In the manor, Astrea and Aodh were in the entrance. The walls were cream colored and there were a lot of windows to let the light in. A large stairway led to the second floor. The walls were decorated by old landscape paintings. Fixed to the ceiling was a crystal chandelier shining brightly under the sun.
He made her visit the inside of the manor, showing her the various lounges where the teachers could reunite to talk, the kitchen if she wanted to cook for herself, the garden where she had a reserved plot of land in case she wanted to plant flowers or vegetables, the dining room, and finally her room on the second floor. It was a vast room all entirely furnished with a king sized bed, a desk, a dressing room, and a private bathroom. The window was directed south so it was very well illuminated.
Aodh let her rest in her room. He told her that lunch would be served at 12:30 pm. Alone in her room, she opened her luggages and arranged her possession around the room. She took one hour to tidy everything. She looked at the time on her phone and it showed 11:45 am. With so much time left until lunch, she decided to take a walk around the garden. Maybe she will meet one of the residents? As if hearing her, someone knocked on the door. She opened it and saw a petite woman in front of her. The first thing she thought of seeing her appearance was: 'soft'.
She had fluffy shoulder length chocolate hair, she wore glasses, had droopy eyes, an egg-shaped face, and small heart-shaped lips. She was clothed in a white summer dress going down her knees. The girl seemed to be surprised as Astrea suddenly opened without warning. But when she saw her face she widened her eyes even more. Astrea was getting worried: ' Why is she staring so long? '
CLASP!!
The girl suddenly slapped her cheeks as if to get out of a trance. She shook her head and determinately asked :
"Are you the new teacher?"
' Her voice is also very soft ', thought Astrea.
"Yes, I am."
"Then you are really a human?"
"Yes?" ' Why is she asking that? '
"Finally!!!" She jumped on Astrea for a hug. She could have dodged but she didn't want the seemingly fragile girl get hurt. So she let herself be embarrassed by the waist.
"Miss? May I know what's wrong?"
"Sniff, sniff, I'm not the only human in this place anymooore!!!"
Then something clicked inside Astrea. She remembered Aodh saying there was a lady also complaining to be the alone. Her name seemed to be...
"Oh. So you must be the Cecilia I heard about."
"Yes! Ah! I am sorry! I suddenly hugged you and didn't even introduced myself!" The young woman then let her go. "Ahem! Nice to meet you! My name is Cecilia Melba. I am a history teacher."
"Nice to meet you, Cecilia. I am Astrea Elysium. I will be teaching the purge course this year instead of my teacher."
"Huh! You will be replacing the pervert!"
' Seems like Teacher didn't lose his lustful side from what I can see...'
"That 'pervert' would be my teacher indeed."
"Ah! Sorry I didn't mean..." said Cecilia tearfully.
"Please don't be. You only stated the truth. But I wonder why I have to replace him"
'I completely forgot to ask Janus about it...'
"I have no idea sorry."
"No, it's okay. Would you like to talk inside? Or anywhere else if you want."
"Then let's talk in the dining room. It's soon going to be lunch time and I will introduce you to the other teachers."
"Okay then. Let me get my keys." Astrea immediately took them and locked the door. "I'm ready. Let's go."
When they arrived in the (dining room), there was already someone waiting. A mature woman with horns on her forehead greeted:
"Hey, Chloe! You are finally here! Mmm? Who Is this person next to you?"
"Her name is Astrea Elysium. She will be substituting Mr. Kalvimani."
"Geh! Then she is his disciple!" The woman then stared dagger at Astrea.
"Aaah! Stop that! Miss Elysium isn't like that!!"
'What did she mean by 'that'?' pondered Astrea.
"Who knows? The bastard teacher is a sadist, his other disciple is also one. She must be the same as them!!"
"No! She isn't like that! I swear!" cried Cecilia. In her mind, she just protected her because she was the only other woman she could talk with common sense. The others were either guys or they were just downright crazy. Seeing she was about to cry, the other woman could only let it go but she didn't get nearer than ten meters.
'How much is Teacher hated? And Theo... What have you become...'
Astrea and Cecilia each took a seat. They talked about their hobby and what they did before. But it was mostly Cecilia who talked.
She was 22 years old, 2 years younger than Astrea was. Both of her parents are alive and she has two elder brothers who dearly love her. She possesses the rare Spirit eyes. She could see the souls of the dead and ghosts. But as she lived in the gigantic capital city, it only brought her problems. All her life she had accidents befalling her where she even had to live away from the city to live in a less crowded area. Then she could peacefully finish her studies and got her diploma.
As she looked for work, one of the school's administrator noticed her peculiarity and hired her to work here. She immediately accepted after seeing the salary. But when she arrived here, she got the biggest fright of her life. Supernatural beings! Everyone was very curious about her. Some even tried to court her but the way they did... If you think literally offering your heart would be the greatest proof of your love, then you are dead wrong... The poor girl was so frightened she fainted. After this, it got less ridiculous but they were still weird.
Cecilia warned many times Astrea to not approach some of the teachers. One group had prejudices against humans, another wants to use them as experiments, and you have the one who wants to skin alive her teacher and her fellow disciple. They wouldn't hesitate to do it if they could but they were too strong. And so they would surely take their revenge on her to make them feel bad.
Astrea only raised an eyebrow, surprised at the number of enemies they had. She wondered at what they did the past ten years...
It became 12:30 pm and chimes rang to call the other residents. While they were waiting, some had arrived in advances but when they all heard her occupation, they all got away from her and gave her despising look. Astrea began to resent her teacher for the nth number of time in her life. As no one wanted to stay near her, her table was mostly empty. There were only the two of them. Seems like even teacher didn't dare to bully Cecilia too much as she was secretly protected by every person she met.
As she thought, she really is the Madonna of the school but she doesn't know it. She even ended up being the friend of their worst enemy's disciple... At the thought of her future, Astrea could only sigh in her heart. She only studied under him for one year and look at where it got her.