20 You Can Call Me Master

History of Justice and Ethics was probably the only class Anna was excited about that semester. So, she was bummed when the professor who usually taught it fell deathly ill. He was a man in his fifties but without any symptoms, the man seemed to catch a disease that showed years of symptoms. Anna didn't think much about it. For a month or so, there was an empty slot in her schedule until finally, that morning, an email reached everyone in the class that it would begin with a substitute professor.

With interest, she read the coursework and the brief description and hoped that the substitute would be good. It had been three years at college studying Philosophy and she was rudely reminded of how every philosophy professor had a tendency to sound boring and holier-than-thou. Her mind traveled to the particular professor whose class she had practically slept through and had gotten a hard time about and shook her head.

At least this course was said to be interesting.

Cynically, she acknowledged that he would be an old man with a beer belly who didn't care much for his students but instead gave them low grades. It didn't stop her from heading to class with a skip in her step.

She saw Marie sitting at the center of the lecture theater. Anna dropped down beside her, smiling politely.

"Anna, heyo!" Marie chirped.

Anna replied in kind, her mood better than most days of the year. Though her brain was slowly focusing on the class and she looked around at the rowdy people who spoke without ceremony. Ignoring her instincts to put her headphones on and getting to work, she looked up and saw a tall man walk into the room.

She could clearly see the messy bun on his head and the glint in his eye as he found her amongst all the students.

He carried an expensive leather briefcase and settled it on the table. He shrugged off his long coat, leaving him in his vest and formal shirt. He ignored everybody else. For a few moments, he even ignored her.

As he slowly unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled up his sleeves, Anna heard Marie whisper into her ear. "I am not dreaming, am I? Ladislas Forester is teaching us this class?" she asked in awe.

For once, Anna wasn't sure what to say. She eyed the man who now leaned against the table calmly. He nonchalantly checked his watch. Anna looked at her phone to see what he was seeing and realized quickly that he was four minutes early.

She kept one eye on the clock and one on him. He still looked like his 'laidback' self, but he owned the room. He was reading something on his phone, apparently unaware of the silence that had spread in the class. But Anna had a sneaking suspicion that he was more alert about his surroundings than he seemed.

Exactly down to a second after the designated time, Lewis tried to enter. Unlike his usual self, Ladislas lifted his eyebrow and opened his mouth to speak.

"You're late," he said, fixing Lewis with a steady look. Anna raised her brow: this was unlike him. His voice was deep and smooth, but the undercurrent of self-confidence was stained with disdain.

Lewis just fidgeted and apologized until Ladislas sighed and gestured for him to enter the class. He, then, closed the door.

He walked back to the desk, creating an enticing image for her eyes to follow.

Finally, he looked at the class.

Beside Anna, Marie sighed happily and it took all of Anna's control not to sigh as well. Instead of happiness, she held a sense of indignation on seeing him again. She saw the way his eyes scanned the room, his hand absentmindedly fingering the phone in his hand as he leaned.

"I'm Professor Forester," he began. "I will be the professor for this course this semester."

"I must have saved the universe in my last life to see him so often this semester," Marie said lightly with a chuckle.

"Since we are starting the class late, I have been asked to ensure all the course requirements are completed within a short time period," he began. "Unlike my usual teaching style, you will have to put up with an accelerated teaching environment," he continued. Anna was barely listening. Instead, she was eyeing how he moved and settled on certain people in the class.

She had a feeling everyone else in the room was on edge too. Some because of his handsomeness and others were shocked by the change in his demeanor.

"After this first lecture, I will not condone latecomers," he said, looking pointedly at Lewis who had sneaked in and taken the free aisle seat beside Anna.

Lewis flushed with embarrassment.

Ladislas looked back at the entire room.

"You study at a prestigious university and are considered as the cream of the crop." He lifted his hand to scratch his neck and Anna's eyes fell on the captivating vision of his bare forearms.

"How is it possible that he is this hot? Carved by the gods…" Marie hissed.

"Philosophy is not a course people should take because their futures are dull and they think it's easy to pass. Most of you in this room have a lackluster attitude towards it, so I won't be indulging in your behavior."

Anna knew that he was speaking about her. She had a nagging feeling that he had volunteered to take this class. That he had known she would be in it and he wanted to taunt her and get a reaction out of her.

Marie's smile dropped at his words.

"If you were not serious about your education for the past couple of years, don't waste my time by showing it. I will not answer your stupid questions. I don't believe that no question is stupid. You should also be reading the material sent to you before class," he added harshly before turning away, clicking the button to the projector's switch.

"Oh! Don't expect me to mark you present if you don't come to class." He was not playing. 'Ladislas-laidback-Forester?' Anna wanted to laugh bitterly. He was definitely not allowing her any chance to escape.

"Now, we can begin with—"

Anna was terribly irritated and she itched to talk back. She had always been average and pretended to give in to authority. But she was terrible at it. Something in her blood just made her want to fight them. She wanted to fight Ladislas. If he was going to play with her, she was going to be damn sure to play him right back.

She raised her hand slowly and Ladislas faltered, looking at her with interest.

"Yes?" he asked slowly, his tongue curling over the word.

"Sorry, Professor," she stated sweetly, doing the exact opposite of what she had done for the last three years. She drew attention. She spoke in class. People turned to look at her and she didn't mind it. "You might consider this a stupid question but please play along." The word 'play' was injected intentionally. "I didn't quite catch how to say your name. Was it Professor LadislASS Forester?"

Marie gasped and Anna heard a couple of concealed laughter in the background. Whether those people were laughing at her or not was unimportant. All she could focus on was the delighted face gazing in her direction from his desk. His eyes narrowed in recognition that she was fucking with him.

He loved it.

Suddenly, he smiled benevolently. A hushed conversation erupted in the room almost immediately. "You can call me Sir, instead." In her mind, Anna heard the same voice overlap the word spoken from his lips.

She heard, "You can call me Master, instead."

Her eyes widened for a split second before she composed herself and gave him a complacent smile. Like she had not taunted him a minute ago. "Yes, sir."

Her voice was sugary sweet. No one sensed the underlying venom, but Ladislas sure did. And he enjoyed it thoroughly.