Chapter 282 Debate
The owl left its contact information and left.
Nova was still frowning in thought, but out of the corner of his eye he saw his teacher's gloomy face.
Nova: “…”
What happened?
"Come here first."
Rabelais called out with a gloomy face, suppressing the urge to grab the umbrella in the umbrella tube and hit the human trafficker next to the student on the head - why are you standing so close, your body is almost leaning forward!
"I want to talk to you alone." The old man took a deep breath, trying to suppress his worry and anger, and perhaps also the grief that the good seedlings he had carefully cared for were uprooted and ravaged.
"Alone." Seeing that the other person was a little dazed, he glanced at the annoying guy and emphasized in a cold voice: "Just the two of us."
Azuka, who was being targeted, smiled calmly. He straightened the black-haired young man's collar very naturally, then picked up the documents on the table and nodded gently to Rabelais. "Then I'll wait for you outside."
After driving the people out, Rabelais immediately locked the door. He knew that a thin wooden door could not prevent a god from hearing what he wanted to hear, but he did not care, nor was he afraid to show hostility and vigilance in front of the god.
Staring at his beloved disciple's rather bewildered face, the old man coldly pressed, "What exactly is your relationship with him now?"
The young man blinked slowly. "If you mean the relationship between our factions and positions, then we are partners who can deeply trust each other."
"If you mean our personal relationship," he replied calmly and without question, "he is my lover."
Even though he was almost certain in his heart, the shock of hearing someone admit it in person still made Dels Rabelais take a few steps back and close his eyes somewhat overwhelmed - but now was not the time to collapse.
"...Lover? Not mistress?" The old man refused the student's worried offer of support and asked harshly, "Did he tell you this himself?"
In Sylvetic, the words "lover" and "lover" have very different meanings. The former is very frivolous, essentially equivalent to a sexual partner. Many nobles have many lovers at the same time, and each of their lovers may have many lovers. The latter is different. They are either legally protected couples or they have the kind of true, unwavering, life-long "love" described by the bards.
"To be precise, this is something we both agreed on after verification," Nova explained earnestly to his teacher. "After all, neither of us would casually have sex with anyone just to relieve boredom or lust. So, we're not lovers, we're lovers. I don't understand why Magnus would misunderstand this."
——Perhaps the other party does not believe that a god would truly and permanently "fall in love" with an ordinary person.
"You wouldn't do such a dirty thing." The old man glared at his troublesome student with disappointment. This kid was usually cold and hard, stubborn as a rock. How could he suddenly do something stupid like this?
Someone must have tricked him.
"He's not that kind of person." Nova couldn't help but frowned: "You should trust my judgment."
"What about later?" his teacher asked bluntly. "Even if he's fine now, what about later? What if he shows new changes, like violence and deception? What if he loses interest in you and chooses to pursue another lover? What if he even starts to hate you... As an ordinary person, do you have the ability to escape from a god unscathed?"
The old man sighed wearily and slowly sat down. He looked increasingly older, frail and aged. "And have you ever thought about how long a god can live? Even if you remain in love, and you grow old and gray, he will still retain this youthful appearance..."
After a long while, Rabelais heard his student say word by word: "But all these possibilities you mentioned will not really, completely, kill me."
“…”
"I admit that this is the most irrational, most dangerous, and riskiest bet I have ever made in my life." The smoky-gray eyes behind the lenses were as calm and clear as ever, as if they had already seen through all the suffering, sorrow, and disasters in the world.
"But at the same time, I am very sure that I am capable, and will always be capable, of bearing all the consequences of my personal choices," he analyzed himself calmly, with extreme arrogance and rationality. "In other words, he can't kill me."
"I still don't understand what love is," the young man said, his cold, morbid nature revealed with great frankness. "But I'm certain that I didn't just weigh the pros and cons. I didn't just choose him because of the 'gentleness, understanding, encouragement, and tolerance' he showed me, or because of all the divinely inspired benefits he provided me."
"I chose him more because I found that I was willing to truly look at him, no matter how noble and great he was or how ugly and despicable he was, no matter how indestructible or how weak he was, no matter who he was, where he came from, and where he was going - I would look at him and personally answer any possibility he created."
"And this is very wonderful to me." The scholar's voice was very soft, with an almost paranoid desire for knowledge: "I have never liked studying individual humans. The desire for 'loyalty' and 'love' is even a false proposition... But I eternally yearn to solve puzzles."
"--So even if it turns out to be unsolvable in the end, the process itself is still an answer for me."
Lapore looked at his students silently. This was not a decision made on impulse by a young man, nor was it even made out of worldly considerations.
He knew he couldn't stop him, just like he couldn't stop a star determined to fall into the atmosphere - no, it was more like a star that curiously and deliberately approached another equally lonely celestial body in the darkness, and was thus firmly captured by gravity. According to the laws set by the universe billions of years ago, it and its companion star continued to intertwine and rotate with each other... until they completely collided, merged, and turned into hot and empty dust.
The old man finally sighed deeply, his shoulders slumped wearily, and said with a helpless compromise: "You have made up your mind, haven't you?"
"Yes, this is my answer after careful consideration." The young man answered seriously and solemnly.
"... Ever since I taught you, I've always been pessimistic about many of your choices," Dels Rabelais said slowly, "but you never listen to me. You're incredibly stubborn, just like me."
History is always like this. Young people will always break free from the hands of the older generation that support them but also restrain them, and run forward desperately.
Seeing the student's lips move, the old man interrupted him, his voice suddenly becoming stern: "But you must remember one thing, if he tries to hurt you, no matter if he is a god or something else... even if it costs me my old bones, I will never let him go."
A strange emotion welled up from deep within his chest. Nova felt this warmth, yet astringent, in a daze. He almost subconsciously retorted based on basic logic, "...But according to my calculations, even at the cost of your life, the probability of you successfully avenging him is no more than five percent."
The old man was choked and almost laughed at the child's anger: "So don't give me the chance to take revenge on him!"
Seeing the man frowning and trying to open his mouth to make some excuses, Rabelais added in a bad mood to avoid being angered to death by his beloved disciple: "At least in the few years I am alive, don't let me, an old man with gray hair, send the young away. When I die, you can do whatever you want to me. By then, I won't be able to see it, and out of sight, out of mind!"
Rabelais angrily flung the door open. Outside, the blond god was leaning against the wall, looking down at documents. His expression was calm and focused, as if he had no interest in this conversation between teacher and student. Seeing the old man squinting at him, he looked up calmly and smiled gently. "Mr. Rabelais? Have you finished your discussion?"
"Come on, you know very well that the boy has you under his wing." Dels Rabelais pointed this out bluntly: "If you didn't smile so smugly and annoyingly, you could pretend to be more convincing."
The other party showed a slightly surprised look: "Really? Is it really that obvious?"
Rabelais: “…”
The old man clutched his chest, too lazy to look at the two who were each more irritating than the other, and impatiently made way for them: "Get out, get out, all of you, leave me, this annoying old man, alone for a while."
He needed to find a place to calm his blood pressure and mourn for his precious student who had been so violently taken away from him.
...But this is my study. Nova was about to point this out, but after seeing the old man's face as dark as ink, he silently shut his mouth.
——So the two of them "got away" without hesitation.
When there was no one around, the other person's fingers immediately wrapped around the professor's palm, interlocking theirs.
Looking down at his obviously distracted lover, the savior's voice was so gentle and beautiful that it made one's heart tremble: "Professor? What are you thinking about?"
"...Teacher, he compromised more quickly than I thought." He hadn't finished his argument yet. The black-haired young man frowned slightly, looking puzzled. "I understand the teacher's concerns, but I don't quite understand why, given his stubborn personality, he would give in so... easily?"
"Maybe it's because he loves you." Azuka gently placed her fingers on the back of the other person's neck, caressing it gently with a good mood. Hearing this, she patiently explained, "Love has many forms. Sometimes it's filled with the desire to possess, control, and destroy, and sometimes it chooses selfless support, understanding, and tolerance."
The former included the other party's mother and his cousin who was currently harmless. As for the latter...
Azuka suddenly stopped and, while the professor was still distracted, turned around, cupped his cheeks, and kissed his slightly open lips softly and devoutly.
"So I'm very happy, dear...very happy." His voice was as gentle as the wind. "In fact, you love me, don't you?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
