Cry, Even Better if you Beg

Chapter 70: You Mean Nothing to Me

“Well, I'm pleasantly surprised you decided to stay Miss Lewellin.” the headmistress told her after she explained she wouldn't be going away after all, “There really is no better school around than the one in your hometown.” she laughed heartily in delight.

Leyla only faintly smiled in reply, doing her best to be cordial as she sat from across the headmistress. Her eyes lowered to the ground, looking quite embarrassed at her changing her decision.

“I'm truly sorry for giving you trouble over my transfer.” Leyla apologized, bowing her head in remorse. The headmistress only brushed off her apology.

“Nonsense,” the headmistress said, “As long as you're staying in our school there's no trouble to be had.” she pointed out before clearing her throat, and looking a bit sheepish this time. “By the way Miss Lewellin, may I inquire if you changed your mind about Theo?”

“Hm?” Leyla looked up, “Theo?” she softly wondered to herself, before memories of the grocery store owner's son popped up in her mind, “Oh! Theo?” she looked back at the headmistress who nodded eagerly.

Fortunately, the headmistress' spouse neared them, carrying a tray with tea, effectively cutting off their conversation.

“Come now dear, let's not force her.” interjected her husband, “Look at how embarrassed Miss Lewellin is. Let the young people be.”

“I'm just saying that Theo is a perfectly good young man.” the headmistress haughtily shot back at him before looking pointedly at Leyla, who only smiled awkwardly at the two of them.

She really wanted them to get together, and couldn't help but wonder if Leyla thought Theo was not up to her standards. She knew Leyla had been engaged to Dr. Etman's son, but broke it off.

The headmistress couldn't help but think Leyla should know by now that looking for better prospects won't look too good for her. It could even backfire on her, making her look greedy when she knew Leyla was anything but.

Deeming a change of subject was in order, the headmistress cleared her throat before straightening up, shaking further thoughts off her mind. She then gave a cheerful smile to the young teacher.

“Well then, now that you're staying with us, how about we place you as the star of our play next year?” she suggested jovially, “I think we'll be able to garner huge amounts of donations once more if we do that.”

Leyla only smiled at the sudden change of subject. She knew it was a poor joke on the headmistress' part, but this felt much easier to laugh about now after the harrowing events she had experienced lately.

Soon enough they wrapped up their conversation about the school, their students, and the plans for the next semester. Leyla bid the couple goodbye, before exiting the headmistress' house.

The temperature outside was freezing, the cold chilling her through the bone, making her walk at a sluggish pace. However, Leyla found herself wanting to prolong the time it took her to reach Arvis.

She found herself stopping right by the central station's square, looking around aimlessly. She began to move once more, drawing closer to the display windows by the mall, gazing at the items with no particular thought, vaguely looking at her translucent reflection…

'What would happen if I just suddenly disappeared from here?' she couldn't help but wonder.

Huh, even wishful thinking proved to be depressing. Leyla knew deep down there was no way she could ever go through with escaping the Duke. She couldn't leave her uncle behind, not when it's his life on the line.

'Even if I managed to convince my uncle to move and leave Arvis with me, the duke would stop at nothing to find him.'

It would also be counterproductive of her if she were to summon the duke's ire in her defiance. It could make things worse than it already is.