062: The Teacher Is Everything, I Don't Need Anything Else
Drip, drip, drip. Countless droplets flowed down from the isthmus, the river gradually seeping into the soil.
Nero looked at her hands and the newly opened canal, letting out a soft sigh.
The moment the Corinth Canal was opened, the scene was filled with solemnity and jubilation. Sunlight spilled onto the sparkling water surface, golden light interplaying with the canal's winding path. Citizens from both banks flocked to the riverside, their faces beaming with excitement and joyous smiles.
As a canal long-planned since the time of Caesar, its successful opening so soon after Nero's ascension represented a further strengthening of the Roman Empire's central commercial control over Greece.
"Rome!"
"Rome!"
Cheers for the Rose Emperor were everywhere, directed at this bright, lively, and pleasant blonde-haired girl.
Nero joyfully raised her hand to acknowledge them. The citizens' approval gave her a sense of reassurance, because it meant her teacher must think the same way. Though she was happy in her heart, there was still a tinge of disappointment...
If only the teacher were here too.
To imagine it wasn't difficult for Nero.
Sound and scent, color and motion. The sound of that person's words in her ears. That was somewhere, a quiet place, in a lush, colorful forest with just the two of them. Her heart fluttered like a startled deer, feeling euphoric, feeling like she could accomplish anything...
No, better stop. This probably wouldn't be allowed by the teacher.
Novia was undoubtedly the person she liked most in this world. But the gap between them was too great, which troubled her greatly. So, she had always wanted to become someone worthy of his expectations. And she wanted to stay by Novia's side as much as possible. However, after learning from her mother that she was actually being controlled, this particular distress was eliminated.
That's great. It meant she was truly important to Novia. The teacher's kindness to her was built upon something, which filled her with immense satisfaction.
When she was very young, when both parents were still around, a thought always sprouted in Nero's heart:
It would have been better if I had never been born.
Though she never said it out loud, it was deeply engraved within the girl, impossible to shake off.
"Hey! Did you go running after men again!?"
Her father's voice, cursing loudly. Her mother's voice, saying "no" with impatience.
Memories surfaced of her father sprawled drunkenly on the bed, and her mother standing to the side with a look of disdain.
From as far back as Nero could remember, her home was always in a state of anger and irritable.
"And this one too. She's not even mine, right? Hah."
A scornful gaze swept over her child self like a whip, from head to toe, merciless, utterly devoid of sympathy.
The child Nero blinked slowly, breathing as quietly as possible without making a sound.
Her drunken father clicked his tongue in annoyance, throwing out the words, 'Just looking at you irritates me.'
"Forget it, get lost. Don't let me see your mother and daughter's faces, they make me uncomfortable. It would've been better if you were never born, brat."
The man finished angrily, then made a motion as if shooing away a stray dog, waving his hand in front of his child. Even though the corridor leading to the room at the end was lit by torches, for some reason it looked so dark. This house always seemed shrouded in gloom.
Even after his death, after her mother was exiled and the young child ended up on the streets before being taken in by relatives, she still lived a life in the mire.
Living in someone else's house, the scornful gazes caused by her mother's promiscuity lashed at her like whips, day after day, year after year. Bad moods led to loud cursing, just venting and relieving stress... This world deserved to never see resurrection. She felt from the very beginning that it would have been best if no life existed at all.
It would have been better if I had never been born.
This phrase was a curse, binding the girl tightly and forever echoing in her eardrums.
Many years later, after being traded by her mother to someone she had only heard of, Novia, although he seemed like a good person, she hadn't held much hope. After all, these guys in private were more disgusting than the last.
This world was a sandbox filled with nothing but disgusting filth everywhere. Burning it all to the ground would be best.
That's what she thought, and she prepared to immerse herself in the countless impurities of this world.
But Novia was overwhelmingly different from what she had imagined and what she had previously experienced.
His gaze, his words, were completely different from anyone the girl had ever met.
This person's gaze was always gentle and inclusion, without a trace of negativity.
All his words were positive affirmations of the girl, as if spoken solely for her sake.
He earnestly considered her matters and tried his best to convey them to her.
Yet, after spending some days with him, the girl found this person frightening. What was he after?
Moreover, she found it terrifying how she had grown accustomed to Novia's presence, accustomed to being with Novia.
Because this person wouldn't always be by her side, wouldn't spend every moment with her. If she developed a sense of course, the day he abandoned her, the girl would surely feel an unbearable emptiness without him.
This change, this unfamiliar emotion, made the girl quite anxious, frightening from the depths of her heart. So she deliberately went to test him.
"I want to become someone like you, Teacher!"
"Is that what you think?" Novia at that time narrowed his eyes and smiled slightly. "Though this is just my personal opinion..."
The silver-haired boy used these words as an opening, looking at the girl with a very sincere gaze.
"My student, if you need help, please tell me, Domitius."
Hearing Novia's firm tone, for some reason, the girl who had been ready to retort found herself unable to.
"I hope you will must remember this."
That person smiled, speaking as if in prayer or entreaty.
In all her life till then, no one had ever faced someone like her so directly, spoken to her like this.
Though Nero didn't understand what he wanted from her, she only knew that Novia said these things for her sake.
Therefore, Nero felt that moment was another beginning of her life after being immersed in countless impurities.
Her entire being, as naturally as breathing, sprouted forth—
I like Novia. The teacher is everything. I don't need anything else.
Note: I'm new to translating so please be kind and tell me any mistakes you all find, I will try to release a chapter a day but don't expect much
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