Find me in your labyrinth (Stella and Jonathan) novel Chapter 2620

Jonas scratched his head. “York and I just picked them up in the old town. They were all we could find. I know they’re not the best.”

“You should get back to your lesson,” Gabriel said, his voice firm. “When the teacher is distracted, the students lose focus too.”

Gabriel’s commanding presence seemed to fluster Jonas. He blushed, looking as if he had just been reprimanded by a superior officer. “Right. We can talk after class,” he said quickly.

He turned and walked back to the front of the classroom, feeling a chill run down his spine.

As Sylvia sketched a mountain landscape in her notebook, she whispered, “No wonder he’s nervous. You really do sound like a superintendent observing a class.”

Gabriel scoffed. “And you’re a model student?”

“Of course!” Sylvia held up her notebook for him to see.

Gabriel glanced at it, a half-smile on his face. “So, the reason you never paid attention in your studies before was because you never had a handsome enough teacher.”

Sylvia arched an eyebrow as if considering this, then nodded thoughtfully. “You know, I think you might be right.”

Gabriel’s expression darkened as he shot her a cold look.

Sylvia suppressed a smile and looked down at her textbook, reciting an ancient poem in a low voice along with the other students—a poem she had already memorized years ago.

When the class ended, Jonas closed his book. “Ms. Jenny and I bought a lot of sports equipment in town yesterday. You have a long break after this class, so everyone can go outside and play.”

A wave of excited cheers erupted in the classroom.

Most of the students scrambled to get outside, though a few studious little girls stayed behind to ask Jonas more questions.

Sylvia neatly packed her things and placed them inside her desk, just like a star student.

Gabriel suddenly remembered how, when Sylvia had grabbed his clothes that day, she had pleaded for help in both the local language and her own. The memory still sent a dull ache through him.

“After I went with you,” Sylvia continued, “I was still worried. Worried I wouldn’t do a good enough job and you would scold me. Or that you would abandon me.”

A flash of pain crossed Gabriel’s eyes. “I thought you said you weren’t afraid,” he said, his voice raspy.

“I was lying,” Sylvia admitted with a small smile. “You were so serious back then, I figured you wouldn’t like a girl who cried all the time. So I pretended to be calm, thinking that was the only way you wouldn’t hate me.”

“You hid it well,” Gabriel remarked.

Sylvia gave him a proud look. “Born to be a spy, don’t you think?”

“The worst agent I ever trained,” he scoffed.