Filth

The next morning, Violet awoke and I watched her eat her breakfast, as usual, with impeccable manners and perfect posture that belied her childish temperament.

After she finished her meal, I let her and Atlas begin experimenting with a scaled-down version of Fireball, carefully monitoring every step they took in an effort to prevent them from crippling themselves from any misstep.

We continued this routine until I had to go back to the university to host classes.

Although I didn't see signs of a genius in either child, I was pleased by their diligence to the art of magic; I had seen plenty of so-called geniuses fall short of the world's expectations of them because they stopped putting in effort because they believed themselves above trying.

I was thrilled that neither Atlas nor Violet looked down on practice.

Of course, it could just be a child's fixation and they could very well drop it the next day, but I was happy that they were willing to endure lectures and my incessant warnings in exchange for practicing magic.

The day I returned to the university, Violet held onto my robes and asked me somberly, "When is mommy coming back?"

I smiled and patted her on the head, saying, "I shall return in a few hours. Thy worries are for naught; I shall not miss luncheon with thyself, Atlas, and Seventh."

"Pinkie promise?" Violet asked, extending her fist towards me with her pinkie sticking out.

I locked my pinkie with hers and nodded, "Of course, my sweet Violet. Pinkie promise."

I turned and left the manor, contentedly twirling my black umbrella and fiddled with the three-ring binder I held as I walked at a brisk pace towards Symptote.

Halfway to the university, I felt several unfriendly gazes upon myself, much to my chagrin.

Of course, I wasn't going to do anything. I wasn't a savage.

I arrived at my destination, slightly miffed, and headed towards my assigned classroom.

"We meet again." A self-important voice sounded behind me.

By the Pale Moon, if he were to try my patience....

I ignored him and entered the classroom.

I was immediately greeted by the sight of several circles of students, each doing their own things.

In the back right corner was a small group of young sons of noblemen who had surrounded a pair of commoner women.

In the center of the room was a loosely assembled group of both commoners and noblemen and women who were actively ignoring what was going on in the corner.

The final group of people were sitting at the desk allocated for the teacher, lounging about with their filthy feet on my desk.

I took a deep breath to keep myself from yelling at them before I approached the noble scum harassing the two helpless women.

"Back off." I coldly strode through the crowd that parted to accommodate me.

I grabbed the commoners' hands and led them to two seats that were front and center to the teacher's desk.

I heard a catcall from one of the men as I turned my attention to the slobs around my desk.

"Is it normal for thy feet to be laid upon someone else's desk?" I asked with feigned politeness.

One of the men released a snort, saying, "As if the teacher is going to be a noble."

"Respect the university, if thy teachers are not worthy of it." I said, glaring at them.

Just as I spoke, an annoyance entered.

"We meet again, gorgeous."

"Is this thy classroom?" I asked icily, contemplating freezing several students to death.

"Indeed it is." He replied, wearing a punchable grin.

"Take a seat, then." I responded before turning to the slobs at my desk. "Same goes for thee."

"And why would we listen to you?" A different student scoffed, leaning his chair back onto two legs. "You're not our teacher."

Irritated, I created a layer of ice beneath his chair, causing him to fall backwards and hit the ground heavily.

"Irritating thy teacher on her first day back is not thy most intelligent decision." I retorted, blasting the group away from my desk with a gale of cold air.

Seeing their dumbfounded looks as they found themselves at a desk made my mood improve slightly.

"Is it thy wish to go to thy desk of thy own accord, or shall I do it for thee?" I sweetly asked of the annoyance that stood, dumbfounded, behind me.

Seeing him leisurely walk to a desk and sit down, I cast a cleansing spell on my desk and sat in front of it.

I waited for the rest of the students to sit down before I spoke again.

"Greetings." I stood, flipping through the binder so I could find where the class had left off. "I am Eilif Midnight, and, as of today, I have returned from my leave of absence. Please refer to me as Miss Midnight."

"Woah my future wife is a teacher?"

"I am not thy future wife." I said flatly.

"Aw, come on!" He grinned and leaned back in his chair. "Do you not want the son of the principal?"

"Thy affiliation with authoritarian figures has no effect on my attraction to thee." I retorted, turning to the blackboard behind my desk to expertly sketch the mythological beast that would be covered today. "This day's creature of study is the Wyrm."

As I described the characteristics and behaviors of the Wyrm, I heard the little bastard mutter under his breath, "You'll fall into my arms eventually. Just you see."

I heard something snap.

"I think thou art mistaking something." I stepped in front of his desk. "I am not an object, and thy age is thousands of years less than my own. In my eyes, I see naught but a stupid child."

"Age is just a number." He laughed easily.

"So is a prison sentence." I responded, seamlessly discarding the a broken piece of chalk and returning to the lesson.