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Albedo struggled to open his eyes and sat up in his sleeping bag. Waking from sleep was always easy for him, but not today... Everything in front of his eyes was blurry and his head felt incredibly heavy. He rubbed his eyes with his palms to focus and collect his thoughts.
The cave where he and Rhinedottir had settled in for the night was dark, silent, and comfortingly lonely. The air was cold and clouds of steam formed as he breathed. From the outside came the sounds of torrential rain and howling wind.
As Albedo rubbed his temples and tried to organize his thoughts, he noticed a white fur blanket had been placed on top of his sleeping bag. The edges had been carefully tucked under the bag, providing the sleeping child with maximum comfort and warmth.
The teacher's unprecedented act greatly puzzled the boy. His body adapted easily to any temperature. So there was no need for multiple layers of fabric to keep him warm in this cold season. Albedo did not doubt for a moment it was madame Rhinedottir who had covered him with the blanket. Yet he could not find a rational explanation for her actions.
He was roused from his thoughts by the deafening peal of thunder as the storm grew heavier.
The child took the edge of the blanket, pressed it to his chest, buried his nose into the fur and took a deep breath. It exuded a faint scent of the teacher's perfume. He was not an emotional boy, but he felt warm. His face lit up with a light blush and a gentle smile. Madame had always been cold and strict but he loved her. Rhinedottir was the only kind of family he ever had. He cherished all the rare episodes with the slightest show of care on her part.
Allowing himself to enjoy the moment for a few more minutes, the child got out of the sleeping bag and carefully folded the white blanket over the top. Albedo dressed in his casual clothes. The teacher greatly appreciated a neat appearance and the boy never forgot that in any situation. Changing clothes took much longer than usual—his movements were stiff and sluggish, his fingers poorly obeyed and his eyes lost focus now and then. For the first time in his life he felt so weak and ineffective.
“This will have to be reported to the teacher,” thought Albedo.
Rhinedottir's absence did not surprise him at all. She often left the camp before dawn, leaving him all alone. Madame must have been busy exploring “The Heart of Naberius”—an artifact they'd found the day before in the depths of one of the domains. Despite her absence, the boy always knew what he had to do. The teacher left detailed instructions and lists of tasks to be completed before her return.
Clasping the chain brooch on the neck of his white shirt, the child set out to make himself breakfast. He rarely felt hungry. His body needed little energy to be fully functional. If it wasn't for the teacher, he'd probably eat once every couple of days. But Rhinedottir insisted on strict adherence to basic food intake and hammered that idea into him from "diapers." Cooking and eating were routine activities, brought to a point of automatism. So was his whole life, built on a rigid daily routine.
Albedo was horrified when he glanced at his watch and realized that it was noon—lunch time. He had never slept so long! He only needed 4 hours of sleep to regain his full strength. The boy shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Albedo remembered for sure that yesterday he had fallen asleep before midnight. How could it be that he had slept 3 times more than usual? At least now it made sense to him why he felt so weak.
Anxiety gripped his heart.
“My teacher will be very displeased! I must hurry up and get to work on the assignments she had left”, thought the child.
Forgetting about breakfast, he rushed to Rhinedottir's table. In the center of it burned a triple candlestick. On the table he saw a note, a letter in an envelope with a gold wax seal, a book and an empty vial of elixir. The first thing the boy did was to pick up the note:
“Albedo, go to Mondstadt. Find my old friend, Alice and give her the recommendation letter. Then, complete your final assignment. Your final assignment: show me the truth and the meaning of this world.”
As usual madame was short on words. Confused, the child reread the note over and over again, trying to find the meaning hidden between the lines. The boy's emerald eyes widened in surprise and his heart overflowed with unknown feelings, in which he had to sort out for years to come.
"Was I not doing well? Did the teacher decide not to waste any more time on me?", thought Albedo.
Still gazing at the lines on the paper, the child tried to find in his memories the moment when exactly he had made the fatal mistake. But all his attempts were in vain and the analysis from a rational point of view gave no results. He had handled all his assignments well and had not given Rhinedottir any cause for anger.
Madame had left him another gift—the title of Kreideprinz, and with it, a written acknowledgment that she had nothing further to teach him. So Albedo had only to come to terms with reality.
Clutching the note to his chest, he shifted his gaze to the book, which turned out to be a collection of fragments of The Opus Magnum. Rhinedottir treasured it so much.
Carefully examining the empty vial, the boy was able to recognize some of the components of the elixir previously stored there. There was no doubt—until recently there had been a sleeping potion inside. It must have been what madame had used to put him to sleep last night before she began packing for the journey.
Albedo recalled last night. The teacher kept her gaze on him and was unusually kind. She dryly complimented his progress in alchemy. As a reward, Rhinedottir allowed him to enjoy tea and sweets after dinner. At that moment the child's heart was overflowing with happiness, though visually it was difficult to notice. The result of the teacher's strict education, which was based on self control and restraint in gestures, movements and expressions. The storm of positive emotions in his soul was revealed only by the glitter in his emerald eyes and a barely perceptible blush on his cheeks.
When the boy was already lying in his sleeping bag, madame stroked his head and wished good night. Her touch was gentle and her palms very warm. Albedo looked at her beautiful but emotionless face with sleepy eyes. His eyelids grew heavy with each passing moment and the boy was unable to resist the urge to fall into a deep sleep. He fell asleep with a faint smile on his lips.
Putting the memories aside and returning to reality, the child sighed sadly, picked up the book, the letter, the note and went to gather his few belongings. He had no choice but to obey madame's will. It was a long road to Mondstadt.
"The teacher's tasks were always difficult, but doable", Albedo thought as he threw on his white hooded cloak and took the first step into his new life.