Moving In With the Aloof Principal

Sensitive, conflicted girl x cool, celibate headmistress The first time Yun Qishi climbed over the wall to skip class, she mistook a strange woman standing by the road for a friend and got handsy with her. “Baby, you smell so good~” The next day, she saw the new headmistress’s photo on the school bulletin board and realized it was the same woman from the night before! Yun Qishi climbed over the wall again, only to be caught by that woman. She didn’t resist or make excuses. Instead, she immediately admitted her mistake with sincerity. “Headmistress Ning, I know I was wrong…” It didn’t help. Her family was still called in. After her aunt met with Headmistress Ning, she asked Yun Qishi, “Would you like to live with Headmistress Ning?” Yun Qishi: …? It turned out her aunt and Headmistress Ning were old friends. Her aunt described the headmistress like this: “A still, clear pool. The surface is cool and detached, but beneath it, hot springs bubble away.” Even so, Yun Qishi was a little afraid. She felt she’d made a terrible first impression on Headmistress Ning. Headmistress Ning would hate her. She wouldn’t like her. Later, she moved into Headmistress Ning’s home, where Ning Ji took care of her for three years. Just as her aunt had said, Headmistress Ning was a woman who seemed cold on the outside but was warm within, as gentle as water. She gave Yun Qishi warmth and taught her how to grow. There was no end to the kindness she showed her. Little by little, Yun Qishi developed feelings and desires for the woman that she shouldn’t have… - After the college entrance exams, she gathered all her courage and confessed her feelings. Before that intoxicating, bittersweet, tender summer had come to an end. Ning Ji came back to her senses. Her voice turned cool as she drew a clear boundary between them. “Yun Qishi, what we’re doing is improper. It goes against what’s right. I promised your aunt I’d look after you until you came of age. Now… you can move out.” Yun Qishi didn’t insist. She moved out of Ning Ji’s home and wandered alone from then on. - Many years passed, but Yun Qishi could no longer bring herself to love anyone. She couldn’t forget, or let go of, the woman who had left such a deep mark on her life. She thought the woman had long since forgotten her and started a family of her own. Perhaps their past had been no more than a dream from her youth. Until she saw the woman she had been unable to stop thinking about again. She stroked the little cloud tattooed like a brand on the woman’s chest, feeling its warmth and heartbeat, and asked in frustration, “Headmistress Ning, wasn’t this improper? Didn’t it go against what’s right? Then why did you have me tattooed over your heart?” [Slow-burn, bittersweet | Unrequited love becomes mutual] [An old flame reignites | The older woman pursues her younger lover] A partly coming-of-age romance~ Age gap: 18 years Neither character is perfect. No one is strictly a top or a bottom. I love both older and younger lovers ^ ^ The older woman takes the lead more in the beginning (because the student doesn’t know what she’s doing, so the headmistress has to guide her every step of the way). The younger woman takes the lead more later on (because the student is clever and quick to grasp the deeper meaning). No boundary-crossing behavior before the younger character comes of age. Theme: Face adversity without fear, grow bravely, find your own worth, and meet love and life as a whole, independent person.