Chapter 119: Frozen Past
Elena had lived her life, from that day onward, solely for revenge.
But when she finally achieved it and threw it directly in that person’s face, everything seemed to lose its meaning.
At first, she thought she had sold herself out, but he simply ignored her.
Later, when he finally approached her, the only thing she could understand was that no help he had given her could hide how much she displeased him.
She felt that he realized this, but the truth was different: what she didn’t like was that it mattered to her.
It bothered her that he paid her no attention; that he could do something so significant for her and then act like he never wanted to see her again.
"And my teacher is right..." she thought.
Standing in front of the director’s door, the professor let out a sigh.
She opened it and stepped inside.
"Elena?" Sylvia was reclining with her eyes closed, completely ignoring the mountain of documents on her desk.
"Mmm..." Elena glanced toward the desk with resignation and walked over to it.
She sat down and began sorting the papers and organizing everything.
"You’re a lifesaver!"
Elena rolled her eyes slightly, not expecting any other kind of reaction from her.
"How many times are you going to call me for the same thing? This is your job..."
Sylvia, barefoot and wearing a loose nightgown, opened her eyes and lazily turned on the sofa to stare at her disciple.
With a smile on her face and her legs raised and crossed, she began swinging her feet back and forth.
"But you make it look so easy!"
The professor shook her head. If it weren’t because she owed this woman so much...
A laugh burst out in the room.
"You can’t complain too much. I’ve been dealing with these documents for the last few days without any problems, but I needed a break."
Sylvia turned and got up from the sofa to approach Elena. She positioned herself playfully behind her and suddenly squeezed her breasts.
A short moan escaped the woman’s lips, and she immediately stiffened.
The shameless director followed the action with another laugh.
"Look how much the little Elena’s have grown..."
A small vein began to throb on the seated woman’s forehead, and just as she was about to explode, the office door opened again, freezing both women in their intimate position, exposed before the gaze of the newcomer.
Cassian raised an eyebrow.
He looked at Sylvia’s hands with a flat expression, but he couldn’t hide the smile growing on one side of his face.
He closed the door gently.
"Looks like I arrived at a good moment."
Elena’s face turned completely red, and Sylvia seemed unable to contain her laughter. She stepped away from the professor and looked at the man with renewed energy.
"I thought you’d take longer to come see me. For a moment I believed I’d have to go to you first."
"Well, it definitely would’ve been faster if I knew you’d be waiting like this," he replied, letting his gaze wander over Sylvia’s body before flashing a shameless smile at Elena, who immediately composed herself and shot him a look of contempt. "Anyway, I don’t think I took that long, did I?"
"No, you definitely didn’t take long at all to deflower my granddaughter."
A look of realization crossed Cassian’s face.
He approached the older woman, took her by the waist, and sat on the sofa with her on top of him.
"Mmm... I think we already talked a bit about that."
"Not enough. The other day she came to see me and the poor girl could barely walk," Sylvia replied, moving on Cassian’s lap while her bare feet continued their playful movements.
Elena watched the two of them sitting there with annoyance and a blush she couldn’t hide. She clenched her teeth and abruptly looked away toward the papers, crossing her arms tightly.
Her pride couldn’t stand seeing how easily that damn man took control of the situation, much less how shameless her own teacher was.
She stood up from the desk and, without saying goodbye, headed for the door. When she was about to leave, she stopped, reluctant. She looked back at the two people sitting on the sofa, who seemed to be in their own world, not paying her the slightest attention.
She bit her lip, lowered her gaze in confusion, and left the room.
Sylvia, who seemed not to have noticed her departure, immediately elbowed Cassian, who responded with a groan of fake pain. He understood perfectly what she meant, but didn’t give it much importance.
"So... what did you really want to talk about?" he asked, letting her sit beside him and looking at her more seriously.
"Julius and Seraphine were attacked recently..."
He frowned and looked at her, waiting for an explanation.
"You already know I’m not really their grandmother. My sister disappeared one day long ago and left only a son, who later married the mother of my current ’grandchildren’—the ones you know well. I was just worried that something similar might happen to them."
Cassian didn’t know quite what to say. He stayed silent for a moment before finally sighing.
"I think if you saw Seraphine recently, you must have noticed that she now has Fengyue with her; you don’t need to protect her anymore. And Julius doesn’t seem to be doing badly either, Sylvia. But if it helps you at all..." He hesitated a little before continuing, "I can see if I can find out anything about what happened."
She smiled, fully aware of how much it had cost him to say that last sentence, while at the same time hiding something else deep in her eyes.
She leaned her arms on the sofa and, with a cat-like smile, moved closer to him to leave a slow kiss on his lips.
...
Hundreds of thousands of years ago.
In a world that would cease to exist in the future.
Two young people, slightly older now, were huddled together against the cold in a dilapidated house. The man held the woman tightly, trying to give her some warmth inside the small room filled with snow that kept pouring in through the cracks in the wooden walls.
Dawn would come slowly, and it wouldn’t bring much relief for either of them.
The boy got up as best he could. He adjusted the blanket over the woman, whose hair blended with the snowy surroundings.
With a red nose from the cold, but with a distant, worn-out, and tired gaze, he turned and left the place.
With slow but steady steps, he headed toward the center of the town. Seeing the people who ignored him and the rich visitors who had come from other places just because of the rumors, the boy clenched his fist tightly; blood began to drip, staining the snow red.
He walked to the line that had formed and stood there.
"Next! Next!"
Suddenly, he was pushed from behind. He looked forward: it was his turn.
An old man with a gentle smile, an elegant and perfect bearing—someone who clearly had everything—was standing there. Everyone looked at him with respect; he seemed impeccable...
No flaw in his face, in his smile, or in his clothes. He was so perfect it sent chills down the spine.
The cultivator did not rush the young man. He let him approach slowly, as best he could, and kept his kind smile.
When the boy was beside him, the old man took his hand to measure something.
For a moment, everything seemed normal.
However, someone like this elder—who had lived for a length of time the mortals around him could not comprehend—immediately recognized what he had in front of him.
Or at least, that’s what he thought at that moment.
