Chapter 1
I fell for my magic mentor Noah Richardson. My fellow disciples Ryan Lockwood reported me.
as deeply disappointed and sentenced me to five hundred years of isolation in the Ice Cavern .
The first hundred years, I missed Noah.
The second hundred, I still didn't change. I missed him anyway.
The third, the fourth hundred years slipped by.
My stubbornness never faded; I was still as tough and unyielding as ever.
On the five-hundredth year, words suddenly flashed before my eyes.
[This heroine is unreal. Five centuries and she's still obsessed.]
[To be fair, it's not all her fault. Noah Richardson was totally leading her on.]
Hold on. My mentor? Led me on?
Is that… confirmed?
******
I wiped the frost off my lashes, pretending to stare blankly at nothing while sneaking a peek at the barrage of comments with my spiritual sense.
The floating comments were still flying past nonstop.
[You got it, OP. Noah fell for the heroine ages ago, but because of the whole master-disciple taboo, he gaslit himself into thinking he didn't.]
[What kind of "proper sword training" requires holding hands, huh? Those eight-pack abs were basically pressed into her face through the robe.]
[Our poor heroine. She's young, sheltered, never seen the world. How's she supposed to resist that kind of temptation?]
Wait. They knew my mentor had eight-pack abs too?
Had they also been secretly spying on him bathing, just like I had?
That was outrageous. How could they be just as shameless as me?
Didn't that make me less special?
And yet, they also seemed to be speaking up for me.
Fine. Just this once. Next time, absolutely not.
I shifted into a more comfortable meditation posture and pulled out a pack of gum from my storage ring.
As I chewed mu gum, I idly tried to guess where these floating comments even came from.
[Why was the heroine chewing gum now? Honestly, fair. There were no phones, no movies, nothing here. Without snacks, anyone would've spiraled into depression.]
[I mean, our baby Rebecca wasn't exactly losing out. Her mentor Noah was literally the number one pretty boy in the mystic world. Did you people understand how premium that was?]
[Premium my ass. You were reading a novel and your standards were still this low? Aim higher, girl. What, you didn't think you deserved better?]
Our baby Rebecca?
I touched my ears, which had grown uncomfortably warm, and lowered my head in embarrassment.
[The male lead was just too conflicted. People like that usually needed one thing most: a lover they couldn't chase away.]
[Yeah right. When I was broke, what I needed was a bank that wouldn't call the cops.]
[Exactly. He wasn't conflicted. He totally had it coming. Let the heroine try another man and watch Noah absolutely snap.]
Why had they suddenly started fighting?
I wanted to step in and say something, but if they realized I could actually see them, that'd be awkward. And poof, the comments disappeared.
Either they had disappeared completely, or they had simply stopped speaking so freely.
I swallowed my urge to play peacemaker and carefully mulled over what they had said.
They hadn't been wrong.
Noah really was conflicted.
Every few days, he'd secretly conceal himself just to come check on me. He'd ask Elliot Monroe to bring me piles of rare treasures and treats.
But not once had he ever replied to my messages. Not once did he come see me openly.
Noah went out of his way to keep things strictly proper between us, never letting anyone suspect a thing.
If it weren't for that distinct rose scent clinging to him, I might never have known.
[Here's the thing. Noah is good-looking, no doubt. The kind of face that stops you in your tracks. But let's be real: beautiful men? They're everywhere. It's like a competition no one asked for, with every guy trying to outshine the next.]
[Our baby Rebecca was raised too well. Too obedient. Look at the girl next door, she's already had thirty-eight. Ours is still doing pure romance.]
[Sure, forcing something might make it crisp, but if it's not sweet, who even wants it? There are plenty of better options out there, girl, treat yourself better.]
Yeah, but honestly, I hadn't even gotten a taste of romance myself.
I pouted, feeling wronged.
My heart felt a little bitter.
Those commenters must have it easy, always able to chase after something new.
Unlike me. I'd needed the courage to risk expulsion from my sect just to kiss Noah once.
And it had only been his finger.
Such was the unevenness of life.