The biggest problem with this chapter isn't that Ayrin is making stupid decisions, it's that the fact that the entire premise of the arc revolves around the dumbest mechanic in the setting. Literally doing anything with imprinting will feel unfair and unearned. If it gets resolved peacefully, it's an anticlimax. If she actually imprints on the teacher and it's permanent, that's just the end of the story, which is also an anticlimax. If she imprints on the teacher, causes some more conflict, and then the imprint is broken somehow, then it's an anticlimax and a deus ex machina. There's literally no way to resolve it with it being satisfying, because of how long the plot thread has been around. The problem isn't that she's acting stupid for no reason, it's that her acting stupid was the literal only way the author could've furthered the plot point, because the plot point itself is stupid.