The ocean was calm.
Moonlight reflected across endless waves.
Ancient waters stretched toward the horizon.
Silent.
Peaceful.
Unchanged.
Yet for Evelyne—
Everything had changed.
She sat beneath the cliff wrapped in a black cloak.
His cloak.
The fabric still carried a faint warmth.
A faint scent.
The scent of sea wind.
Books.
And blood.
Her fingers unconsciously tightened around the cloak.
For several moments.
She simply stared toward the ocean.
Unable to think.
Unable to process.
Unable to understand.
Because everything had happened too quickly.
Far too quickly.
Only hours ago.
She had still been a monster.
A real monster.
Not a metaphor.
Not an insult.
Not a title.
A genuine monster.
A creature lurking beneath cliffs.
A creature feeding upon sea creatures.
A creature feared by sailors.
A creature hated by Leviathans.
A creature that had long forgotten what warmth felt like.
And now—
She was human.
Human.
The word itself felt foreign.
Slowly.
Her hand moved toward her own face.
Soft skin.
Human skin.
No scales.
No monstrous flesh.
No corruption.
No twisted growths.
Nothing.
Just skin.
Just herself.
Tears appeared once again.
Not from sadness.
Not from grief.
Simply disbelief.
"I am really human..."
The whisper escaped unconsciously.
For centuries.
She had dreamed of this.
For centuries.
She had prayed for this.
For centuries.
She had believed it impossible.
Yet somehow—
A strange silver-haired student accomplished it.
The thought felt ridiculous.
Completely ridiculous.
Inside her heart.
A bitter laugh appeared.
A student.
Of all people.
Not a legendary hero.
Not a saint.
Not a divine champion.
A student.
And not even a normal student.
A very strange student.
Very strange.
Extremely strange.
Evelyne lowered her head.
Then remembered.
The bite.
The blood.
The moment her instincts overcame her.
Immediately guilt struck her heart.
The memory remained vivid.
Painfully vivid.
His shoulder.
The blood.
The warmth.
The horror she felt while watching herself lose control.
The helplessness.
The shame.
Her fingers trembled.
She had spent centuries fearing exactly that.
Hurting others.
Becoming nothing more than a beast.
Yet when it happened.
He never blamed her.
Not once.
Not even after losing so much blood.
Not even while healing himself.
The memory confused her.
Why?
Why would he do that?
Normal people didn't act like that.
Heroes certainly didn't.
The stories always described heroes differently.
The brave knight slays the monster.
The cursed woman is saved.
The two fall in love.
The story ends.
Simple.
Predictable.
Beautiful.
Yet reality wasn't like that.
Reality had given her Aedon Flinth.
The most confusing human she had ever met.
Her cheeks slowly turned red.
Because another memory surfaced.
His hand.
Against her face.
The warmth.
The gentleness.
The smile.
And then—
His words.
"You are beautiful too."
Evelyne immediately buried her face inside the cloak.
Her entire body became hot.
The memory alone was enough.
For centuries.
No one had said that.
No one.
Not sincerely.
Not honestly.
Not while looking directly into her eyes.
The woman closed her eyes.
Her younger sister's face appeared.
Beautiful.
Radiant.
Perfect.
The kind of beauty people remembered instantly.
The kind of beauty that turned heads.
The kind of beauty men fought over.
And beside her?
Evelyne always felt ordinary.
Always.
No matter how others described her.
No matter what compliments she received.
She always compared herself.
Compared herself until comparison became poison.
Compared herself until admiration became envy.
Compared herself until self-worth disappeared.
And eventually—
That envy became one of the chains dragging her toward darkness.
The woman lowered her gaze.
Then slowly touched her own cheek.
A small smile appeared.
Perhaps.
Just perhaps.
The silver-haired boy was right.
Not because she believed herself beautiful.
Not yet.
But because for the first time.
Someone had looked at her.
Not at her sister.
Not at a comparison.
Not at what she lacked.
Simply at her.
And somehow.
That felt different.
Very different.
The ocean breeze passed gently through the shoreline.
Then another memory appeared.
The damages.
Immediately.
The smile vanished.
Evelyne remembered the conversation.
And nearly laughed.
Then nearly cried.
Then nearly laughed again.
Because the entire thing felt absurd.
Absolutely absurd.
The silver-haired youth saved her life.
Restored her humanity.
Comforted her.
Then immediately began calculating environmental damages.
Who does that?
What kind of person thinks like that?
Evelyne genuinely wanted to know.
She remembered sitting there.
Listening.
Leviathan population decline.
Trade route disruption.
Economic consequences.
Guild losses.
Shipping incidents.
Accountability.
The more he talked.
The more horrified she became.
Not because he was wrong.
Because he was right.
Painfully right.
She had done those things.
Even as a monster.
She had done them.
The realization hurt.
Yet strangely—
She appreciated it.
Because for centuries.
No one treated her as a person.
Monsters were hated.
Monsters were feared.
Monsters were killed.
But nobody expected monsters to take responsibility.
Kel did.
Which meant—
He truly viewed her as human.
The thought left her silent.
Then came the most ridiculous part.
Professor.
The moment she remembered it.
She nearly laughed aloud.
Professor.
Aetherial Institute professor.
The idea sounded insane.
Completely insane.
Then she remembered his reasoning.
And unfortunately—
It made sense.
That was the problem.
His ideas always sounded ridiculous.
Then somehow became reasonable.
Then somehow became possible.
Which was terrifying.
Very terrifying.
The woman looked toward him.
The silver-haired youth remained seated nearby.
Calm.
Quiet.
Reviewing notes.
Actually reviewing notes.
At midnight.
After saving a monster.
After solving a centuries-old mystery.
After nearly being eaten.
He was reviewing notes.
Evelyne genuinely didn't know how to react.
Eventually.
A realization appeared.
Throughout the entire night.
She had repeatedly asked the same question.
Who are you?
Who are you really?
Because nothing else made sense.
Not his kindness.
Not his courage.
Not his intelligence.
Not his absurd plans.
Not his strange honesty.
None of it.
Yet every time.
The answer remained identical.
A student.
The woman stared toward the moonlit ocean.
Then sighed.
A long sigh.
Somewhere between amusement and defeat.
Because she knew.
Absolutely knew.
He wasn't lying.
That ridiculous answer was probably the truth.
And somehow.
That made him even more mysterious.
For the first time in centuries.
Evelyne felt something unfamiliar.
Not grief.
Not revenge.
Not envy.
Not hatred.
Not guilt.
Not hunger.
Not loneliness.
Something else.
Curiosity.
Pure curiosity.
The curiosity of a woman who had spent centuries trapped beneath a cliff.
And had suddenly met the strangest student in the entire world.
As the waves continued their eternal song.
Evelyne smiled softly.
Then pulled the black cloak closer around herself.
For the first time in centuries.
Tomorrow felt worth seeing.