Chapter 23
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Strawberry Macaron
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"Hoo..."
A tiny, hot breath slipped from Luna's lips at my touch.
Her reaction was a bit more intense than Elise's, so I carefully pulled my hand away from her ear and took a step back.
Then I asked her.
"I'm not sure if doing it like this... is right."
I gave an awkward smile and sat back down in my seat.
"Elise told me this is a pleasant greeting among beastkin. I wanted to return your courage with the proper beastkin courtesy."
At my words, the tension in Luna's red eyes softened.
"I see... Elise..."
She nodded and continued.
"That's right... This greeting... among us beastkin, it's a compliment and the second-most... pleasant one."
Her cheeks flushed as she looked up at me, adding in a very small but clear voice,
"Please... do it often from now on. Teacher."
"I will."
I smiled back in reply.
And Luna said this was the second-best greeting.
I couldn't hold back my curiosity about that intriguing ranking and added,
"Next time, it would be nice if you could teach me the number one greeting yourself."
Luna gave a deep, profound smile at my words.
"Ah... the first greeting..."
She placed a white finger gently to her red lips, whispering low as if sharing a secret.
"That one... later. A bit later. I'll definitely teach you."
Luna replied with a smile.
"Understood. I'll look forward to it."
I smiled happily as well.
Good.
Today's session could end here without issue.
Honestly, it couldn't have been more perfect.
I'd filled her deep wounds, planted the courage to face them despite the limits, and finally gotten her to lift the veil herself.
Today's session seemed fine to wrap up here.
I judged it best to send her off while preserving this positive experience intact.
"Then, shall we end today's session here...? You've shown so much courage today; it might be good to rest a bit."
Filled with satisfaction at having perfectly concluded everything, I asked her with a gentle smile.
But Luna tilted her head, defying my expectations.
"No...?"
She replied with an innocent smile, as if I'd asked something obvious.
"It's 23 minutes and 23 seconds now... 24 seconds. The session time is still a bit short compared to the standard."
"......Yes?"
For a moment, I doubted my ears.
"And since I've shown you my ears too... I need time to get used to this form."
Luna cleverly used the reasons I'd given her earlier for the session, adding an utterly reasonable one.
"Plus, I'm even more curious about your impressions now that you've seen my true self. It'd be like studying how others perceive me."
The first reason didn't quite click at first, but the follow-ups made sense.
It was only natural for Luna to wonder.
No, as a client actively facing her issues head-on instead of avoiding them, this was the most ideal demand she could make.
"Ah, yes. I hadn't considered that far. Thank you for your proactive attitude. The courage to confront the situation directly is the most crucial part of any treatment."
At my sincere praise, Luna's cheeks faintly flushed once more.
The session wasn't over yet.
The teacher might not realize it.
But from the moment she let her ears out,
Luna hadn't taken her eyes off him for even a second.
Now that she'd revealed her most embarrassing side, she was scrutinizing every single place his gaze landed—with her transcendent beastkin senses at their peak.
But as expected, the teacher was a gentleman and a true gent, just like a counselor should be.
He was different from all the empire nobles and other men she'd encountered her whole life.
He looked straight into her eyes, fully focused on the conversation.
He only gave pleasant smiles to her rabbit ears—what she'd considered her lifelong scar—without a trace of curiosity, disgust, or any other emotion.
And his gaze never strayed to unnecessary areas like her chest or legs.
Perfect respect for the client.
Impeccable gentlemanly conduct. Nobler than any noble.
Yet strangely, Luna felt no relief.
Instead, a stuffy, anxious feeling welled up from a corner of her chest.
'Why?'
He hadn't called her beautiful. If he had, she wished he'd prove it.
Not just her ears.
Her ears, her chest, her lips—everything he'd praised as beautiful.
She wished he'd look more.
Luna realized she was craving the teacher's gaze.
In that impatience, her hand unconsciously slid toward the top button of her black dress shirt. If she undid it like Elise had, would he look then?
'Ah?'
At the feel of the cold button, she startled and looked down at her hand.
As if it weren't her own.
She hurriedly pulled it back to her lap.
'What was I doing...'
Luna still had a shred of rationality left to control this new emotion.
That was when the teacher's gaze flicked briefly to the wall clock before softly returning to her.
A split-second movement only a beastkin like Luna could catch.
And he naturally wrapped his left index and middle fingers with his right palm.
'Ah...'
That was his unconscious habit, right before signaling the end of a session in all their previous counseling.
So the next words were obvious, but...
"......"
The teacher said nothing.
He just gazed at Luna with that gentle smile.
He was being considerate again.
Because earlier, she'd insisted on continuing the session.
He was adjusting his plans, waiting for her to say it was okay first.
Yes.
Continuing further wouldn't be polite to his consideration.
Luna spoke first.
"Thank you so much for today's session, Teacher. This is enough."
At her words, the teacher nodded in satisfaction.
He was smiling, but there was no hint of relief or annoyance at the session finally ending.
If anything, he maintained an attitude of praising her.
Feeling her chest heat up again at that final consideration...
No.
"Yes, it was a good time for me too."
With the teacher's farewell, today's session ended.
He stood from his seat and turned his gaze toward the door, as if to see her out.
Then his eyes shifted to his bag on the right. For a split second, his expression flashed surprise, then faintly twisted.
'What's wrong...?'
But the teacher acted as if nothing happened, smiling gently as he continued.
"You worked hard in today's session. Next visit will be Friday, right? See you then."
"...Yes, thank you. Teacher."
With those words, Luna left the counseling room. She used camouflage to hide her ears at the same time.
She didn't want to show them to anyone else.
Once the door closed and she was alone in the hallway, Luna immediately started walking.
She turned the corner and leaned quietly against a cold wall where no one was.
Then she blankly looked down at her two hands.
"What..."
There was nothing in Luna's hands.
Clearly, clearly, Elise's hand from earlier in front of the counseling room had held
the vanilla macaron he'd given her.
But Luna had received nothing.
So it wasn't just about wanting a macaron.
She wanted the macaron from the teacher.
Handed directly from his hand, melting in her mouth as she savored the taste.
"Why didn't he give me any...?"
A small, childlike voice full of grievance slipped from her lips unknowingly.
'Did I do something wrong...'
Had she bothered the teacher too much?
'At the end, I threw a tantrum too much...'
She shouldn't have...
Luna trudged back to the Union Guild lounge with listless steps.
She seemed even more drained than before the session.
She cautiously opened the lounge door.
Many people were still there.
And in the center, on the most comfortable sofa, Elise was still holding her spot.
Next to Elise, engrossed in her smartphone game, was the now-empty vanilla macaron bag from earlier.
'......'
Luna cautiously headed that way.
Elise seemed unaware her sister had returned, focused on her game.
However.
- Sniff sniff.
Elise's nose twitched.
Her gaming fingers froze for a moment.
Like prey sensing a predator, she slowly whipped her head around.
And there stood Luna.
Elise's red eyes widened. She was flustered too.
Because an unbelievably sweet—and dangerously alluring—scent was wafting from her sister, one she'd never smelled before.
Elise masked her shock and asked in a serious tone.
"Sis... How'd the session go...?"
"Yeah."
But Luna showed little interest in her sister's question. She just flopped weakly into the seat next to her.
'Am I imagining it...?'
Elise tilted her head, confused, and turned back to her smartphone game.
That was when a man stood from the nobles' rest area opposite.
"As citizens of the Empire, we must never neglect mental care."
It was Lian, second son of an empire count family.
The other nobles usually around him must have gone on a group mission.
Free from prying eyes, perhaps, he approached Luna's side with elegant strides.
Luna knew.
That he was the one who always looked at her with the most lecherous, burning eyes.
Even now was no different. His gaze obsessively scanned her from head to toe.
"Beastkin."
He addressed her with a contemptuous term.
"What good does listening to that street performer commoner prattle on about 'mental health' do?"
Lian continued with a smug expression.
"If you wish, I could teach you a noble method to straighten out your unstable mind."
The usual Luna would have ignored him blankly and left. And Elise beside her would have spat, 'Get lost, you freak.'
However.
But right now.
Luna's mood was 'very' bad.
And this time, it wasn't just aimed at her.
Insults to herself.
And insults to her one and only teacher.
Various feelings of loss and deprivation... and even rage.
All those turbulent emotions swirled precariously inside her.
And Lian's arrogant remark was like pouring oil on that chaotic fire.
The moment Elise started to rise as usual.
Luna's head slowly lifted.
There was no resignation or sadness in her red eyes.
Instead, her lips curled into a low smile.
But her eyes weren't smiling at all.
Luna spoke softly, as if posing a question.
"In the Empire, the best way to distinguish commoners from nobles is by magic use, right?"
She tilted her head and continued, as if genuinely curious.
"So, if I crush both of a noble's hands so he can never use magic again..."
Her voice was utterly pure.
"Does that make him a commoner from that day on?"
Silence fell over the lounge, all noise halting.
The clink of coffee cups, the murmur of conversations—all vanished like a lie.
Every hunter there looked at Luna.
Lian's face drained of all color.
Because in her red eyes wasn't the usual Luna.
It was the gaze of a predator right before sinking teeth into the nape.
Unaware or uncaring of his terror, Luna simply added one final line with clear eyes.
"It just suddenly occurred to me."
And Elise, watching the whole scene, stared at her sister in astonishment.
Meanwhile.
In Yoo Seon-woo's counseling room.
"How did this happen..."
Yoo Seon-woo stared at the macaron in his hand.
The moment he'd opened his bag to give it to Luna, he'd noticed.
The large crack on top of the macaron.
"Can't give this one away."
Normally, maybe, but...
As a gift for her perfect first step breaking through her trauma, it was too regrettable.
His pride as a counselor wouldn't allow it.
Yoo Seon-woo regretfully tore open the macaron bag.
"I'll make better ones next time."
He muttered as he popped the strawberry-scented macaron into his mouth whole.
'Strawberry shortcake macaron would be good, right?'
She likes strawberries, after all.
Thinking that.