Chapter 25: She Saw Me as a Man for the First Time and Made the Excuse Old Enough to Be My Mother

Natasha looked down at her student’s sleeping face, her hand still gently resting on his cheek.

His breathing had evened out, and the tension that had been pulling at his face all day was finally gone.

He looked peaceful for the first time since this whole mess had started. She didn’t move her hand, afraid she might wake him up.

’Did I really do the right thing?’ She didn’t know how her decision to make Dante the successor would play out in the future.

But, she wasn’t the type of person who went back on her word.

Since she had said it, she was going to see it through. Her worry was that it really was a huge responsibility to place on someone’s shoulders.

She knew very well how much a person had to sacrifice to become the successor of Eden’s Gate, because she had been through all of it herself.

’What am I even thinking? As his master, it’s my duty to make sure he doesn’t have to experience any of that.’ Natasha shook her head with a smile.

’It’s the least I can do to repay him after using him for system rewards.’

With that question answered, she turned her attention to another problem at hand.

Her eyes carefully examined Dante’s handsome face before travelling down to his chest and then finally landing on his groin area.

’W-when did he grow up so much?’

She quickly looked away as the memories of her "perfect landing" rushed back to her mind.

She had been so caught up in her own problems for the past few years that she had completely missed her own student becoming a man right under her nose.

"A man, huh," She spoke, her cheeks warming at the words.

The realisation that she wasn’t just seeing Dante as her student anymore, but as a man too, made her heart race.

But she immediately shut those thoughts down.

After all, some mistakes couldn’t happen, no matter what. She was his master, the woman who had raised him. That was where the line was, and that was where it had to stay.

’It’s just my body being weird. I haven’t been with a man in over twenty years.’ She told herself, latching onto the easiest excuse. ’It doesn’t mean anything.’

The excuse felt thin even to her, but she chose to believe it anyway.

’I should be more careful from now on. I’ll start by putting some distance between us.’ Natasha made up her mind.

Right then, a series of system notifications appeared in front of her eyes that had been resting on Dante’s face.

[Task 3 has been fulfilled.]

[Congratulations! You have successfully completed the chain mission, Care for Dante.]

[You have obtained 100 Mana Stones (Legendary).]

[Do you wish to collect?]

"Not now." Natasha said, waving the blue screens away. She had promised to be by his side when he woke up.

So naturally, the mana stones could wait until then.

****

The morning sun crept across Dante’s face, slowly pulling him out of his sleep.

"Master..."

That was the first word out of his mouth, the same one he had been thinking about when he fell asleep.

His vision focused, and the ceiling above him was the same one from last night.

He was still here.

Dante let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding.

"Master?" He turned his head, his voice still rough from sleep.

His eyes landed on the figure beside the bed.

Natasha was sitting on the floor with her upper body folded over the mattress, her head resting on her arms. Her black hair was spread across the sheets and her breathing was slow and steady.

’...She really did stay by my side.’

A small smile pulled at his lips before he could stop it. It was not his scheming smile nor his fake one. Rather a real one he didn’t even know he was making.

For someone who had been alone his entire life back on earth, the sight of someone actually keeping their word about something this small hit him in a place he hadn’t expected.

She stirred awake a moment later.

"...You’re awake." Natasha sat up and pushed her hair back behind her ear. She added in a teasing tone, "I was starting to think you wouldn’t wake up."

"Sorry, master. I didn’t know I would sleep the whole day." Dante said, scratching the back of his head.

"It’s fine. I’m the one who said I would be here when you woke up." She replied, getting to her feet and stretching her arms over her head.

She glanced at the window, where the morning sun was already pouring in, and then back at him.

"Rest a bit longer. I’ll go wash up and make breakfast."

With that, she turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

The moment the door clicked shut, Dante let himself fall back against the pillow. It took him a few moments to get over the happiness of this actually being his new reality.

Once he had collected his thoughts, he immediately pulled up the system window and checked the notifications he had missed while he was asleep.

[Natasha has successfully completed the chain mission "Care for Dante" and obtained 100 Mana Stones (Legendary)!]

[Triggering 10x rewards...]

[Congratulations! You have obtained 10 Mana Stones (Mythic)!]

[Natasha’s favourability towards you has increased!]

[Current favourability...]