The Teacher of Budding Villains Suffers Today, Too - Chapter 17

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 17
As Rachel nodded, Kana, Colo, and Henry exchanged cautious glances with one another.
“Could you step out for a moment?”
“Of course. Right away.”
Colo and Henry ushered Kana from the room. The door clicked shut, and silence fell between Theo and Rachel.
“…Rachel.”
Theo’s voice emerged heavy with suppressed emotion.
“I’m truly sorry.”
His voice was thick, trembling on the edge of tears. He was barely holding them back.
Rachel smiled faintly and extended her hand; Theo stepped forward slowly.
“Teacher…”
As his fingers closed around hers, she felt the cold touch of metal against her palm. Rachel’s eyes widened as she looked at him.
“My grandmother gave it to me. She said it’s a ring that grants protection from the divine.”
“Why would you…?”
“I want you to have it.”
She understood what his grandmother meant to him—a woman who had filled the void left by his mother’s early death. To give away her gift, a ring so precious: what reason could he possibly have?
Before Rachel could respond, Theo turned toward the door.
“Theo?”
She called after him urgently, but he had already slipped from the room.
* * *
‘Curious thing, isn’t it.’
Rachel gazed at the ring. It fit her index finger perfectly, and at first glance it was clearly valuable—so much so that it practically belonged in a museum.
‘I should have said more to Theo.’
However grateful she felt, accepting something so costly, so laden with his family’s history, made her uncomfortable.
That was why she’d summoned Theo to the hospital several times, intending to return the ring.
But each time he refused, insisting that he wanted to express his feelings this way. In the end, Rachel had relented and kept it.
‘What on earth is this stone? A ruby?’
The brilliant red gem set at the ring’s center burned with an inner fire whose nature she couldn’t discern.
‘I’ll look into it later. For now, I need to focus on recovery.’
The doctor had prescribed complete rest. Her own instincts agreed—she’d inhaled far too much smoke. There was no way her lungs and other organs had escaped unscathed.
‘Rest is what they’re telling me, but I’m worried about what comes next.’
Rachel exhaled a thin sigh. During her entire hospital stay, the school had weighed on her mind.
The third-floor empty room where Kana and Theo had been experimenting with their eternal flame was the same space where the Swan family tree was painted on the walls.
Though only part of the room had burned, once construction began she couldn’t leave the children there, so she’d instituted mandatory homeschooling instead.
Rachel had said the partially charred family tree could be restored adequately enough, but Colo wanted perfection. It meant the repairs were taking far longer.
Colo reported on progress daily, but not being able to see the work site herself left her just as frustrated.
“Miss, you seem lost in thought.”
Colo spoke up, watching her contemplative silence. He and Henry had come to deliver a construction update during their hospital visit.
“I’m worried about how to manage the school going forward.”
After a fire, the parents’ trust would be shattered. What parent would willingly send their precious child to an unsafe school?
Put in their position, she wouldn’t send hers either.
‘I need something concrete to convince the parents with.’
Should she write letters and send them? Or wait until she recovered and visit their homes in person?
Rachel was deep in thought, her brow slightly furrowed, when—
Knock, knock.
Henry rose at the sound and called out to ask who it was, but there was no answer from beyond the door. He stood quietly, sensing the presence for a moment, then suddenly pulled it open.
“Oh?”
Familiar faces stood in the doorway. Rocka, Eckard, Mare, Chase, Kana, and Theo—along with Noah. The children from Swan Knight Academy had come to visit.
“What brings you all here?”
Rachel’s eyes went wide with pleasant surprise. At Henry’s invitation to come in, the children filed into the room hesitantly, one by one. Kana even brought a Tulip Bouquet, which she pressed into Rachel’s hands.
The unexpected visit left Rachel speechless.
“We came to see you, teacher.”
“How have you been?”
“Teacher, does it hurt?”
The children clustered around her bed, each one chattering away. It was unbearably sweet. Rachel beamed and welcomed them warmly.
“It doesn’t hurt at all—I’ve been doing fine.”
“Really…?”
Kana blinked several times, unconvinced. Rachel nodded and gently stroked her head.
Colo and Henry, who knew Rachel’s true condition better than anyone, let their expressions tighten slightly.
“It’s all thanks to how much you’ve cared about me.”
“…….”
“Kana, I wish you wouldn’t worry about this. I’m truly fine.”
As Rachel reassured Kana just as she had before, Rocka stepped forward from where he’d been standing beside her.
“I’m doing the homework that Henry assigned every day at home.”
“My, is that truly so?”
She already knew that Henry and Colo visited their students’ homes daily, conducting simple lessons and assigning homework.
While she hadn’t expected much of the lessons themselves, the fact that they were actually doing their assignments was welcome news indeed.
“Of course. I’m doing my homework and listening well to my parents too.”
Eckard spoke while fidgeting with his hands, looking embarrassed. That Eckard—who had been disrespectful to everyone—would obey his parents seemed utterly unbelievable.
“Really? Just hearing that makes me so happy, as if all my ailments have vanished.”
When Rachel broke into a broad smile, the children began speaking in turn, sharing their recent lives.
Mare, who had once tried to solve everything with money, had largely abandoned that habit, and Chase had lately been sitting at his desk reading books.
Witnessing the children’s transformation, Rachel could not conceal her sense of wonder.
Contrary to her expectations that they would let loose once they returned home, the children were maintaining what they’d learned at school and building lives of their own.
‘These children are quite something.’
Her spirits soared boundlessly—as if she herself were floating through the sky.
“To think you’ve all grown so much. I’m looking forward to your school life ahead.”
As Rachel smiled with her eyes narrowing, the children nodded in agreement one by one.
“How are Theo and Noah finding life at the Imperial Palace? You two were so eager to go there for the longest time.”
Yet both hesitated, unable to speak easily.
Both children seemed to have much they wished to say.
Unlike the other five children, whom Colo and Henry were teaching through direct home visits, Theo and Noah were receiving individual instruction at the Imperial Palace.
She had been quite curious about how they were faring, but their reactions suggested all was not well.
“…To be honest, I miss school.”
Theo replied with a darkened expression.
“It was more fun when I was there.”
It seemed they only understood its value once they’d lost it. The two children laid bare their recent troubles with rather serious faces.
“I’ve been struggling lately. The teachers who come to the Imperial Palace just don’t suit me.”
As the two children’s expressions grew increasingly grave, the other five grew tense as well.
Then Noah, who had been looking somewhat sullen, opened his mouth.
“Teacher.”
“Yes, Noah.”
“Is our school… going to close…?”
At Noah’s unexpected words, Rachel looked puzzled.
“The school is closing?”
“We caused so much trouble… isn’t the school shutting down because of us?”
So that was what he meant—Noah had been worried about whether the school would survive.
She had never realized the children cared for the school so deeply.
Rachel shook her head with a warm smile at the child’s change of heart.
“That won’t happen.”
“Really…?”
“Absolutely, without question.”
Rachel reassured Noah again and again. The other children beside her released small sighs of relief, a gesture Rachel did not miss.
“Swan Knight Academy will continue to exist until you all graduate, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
Even as she spoke, Rachel found it difficult to hide her profound emotion.
To feel the children’s pure hearts so wholly—this was the moment she felt proud of choosing the profession of a teacher.
“Teacher, this is for you.”
It was just as the time had come for the children to leave. Chase, who had been hesitant, set down a beautifully wrapped gift.
“We made it ourselves. It’s not very well made, but….”
Eckard spoke in a nervous voice.
As if entranced, Rachel carefully unwrapped the package. Colo and Henry approached as well, their faces alight with curiosity.
“Goodness….”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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