I Became a Kindergarten Teacher for Monster Babies!-Chapter 550

"You cannot control Boo!" she shouted.

"I command armies! I control shadows! I have bent ancient spirits to my will!"

"You cannot stop Kelpie from flooding the floor!"

"I will instruct him on proper water management!"

"You cannot make Felix listen!"

"I will threaten him with extra homework!"

"You cannot threaten children!"

"Why not?"

"Because they will cry!"

Dante blinked slowly.

"...They cry?"

"Yes! They cry! Children cry! It is what they do!"

"That seems inefficient."

Alina threw both hands up again in complete frustration.

"Dee!"

He looked completely calm, infuriatingly so.

"You will rest tomorrow."

"I will not."

"Then I will teach them."

"You will not!"

They stared at each other again, breathing hard.

Then Dante’s lips twitched slightly.

"Little dove," he said slowly, "you forget something."

"What?"

"I have already made the decision."

Alina narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"You cannot order me to take leave."

"I can try." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"And I can refuse."

"And I can insist."

"And I can ignore you."

"And I can follow you to the classroom."

"And I will lock the door."

"I will break the door."

"You will not break my classroom door!"

"I have broken stronger doors. Much stronger. Doors that had actual magical wards."

Alina pressed both hands against her temples, squeezing her eyes shut.

"This man will drive me insane. Completely insane."

Dante tilted his head slightly, that faint amused smile still playing on his lips.

"You already married chaos when you started dating a shadow lord."

"I am not dating chaos!"

"You are currently arguing with chaos. That is basically the same thing."

She glared at him.

He looked faintly amused now, clearly enjoying himself.

Finally she groaned loudly and turned away, pacing a few steps before spinning back.

"I am still going tomorrow."

"And I am still teaching tomorrow."

"Over my dead body."

"That can be arranged."

She whipped around immediately, eyes blazing.

"DANT—"

He burst into laughter before she could finish.

The sudden sound shocked her into silence.

Dante rarely laughed like that. Not a chuckle, not a smirk, but actual loud laughter, warm and genuine, his whole face lighting up as the earlier tension finally cracked. His shoulders shook slightly, and he had to cover his mouth with one hand.

Alina stared at him, still furious... but also slightly confused, her anger wavering.

"You are impossible," she muttered.

Dante wiped the corner of his eye, still smiling.

"Yes," he agreed calmly.

"And tomorrow I am teaching kindergarten." He straightened slightly, brushing imaginary dust from his sleeves. "I raised Lucien and Sable. I think I can handle a whole classroom."

Alina opened her mouth to argue, then closed it.

She looked at him, really looked at him, and realized something.

He wasn’t going to back down.

The stubborn calm on his face made it painfully obvious that the argument had already ended for him, even though Alina was still standing there trying to convince him. His arms were crossed over his chest, shoulders relaxed, but the set of his jaw said everything.

He had decided.

And Dante, once decided, was about as movable as a mountain.

Alina stared at him for several long seconds.

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

He met her gaze without blinking.

The silence stretched between them, thick and heavy.

Finally she sighed, the long, defeated sigh of someone who had just realized they were arguing with a wall. A very tall, very stubborn, extremely powerful wall that had absolutely no intention of moving an inch.

"Fine," she muttered.

Dante’s eyebrow lifted slightly, a flicker of surprise crossing his features.

"Fine?" he repeated carefully, as if testing the word for traps.

She pointed a finger at him, jabbing it in his direction.

"Alright," she said. "I will rest tomorrow."

For the first time since the argument started, something resembling satisfaction appeared in Dante’s dark eyes. A small victory gleam.

But she wasn’t finished.

Her finger was still pointed at him, unwavering.

"And listen carefully," she added seriously, her voice dropping into teacher-mode.

He tilted his head, curious.

"Do not scold my babies."

Dante blinked.

"My... babies?" he repeated slowly.

"Yes," she said firmly, as if this were obvious.

"They are sensitive. Very sensitive. Their little hearts are fragile."

"I command armies," he reminded her. "I negotiate with kings. I have faced down ancient beings."

"You cannot command kindergarten children."

"That seems unlikely."

"It is very likely," she said immediately, warming to her theme.

She started pacing slightly as she spoke, clearly moving into full lecture-mode now, counting points on her fingers.

"If you tell them things gently, they will understand. You must explain patiently. You must use a soft voice. You must crouch down to their level so you don’t tower over them like a dark cloud of doom."

Dante watched her with the quiet expression of someone receiving highly questionable instructions from a very small but determined source.

"No shouting," she continued.

"I do not shout."

"You glare."

"That is not shouting."

"Your glare is worse than shouting. Your glare makes grown adults apologize for things they didn’t do."

He said nothing, which she took as agreement.

"Especially Luna," Alina added, counting on her fingers now. "If she feels embarrassed, she will become defensive. And then she might bite. Do not let her bite you."

Dante nodded slowly, processing this information.

"I will glare gently," he offered.

"That is not a thing! You cannot glare gently! Glare is glare!"

She ignored his comment and continued down her mental list.

"Rocky will panic if you raise your voice even slightly. He will think he did something wrong and his big eyes will get all watery."

"I do not raise my voice."

"Your normal voice is intimidating."

"That seems like their problem, not mine."

"Dee!"

He sighed quietly, a long suffering sound.

"Fine. I will modulate my voice."

"And Drake," she continued, clearly not trusting him at all, "Drake gets distracted easily. Do not mention fire unless absolutely necessary. He will want to demonstrate and then things will burn."

Dante nodded once.

"Understood. No fire talk."

"And Kelpie will splash water everywhere if he becomes excited. Everywhere. The floor, the walls, other children. It becomes a situation."

"That sounds unpleasant."

"It is very unpleasant. Wet socks are the worst."

"And Boo—"

She stopped suddenly.

Dante’s expression changed slightly, becoming more alert.

"What about Boo?" he asked.