Chapter 55: 57- Sculptures
But unlike her, who had pushed back the thought of her name being called as a coincidence, two individuals in particular were looking in the direction of the professor, more like glaring at him while clenching their fists, with both of them having different reactions.
\'This guy,\' Lin thought. The moment he looked intensely at the newly arrived professor, he felt from within that he didn\'t like this man at all. It was his intuition that made him guard up against this particular professor, who seemed suspicious.
\'Is he here for her?\' On the other hand, Aria, already aware of this man being regressed from the past, felt the probability of him being there for Amrita, who in the future might hold some kind of relation with him, particularly hostile, considering he was a villain.
Aria calmed herself while looking at him, knowing that in front of everyone he would not do anything. But still, she was cautious as she tried to see through it to understand exactly what he wanted from Amrita. And if he held a grudge against her.
"Follow my steps," Avendial observed each of their reactions and understood that everything was going in the right direction. However, with less time, he decided to push the events slightly more by providing them a small catalyst and boost.
His hands started to mold the clay placed on the table into the shape that he had seen in the book for sculptures he had been reading a few moments ago. To him, glimpsing at it a few times was more than enough to replicate the same figure with ease.
After all, in the absence of any awakened strength, the only thing he could rely on was his mind, which he had honed and sharpened over those years in his previous life.
"Yes, professor," Amrita nodded as she stretched her hand to take a small piece of dough from the available clay at the edge of the table, intending to replicate and copy what the professor was teaching her. But instead, Avendial interrupted.
"No, stand there," Avendial said, positioning himself on the opposite side of the table from Amrita while providing a clear sight of the clay to all the students. He stretched his hand over hers, guiding them on the clay, adding, "Loosen them so they can follow my direction."
"Yes," Amrita nodded as she focused her mind on her hand, looking at the clay.
\'?!\'
"Professor, why are you holding her hands?!" Suddenly, instinct took over Lin as he yelled. Already having an unfavorable first impression of this professor, added to his young age and the way he held Amrita\'s hands, Lin momentarily forgot that this was a sculpture class.
"Sorry?" Avendial, who was feigning focus on his hand while guiding her to create a small figure using the clay, turned his head towards Lin, raised an eyebrow, and inquired with an impassive look.
".....I" Lin, seeing the expressionless look of the professor, fell into a daze, realizing that he might have instinctively overreacted.
"Is he jealous or something?" One of the students murmured, but due to the silence that had fallen over the place, it was clearly heard by everyone.
If those words acted as a small fire, other students also started to murmur.
"Indeed, but didn\'t he claim that Amrita and he were just friends?"
"Who knows, but he should be mindful of what he says."
"Tch, the whole class got disturbed by that woman." Aria\'s friends also got involved as they redirected their anger towards Amrita, glaring at her as she blankly looked towards everyone, observing that she might have really disturbed the class.
"This is the only class that gives us peace of mind, but even here, tch, can\'t expect anything from her." Another of her friends echoed this sentiment while already fueled with an unfavorable image of Amrita, making them place the blame for everything on her.
The reactions of her friends were mostly amplified, knowing that it was Lin\'s fault for doubting the professor, which made them truly condemn Amrita in front of him. After all, the professor would likely support them due to such statements from Lin, creating misunderstandings.
"I understand," Avendial nodded before turning towards the set of gloves that were provided in the toolbox to him before taking them and putting on the black gloves before approaching Lin, adding, "Will this suffice?"
"Professor, but..." Lin was about to say how there was no reason for him to hold Amrita\'s hand but halted the moment he saw her cold look clearly showing her displeasure due to Lin\'s childish behavior, making him turn his gaze down as he nodded, "Y-yes, Professor."
It was not that Lin was some child or didn\'t understand such normal physical interaction. But he didn\'t know why today, looking at that new professor, he felt something inside him telling him to stay away from him or be cautious of him.
\'It\'s still not enough,\' Avendial, observing how, due to being overwhelmed by the situation and that title of protagonist, Lin had reacted the way he anticipated, felt that he needed to push him even more.
As he turned towards Amrita, who was looking coldly towards Lin due to embarrassing her, Avendial said, "Amrita, you can go ahead and sit down, as it seems your boyfriend may be contributing to some confusion that isn\'t ideal for us both."
\'?!\'
"S-sir? No, he didn\'t mean..." Upon noticing the professor\'s apparent discontent, Amrita attempted to explain that Lin had made an error, but Avendial\'s voice cut her off mid-sentence.
"Any male student among you want to volunteer?" Avendial shot a glance at the other students, creating a situation where Amrita and Lin found themselves tangled in the visible annoyance and dissatisfaction of their peers, labeling them as the ones stirring up trouble in class.
The anger of most students was directed towards Amrita, as Lin was a popular student due to his athleticism and popularity among others. Additionally, due to Aria\'s friends, the main target had become Amrita, which cornered her into thinking that this situation had left an unfavorable and negative image of her in the professor\'s mind.
She just wanted to learn something new from this professor, but now everything was most likely messed up due to Lin\'s clearly misinterpreted actions.
"Go take your seat, Amrita," Avendial gestured for her to take her seat as one of the male students stood and came near him. Without acting out of his facade, Avendial, now wearing the gloves, started to help the male student in the same way he did with Amrita.
The difference was simply that at that time he was barehanded, but right now he was wearing a glove, just because he couldn\'t give the same skin-to-skin treatment to the same gender.
But of course, no one cared about it now since the professor was without any ulterior motives, helping the male student in the same way he did with the female student.