"…I find it difficult to understand what's happening."

Stella, as if speaking on behalf of everyone’s confusion, asked me.

Her tone was slightly different from earlier when we had been speaking openly. There was a bit of distance in her voice now.

"I want to believe that something like this isn’t possible, Teacher Ophelia. But your reaction... it’s bothering me. Almost as if…"

Almost as if she believed I truly possessed some strange power like hypnosis. That’s what Stella seemed to be implying.

"...I’m sorry for doubting you. But, Teacher Ophelia, what do you think? There’s no way that criminal’s words could be true, right?"

Stella trailed off apologetically, as if feeling guilty for harboring suspicions. She wanted to dismiss the odd coincidences as just that—coincidences—and to chalk up the terrorist’s words as the nonsensical ramblings of a criminal.

If I simply laughed it off and reassured her that there was no truth to it, she would likely apologize at once.

"Why are you even asking something like that? Of course, that’s all nonsense. Hypnosis? Come on, be serious."

"It’s just in case, you know... just in case."

"..."

What should I do?

Should I laugh it off, as if there’s no way I could have such a power? It could help me get out of this tight situation easily.

...But what about after that?

What happens after I get out of this situation?

The terrorist was deliberately trying to expose me, to cause trouble. As long as he was around, he would continue to hint that I was behind all this, trying to drag me down.

To stop that, I would need to leave right now and deal with him.

But if I leave, the suspicions against me would only solidify.

The seeds of doubt had already been sown.

Even if they dismissed his words as lies, the fact that we acted like we knew each other would stand out. It would be accepted as a fact that I had some kind of connection with the academy’s assailant.

Knowing the academy’s staff personally, especially a terrorist who had attacked it? Even if I managed to dodge this, I would still be viewed with suspicion.

...Should I use hypnosis after all?

"Teacher Ophelia?"

I briefly entertained the thought of erasing the students’ memories of what had just happened using hypnosis. But I shook my head.

That would be a temporary solution. But the academy was still under attack.

Hypnosis wasn’t all-powerful. If it were truly omnipotent, that terrorist wouldn’t have been able to twist my suggestions and mock me within the boundaries of the hypnosis I’d placed on him.

On the day we first met, if hypnosis were truly unstoppable, he wouldn’t have kept talking and resisting.

I can make people misperceive what they see, or confuse one thing for another. But it’s impossible to deceive people for long about something that starkly contradicts reality.

Erasing the students’ memories right now?

That might make them forget that this person ever appeared and wipe their recollection of the conversation.

But memory erasure through hypnosis isn’t true erasure. It’s more like sealing the memory away.

It’s an illusion, a trick. It’s about making them believe something didn’t happen when it did, or that something did happen when it didn’t.

The meeting that took place here was real. Hypnotizing them would only suppress the memory in their minds.

At first, they would live on, oblivious to what happened. But this was such a significant event that it would make waves not just at the academy, but across the entire world.

Sooner or later, the students would start to feel that something was off.

“That face... haven’t I seen it somewhere before?”

Once that thought crosses their minds, everything will unravel.

Like a rusty chain, their repressed memories would slowly come undone.

...I have no choice but to brace myself for what’s to come.

“Hahaha…”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

It was so absurd, such a ridiculous mistake. And now, I realized, I would no longer be able to face these students.

I had achieved everything I wanted, but to think it would end like this.

I cursed the version of myself who had carelessly used hypnosis all those years ago.

"Yes, I did it."

"Of course, Teacher Ophelia couldn’t have—Wait, what?"

"I said, I’m the mastermind."

The realization that I would no longer witness the happy futures of these students filled me with immense regret.

Honestly, I wanted to break down and cry. I wanted to grab that man by the hair and shake him.

The saying "a long tail gets caught" never rang truer. I never imagined I would get caught like this.

Hypnosis was such an easy tool to use. I had gotten careless.

"...I must’ve misheard. What did you say?"

"I said, I’m the one behind all of this."

I could have denied having the power of hypnosis. That way, I could have continued staying with these students.

Whenever they started getting suspicious, I could simply hypnotize them again.

...But I didn’t want that.

If I did that, I would constantly have to manipulate their minds.

"What are you...?"

Why hadn’t I used hypnosis more recklessly on the students?

It was because I wanted them to achieve their happy endings on their own.

I didn’t want them to be forced into something through hypnosis.

That’s why I had always tried to use hypnosis indirectly, to nudge them towards standing on their own two feet.

...I had come this far without resorting to manipulating their minds, and I couldn’t start now just because I was in a difficult position.

What I loved was seeing the students think and act for themselves, not having them behave like puppets according to my whims.

"Stop joking around."

"Do you think I’m joking?"

I knew that the students trusted me.

Even if I revealed that I had the power of hypnosis, they would probably still try to believe in me, in their own way.

But I couldn’t let that happen.

Orca, Leo, and Aileen might be exceptions, but it would hurt Stella and Anastasia.

Even though Edwin was the leader of the Bright Light Order, thanks to his actions, people would believe I was the one behind the whole thing.

Couldn’t I just dismiss it as the ramblings of a terrorist?

No, the situation Stella and Anastasia were in was too unstable.

They hadn’t yet solidified their positions, and in such a precarious situation, even the smallest spark could ignite unrest.

If Stella, who had just gained her claim to the throne, tried to protect me, it would only incite resistance.

Anastasia wouldn’t be any better off. Her reputation had been barely holding the church together, and the damage could be even worse for her.

I didn’t want to be the one to jeopardize the students’ future for the sake of my own safety.

If my revelation helped them, it would be one thing, but knowing it would only cause harm, I couldn’t bring myself to force them into submission with hypnosis.

Even if they tried to hold onto me, I had to leave.

As painful as it was, this was for the future of the students.

I had come this far, and I couldn’t let their futures become uncertain because of me.

After all, I was still an anomaly, a foreign presence in this world I didn’t even understand.

Even without me, they would manage just fine.

"That’s a lie."

"It’s not."

"We’ve always gotten along, haven’t we, teacher? ...Weren’t we close?"

Orca murmured, staring at me in disbelief.

It was painful. But it was necessary.

I curled my lips into a smile, trying to make myself look like the villain.

"Who knows? Maybe the feelings you have toward me are something I manipulated as well."

"What?"

"Who’s to say your desire to protect me wasn’t something I planted in your mind?"

I looked around at the confused students.

For their sake, I decided to step down from the academy stage.

After all, the main story was already over. Edwin would die following my hypnosis.

All that remained was the epilogue.

So, there was no need for a foreign object like me to linger in their midst.

"Are the feelings you have toward me even real?"

"I admired you for your kindness."

"Did you?"

"...At one point, I even wanted to become like you. I wanted to help people like me—those who were at the bottom. Was that desire all because of hypnosis too?"

Seeing Orca’s tone become more aggressive, I realized there wasn’t much time left.

Orca was quick to anger. A little more, and she would lose control.

...I had no idea she admired me. That was unexpected.

Could it be that I had been that important to Orca?

Was she thinking about becoming a teacher because of me?

"Have you been deceiving me this whole time? Were all those feelings fake too?"

"...I didn’t mean to deceive you. It’s just that no one here truly understood who I am."

I quietly recited a line from a comic I had once read.

"Admiration is the emotion furthest from understanding."