with you, but you haven’t said a word this whole time. Is it because you’ve run out of things to talk about, or are you holding something big in?"

That evening, Leon and Rosvisser walked around the academy’s track field.

They had already circled the rubberized track twice, yet Leon hadn’t spoken a single word. The entire time, it had been Rosvisser finding topics to talk about, while he just responded with "mm" or "uh-huh."

After spending years with Leon in the real world, Rosvisser could easily pick up on his little habits.

Whenever he had something difficult to say, he would first go through a very long period of silent buildup.

Leon kept his head down, hands shoved into his jacket pockets, one hand ruffling his own hair.

He didn’t respond to Rosvisser’s question and just kept walking forward.

Rosvisser glanced at him from the side, let out a quiet chuckle, and didn’t press him.

She knew Leon.

If he had already formed the thought I need to say this, then he would say it.

It was just a matter of sooner or later.

They continued walking along the track.

"Oh, look at the lake—there are those two swans again."

"Mm. Black and white. They’re beautiful."

"I even saw them form a heart with their necks once. It was adorable. You should check it out when you have time, I swear—"

"Professor."

Leon suddenly stopped in his tracks, cutting her off.

Rosvisser walked a few more steps before turning back to look at him.

Against the evening glow, he stood with the sunset behind him, the light casting a halo around his tall frame, making him seem almost ethereal.

"What is it?" she asked softly.

Leon clenched his fists, his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

Luckily, with the sun sinking behind him, the light masked the redness creeping onto his face.

He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and mentally pumped himself up.

Just say it. Just say it and get it over with. A man isn’t afraid to confess his feelings to the girl he likes!

"Professor Melkvey, I… I like you."

The moment the words left his mouth, even the wind seemed to come to a standstill.

The distant chatter from the field faded away.

The air around them felt thick, unmoving.

The last rays of sunlight bathed Leon’s face in a warm glow, making him feel impossibly warm.

Leon had gone into this confession fully prepared for failure.

So after saying it, he didn’t even dare to look Rosvisser in the eyes.

Which meant he completely missed the way her gaze shone with an emotion he had never seen before.

And, of course, he had no way of knowing—

To Rosvisser, this confession wasn’t just a confession.

No words could describe what she felt in this moment.

But one thing was certain—

Past, present, or future, no matter their identities, races, or circumstances—

They would always meet, always come to know each other, and always fall in love.

She had originally intended to complete this journey as a quiet observer, simply making up for regrets.

But perhaps she had stayed here too long, and now, that tightly locked-away emotion could no longer be suppressed.

Her heart was overflowing with feelings for him.

And besides—Aurora had once told her that the construction of this memory world was partly dictated by the subconscious of its host.

Which meant…

Deep within Leon’s subconscious, no matter what happened—he would always fall in love with her.

Her emotions were beyond words.

Joy, happiness, gratitude.

And at the same time, confusion and uncertainty.

She didn’t know how to respond to the Leon standing in front of her.

After a long moment of thought, Rosvisser slowly closed her eyes.

"It’s not time yet, Leon."

"W-what do you mean?"

Rosvisser opened her eyes, the corners of her lips curling into a gentle smile, her gaze filled with warmth and emotion as she looked at him.

If she couldn’t give him an answer now—then she would leave that answer for the future.

"Leon Casmod, you have no idea just how brilliant and dazzling your future will be."

"When you stand at the very top of this world—"

"You’ll… say yes?"

"No."

She shook her head, letting her gaze linger on his face for a moment before slowly tilting her head up toward the boundless sky.

And in the quietest voice, she said—

"I’ll marry you."