A Mystery

As an expert in medicinal plants and a poison master, mama Ben had gathered enough knowledge to be able to tell about the history of each plants. Even with her eyes closed she could tell which plant was poisonous and which one wasn't.

No one knew what this old lady had gone through in her maiden years, but she never also took a disciple, not because she didn't come across people who didn't want to learn from her, but just because she just didn't find an eligible disciple.

But the moment she set her eyes on the little girl who was barely thirteen, she felt an affinity towards her. Her heart had told her that the choice was already made.

At least if she had to die one day, she wouldn't be dying with her knowledge and she wouldn't toss and turn in her grave with regret. However, even if she had found her disciple, she still needed to confirm it.

"Little girl, you're quite bold to make such a request, do you think I'll agree."

"I wouldn't know if I don't dare."

Mama Ben finally opened her eyes that had been temporarily shut for few seconds when she had another sip of her tea. She looked at the girl who was making a bold request without budging. It was true that creating an affinity with someone requested more days, but Mama Ben felt that Auriane could change that law with her look. Anyone who looked deep into her eyes couldn't possibly help but get captivated. She had a certain charisma that made others unable to refute to her. But those lovely eyes also seem to have a hidden feelings that Mama Ben couldn't predict, no matter how hard she tried to read through her. 

But she could still tell at first glance that the little girl had suffered a lot, yet she was a stoic.

"You're indeed daring."

   Another voice broke from behind and even if it startled Auriane, she didn't turn to face the person who suddenly came uninvited. But could it still be considered uninvited, afterall it was still her home.

"Ain't you the same."

Auriane gave a perfunctory smile as she finally turned to face the girl who was towering her. Her skin was tanned, yet it still gave her a lot of charm. Today she was dressed in a black t-shirt and blue shorts, her short hair made her look as handsome as a boy. She could even be considered more handsome than most of the boys; even when she frowned and gave her a cold look, Auriane didn't shudder.

"What do you mean?"

"In order to join the army, you don't hesitate to confront your temper by going back to school. Even when you're not confident of success you still take the challenge... however, the risk is still there, right."

Jessica raised her eye brows and looked at the girl who spoke with calm and didn't even hesitate to come close to her. Everyone knew that she was quite choleric, so they wouldn't come near to her in case she lost her temper. 

"How did you know about it?"

How

It was simple, she didn't personally know much about Jessica in her precious life, but she had heard various rumours about her in school. She just didn't get the chance to meet the girl who had a scary popularity. But everyone knew that she would go back to school in order to enroll into w military school. However, she frequently lost her temper and was unable to do well in school.

"Is it important how I knew it, shouldn't you be bothered about how you would succeed and successfully control your aggressive temper."

"You...!"

Jessica lost her temper and almost pounced on Auriane, but before she could react, Auriane had lightly pierced in her chest with a tiny needle that caused her no pain but rooted her foot to the ground. Thus, she felt that her body had been frozen on the spot.

Seeing this, Mama Ben didn't intervene but raise her brows in awe. She didn't know what Auriane had done, but she could tell that her needle was like a quick anesthesia that wasn't meant to make one lose consciousness but rather caused them to be paralyzed.

"You ... what did you do to me?", Jessica gritted her teeth and glared at Auriane who wasn't affected.

"I'm maybe feeble, but you can't mess with me because you lack control of your temper."

"You..."

"With such attitude you won't go any further, not mentioning entering the professional military university. Their standards and requirements are rather high, so I don't think you have any of the required standards"

Jessica wanted to scold Auriane, but she had to later swallow her words when she looked at Mama Ben's indifferent expression. Even if she really wanted to scold or beat Auriane she had to admit that her words were all correct, even though it was too straightforward.

 A soldier had to be able to control her emotions, but it wasn't the case with her and her level of knowledge was rather pitiful. And not only that, her standards were indeed rather mediocre.

But at first glance she could tell that Auriane was a genius. She might be skinny and looked frail, but she was still able to immobilize her, she didn't even see it coming.

"You're right, I'm indeed pathetic, I'm not a genius and I lack control of my emotions. I only know how to use force, yet a frail little girl like you was able to immobilize me, how pathetic I am."

Seeing that Jessica was reasonable and had finally calmed down, Auriane didn't see any reason to keep her sealed any longer so she unfroze her. Giving her full possession of her body capacities.

"I can help you."

"What!"

"School would be resuming in barely six weeks and it's quite enough to keep you back on the track, you can even directly integrate grade ten instead of going backward."

At that moment Jessica didn't know if she could laugh or cry. She couldn't believe that the little girl who was barely thirteen was proposing to help a sixteen year old her to overcome a difficulty that had been a thorn for teachers.

Most importantly she was assertive about it, giving no one the time to doubt her and doubt her capacities. If she could really do what she had said, then Jessica would be grateful to her for life.

But could she?

Auriane looked at Jessica and immediately frowned once she saw the doubt on her expression. Yet she retracted her frown and raised her was to look at Jessica with a sigh.

"You don't believe me."

Auriane asked as she saw Jessica lift her lips, yet words never left them. But the next words she said weren't even expected.

"Why would you want to help me, are you trying to make grandma Ben..."

Auriane immediately cut Jessica off before the next words left her. It was true that she had no reason to help the temperamental girl, but she felt that it was necessary to do so. But of course she didn't say those thoughts and simply concluded.

"I'm being perfunctory."

"What?"

"Take it as a deal."

"What do you mean?"

"...Well, you can learn from me and I acquire alot as well."

It made no sense, Jessica had almost sad, but when she thought through it she realized that Auriane was barely working on mutual benefit. She couldn't tell if Auriane had ulterior motives for doing so, but she couldn't bear to give her a negative point.

Maybe she was just being on alert due to habit and Auriane wasn't a dangerous person. She could be considered as being just a mystery, even Grandma Ben seems to have approve of her. Hence, Jessica had no right to refute, but hope that the little girl could indeed solve her problem.

And as expected, Auriane kept her promise and kept every single day to help Jessica keep track of her studies. And what she once thought was humiliating became fun, even though Auriane still seemed a little distant and cold during the first four days of their study, she wasn't less a good teacher.