The Fire Beneath Discipline
The lake shimmered under the moonlight, the surface disturbed only by a faint breeze drifting down from the distant hills. Firelight flickered between them, casting shadows that moved like silent spirits across the grass.
Leon had been speaking for some time.
"…the circulation of Mana must remain steady. If you force it through your meridians too aggressively, your spiritual core will destabilize," he explained calmly, voice deep and measured.
But Rias wasn't truly listening.
Her crimson eyes were fixed on him — not on his words, not on the flow of Mana he described — but on the subtle movement of his lips as he spoke. The way his long black hair fell over one shoulder. The composed authority in his posture.
He looks so serious when he teaches…
Her thoughts drifted.
Earlier, when she had nearly exposed herself before him… when she had noticed that subtle reaction beneath his robe…
Her cheeks warmed again.
He is my Teacher.
But he was also a man.
