95 The Nurse and Her Lover

I sighed, thinking, 'Why do we have to sneak out like this?'

I mean, sure, we were doing this without the knowledge of the head professor, but by my leave, isn't the head professor far away from the Academy right now? Why should we be sneaking around in the middle of the night, myself forced to crouch around with a stab wound on my stomach, just to reach Professor Whitaker's office?

And... I knew the professor rarely slept, as courtesy from my late night visits, but...

I stared at the nurse. Despite her pointy chin and dark complexion, she was a beauty. She obviously had talent in the healing arts as well. It wouldn't be too far-fetched to know that she had connections on the higher rungs of the ladder.

But I did wonder about what she said when I asked her about our chances...

'Hardly none, but also quite a lot if you ask me.'

What is that supposed to mean?

Apparently, I would come to know about the answer the moment the familiar office door was opened from the inside even before the nurse had knocked twice, and I knew it from the way the normally strict man had grabbed unto the woman's lower back and brought her closer towards him, exchanging an indecent round of kisses right before my eyes.

I almost screamed.

Despite being dressed as a boy, my instinct was to cover my eyes with my hands, but my rebellious side allowed a small peek from the small gaps of two fingers.

Professor Whitaker had then finally noticed that this wasn't a normal rendezvous when he saw me, knees shaking from the blatant indecency I was forced to watch!

He coughed after he had pulled away, a trace of shame and confusion on his face. He asked in a whisper I could still hear, "Melinda, what is this?"

The nurse looked like she would melt right then and there, but she managed to murmur, "A surprise, my love. But I reckon this part should be told in a closed room with the door shut tight."

With another clearing of his throat, the professor opened the door just wide enough to allow my entry, and after I had entered, he clicked it into lock. I watched as the nurse smiled at me before retreating to a corner of the squarish room.

The next moment, I found myself stared down upon by a grumpy professor.

When the silence stretched on, he asked, "I don't suppose you're here for our biweekly lessons."

I let out a long breath before saying, "Yes, sir. I mean, no sir. I mean, yes, I'm here for a different topic altogether."

His gray eyes peered down at me ever deeper. "And you being accompanied by Mel- the school nurse?"

I pursed my lips, daring to seek for help from the other party, but she was silent, an amused smile on her face. I murmured, "I, uh-"

His glare made me wither under his gaze. Frantically, I began, "I-I won't, I'll never dare to, to tell about- about your nightly... nightly affai-"

The man huffed angrily at my stuttering, and the nurse, Melinda, finally made a sound. She laughed loudly, a tad bit more sonorous than a lady should do, and she came upon me with her skirts bellowing, her face bright with mirth.

Then, she enveloped me in a hug, her womanly breasts a cushion on my head and her grip gentle enough due to my still healing wounds. She then started, her voice sounding muffled due to my position, "You are adorable! Just adorable! Now, Jamie, don't you think we should have children too?"

A splutter and a cough came after that, from me and from the man.

'Children?!' I thought in bewilderment.

The woman's role is to bear the man's sons, but- but to offer it blatantly onto an unwed man!

"Oh, look at you all red like that," Nurse Melinda said to him. "It's like we haven't been married for seven years now!"

That was shocking enough for me to finally break free from her suffocating, yet oddly comfortable, hug. My lower lip trembled as I gazed at the two adults.

"Y-You're married?!" I finally let out, quite rudely in fact.

Now, it was very wrong of me to ask such a question, but after such a long time with him, months now in fact, I would think that I should have already known his marital status, especially if the concerned pair was within school grounds as well!

But now I am suddenly bombarded by a new sight of my professor...

He huffed into the air and stared down at me. "Yes, boy, I am, and I will have you know that I am not into the habit of having... nightly affairs."

I let out a nervous chuckle at that. "I, uh, of course, Sir Whitaker. Why would I have been so addle minded to think that a man of your stature would-"

"Not that it wouldn't happen once or twice a month, now, wouldn't it, my love?" the nurse said in a vaguely coquettish and teasing tone that left my ears red and burning. "Not in this office, oh no, and Solus forbid, definitely not in the unoccupied infirmary bed?"

I all but shut them out completely, ready to stuff my fingers inside my ears.

"Please, Melinda, you're frightening the boy," Professor Whitaker said with a sigh, although I noticed how his pale cheeks were now etched with color.

The nurse giggled, and then came towards me again. Bending down, she gave me a naughty wink, and planted two kisses on my cheeks. "Sorry now, little one. Did I frighten you like my husband said?"

"I... No, nurse," I muttered in a daze.

"See? The child is alright," Nurse Melinda said and gathered me close under one arm. I saw, however, how the professor had watched this series of actions with heavy eyes.

Nurse Melinda giggled. "Are you feeling jealous, my love?"

His glare grew sharper. "If you know, then you shouldn't offer your touches to just any man."

She laughed even more. "Now, now. This one is barely a small child, and should I remind you again of my profession, my love?"

"I can personally profess to your healing abilities, enough that you won't even need to touch skins with your patients," the man replied languidly.

"Oh, dear," she said. "Now that's just unfair."

I gasped at her daring actions. I thought about what I would do the moment he would explode. Will I be able to do anything once he lifts a hand against his daring wife? Would I be able to protect her from his wrath?

Only... it didn't come.

He only sighed slowly, and came forward, calmly prying her fingers off of my shoulder. That's when he noticed the bandages under my thin shirt. "You're hurt, boy?"

I nodded eagerly, happy to change the topic. "From the Test of Waning, Sir. Well, I didn't pass... I'm sorry to let you down like this."

He snorted, although his eyes still checked over my bandages with a hint of worry. "Should you even be running around right now?"

"I'm here with the child, so it's going to be alright," Nurse Melinda easily said.

Looking at his wife with incredulousness, he finally said, "Sit down, both of you. I may not know why you are here, but I suppose we can be gentlemen while we go about it."

~~

The tea burnt my fingers as I grasped onto the intricately created cups, but I dared not let go of it. The pain from the heat made me focus better despite the late hours.

I understood now how my request might easily be understood by the professor, with his relationship with the nurse being as it was, but I also knew how it could also be treated as nonsense as well; the mutterings and pleads of a simple wife.

I was nervous.

Finally, after a few moments filled with the adults blowing at their tea and taking tiny sips and me sitting down tensely, the nurse finally broke the silence. "Husband, my love, I know how there can be special exemptions within the school when the students are first accepted."

Sir Whitaker did not even look up from his tea as he mixed a cube of sugar in. "If you are referring to special case students, then yes, we have plenty. Most examples are of high royalty, only coming to the Academy during special events and tests, and yet receiving the equal degree by the end of it all."

The nurse nodded fervently. "Yes, yes. And of commoners?"

The professor had to stop and think for a while, but in the end, he nodded. "Years and years ago, there was a case like that too. The boy was contracted by a virus from a legendary beast. He had to have multiple leaves of absence every year due to the inherent changes of his very body."

"Oh, yes, I've heard of him! Wolf boy, they called him back in the days!" Melinda said excitedly.

"That is indeed the case, but why on earth would you speak about such things?"

She smiled sweetly. "Well, won't the second head professor be able to enact such special admissions?"

He frowned at her, but nonetheless said, "Without the head professor, the second head professor will assume all his duties..."

She clapped her hands. "Yes! Then, it is possible, yes?"

"Well... It isn't of the question of possibility but of-"

She looked at him with a hard stare. "Is it possible?"

"... Yes."

"Good!" Then, she clapped me gently on the back. "Look here. This one is called Eleftherion from the Saule Kingdom."

"I know who he is-"

"And," she said harshly, cutting him off. "I want you to listen hard now, my love."

Taking the hint, he leaned forward until I thought they would snog again, but instead, the nurse pressed her lips close to the man's ears and whispered my secret to him, so silently that even my trained ears couldn't hear it.

I watched as his eyes went round, and then he stared at me with surprise, an expression I hardly ever saw from his strict face.

"... Is it true?" he asked.

I pursed my lips and nodded. "... Yes."

I didn't know what to expect. Perhaps that he would scream at me? Or that he would agree to it with open arms? Maybe he would simply order me to pack my bags now, staring at me with disgust, but-

After exchanging a few meaningful looks with his wife, he finally turned to me and said, "Alright. I will allow it."

Silence.

"I..." I stammered. "You what?"

"I will allow it," he repeated. "Act henceforth as though you weren't caught at all. But find yourself in another event where your secret will be spilled, and I won't be there to catch you from your downfall. Let this be a favor I give to my wife, and also from a teacher to his talented protégé."

I was speechless. I turned towards the nurse but only found her smiling at me. When I looked back to the professor, he only looked deadly serious. I would rather have believed it more if he suddenly burst out laughing and called this all a silly prank, but that wasn't the case.

"You won't even ask about my circumstance?" I asked in disbelief.

For a few seconds, we only stared at each other. Then, he replied, "Knowing you, I believe you have your valid reasons, and I shan't pry over them."

But I knew there was something more to this.

"Why?" I wanted to ask, but held off my tongue.

He was willing to help me, so I shouldn't be testing my luck.

Instead, I asked, "Who else will know?"

He looked at me harshly. "That is for me to decide, and none of whose names I would give it out to would be divulged to you. Rest assured that to whomever I tell your little secret... it would be to a group I deeply trust. The head professor will know nothing about this until you have earned a reputation enough to force him to agree to your selfish wishes. Until then, I recommend you live a simple student's life."

~~

There was no contract, no handshakes, but his words were deep and true. Deep down, I knew the deal was as real as any other with royal stamps involved. He will keep my secret.

But as to why, I still don't know...

Later into the night and mere hours into dawn, I rolled around my infirmary bed, caught in bouts of ecstasy and worry to ever blink into sleep. Just as the first signs of dawn came, I groggily felt a soft lump from underneath my pillow. Taking it out, I realized it was a scented and obviously expensive envelope.

Deep purple in color, with a red satin ribbon to tie it close... I knew it wasn't a simple letter.

When I turned it over to check for the sender's name, there was none. So, sitting up properly on the bed, and lighting up my bedside candle with an easy fireball, I began to unravel the pretty ribbon, letting it fall softly onto my blanket. Inside was a hard board of painted parchment, like one of the fancy ones my family used to invite guests into balls and castle events.

Stomped into the thin, black-painted board were gold letters. My fingers trailed over the depressions of each letter as I read it.

Above was my name.

Eleftherion.

Just that, without any titles.

And below,

You are cordially invited to the Advancement Ball.