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“Brianna Mosley, are those chrysanthemums*?”
*(In China, Japan and Korea, white chrysanthemums are symbolic of lamentation and grief.)
“I decided to prepare for both cases.”
Bree quickly tossed the chrysanthemum away. Then she cried.
“Sorry, Ariel. I begged for a roommate change…”
“It has nothing to do with that, but really?”
As I put on a shocked expression, Brianna added quickly. ‘We weren’t that close then, back in March,’ I muttered as I was half lying down. ‘It wasn’t just a matter of not being close, so I understand.’ It’s a disaster that I brought upon myself, so I can’t really do anything about it.
“Miss Mosley! Please don’t throw garbage on the hospital floor!”
After a while, Professor Chapman opened the door and came in, shouting. Before long, he busily checked the monitor and me alternately, then tilted his head. Professor Chapman was a half-giant, which meant that everything about him was about one and a half times bigger than us, which gave his cute demeanor an oddly intimidating quality.
“You’re recovering remarkably quickly. Miss Mosley, do you have any hidden divine powers?”
This time it was Bree’s turn to chuckle.
“Miss Dalton has divine power coursing through her body; it’s embarrassing to say, but it’s stronger than mine.”
It sounded like someone had cast a healing spell on me without Professor Chapman’s knowledge. Someone with very strong divine power. He squirmed embarrassedly, and a gust of wind rose from the ground, rattling Brianna’s flowers. Bree formed a shield with her hands to protect the tender flowers from the giant.
“At this rate, you could be discharged by the day after tomorrow. Congratulations, Miss Dalton!”
Professor Chapman’s claps were louder than the thunder. Bree and I plugged our ears and smiled until he stomped out of the room in excitement.
“I like that he is huge. The cuteness doubles.”
“I agree,” Bree said as she placed her vase on the console next to the bed, which was already cluttered with various items. She had to push some of them aside to make room for the vase.
The most notable among them were the colorful candies—five in total. “What are these?” I asked, and Bree replied nonchalantly.
“You know that young dragon who gave you the schedule for the ‘reading club’? He brought one of those every day.”
Judging by the odd emphasis on “reading club,” Brianna Mosley still seemed convinced that the note was evidence of a secret love affair. Regardless, I unwrapped the candy and popped it into my mouth when I suddenly realized something.
If it’s ‘one every day’, does that mean it’s been five days since I collapsed? Come to think of it, the days I spent with Florence Bell were exactly 5 days. I guess it was like the afterlife.
Anyway, Jaden’s get-well gift was pretty satisfying. Since male students aren’t allowed to visit a girls ward, it seems Clay played the role of a courier—in this case, a candy courier. He’s really quite clever. If Jodi did become the Duchess of Spencer, could I have a dragon of my own?
“This is what Bolton told me to bring you. He said you can read it when you are bored.”
“Wow, no thank you.”
A book titled <All About Ballroom Dance: 86 Easy-to-Follow Steps> was pushed into my arms. I immediately put it between the bed and the wall. Let’s just say I lost it.
We chatted until an urgent knock interrupted us. Most of the topics were about the changes that occurred at the academy during the five days I was bedridden.
First of all, it seemed like no one knew about what had happened between me, Kyle, and Blossom. Kyle remained silent, even in front of Professor Humphreys. (In fact, there was no appropriate explanation for what had happened. If I were to say that Rosemary Blossom had controlled Kyle with some mysterious spell to try to kill me, even Professor Moore, who believes in things like baking walnut pies with beans, would have doubted it.)
However, he did not deny that he had injured me, and since my injuries were far greater than his, Kyle was confined to his dorm room, waiting for disciplinary action, until I, the victim, woke up.
“What the hell!” I exploded.
“Kyle didn’t do it! Well, you can say that’s what happened, but anyway, it’s not like that!”
“Then what? Who pushed a knife on Villard’s throat and made him attack you?”
Briana’s retort with her arms crossed, as if to show that she was ‘Briana-smart-mosley,’ was close to the truth. I shut my mouth like a clam in frustration, and then, on a whim, I asked for clarification.
“So Kyle’s in detention?”
“He’s not allowed to step foot out of his room unless he’s going to class or eating. They even put up a barrier.”
So, what was that about earlier? I stared at Bree, stunned. Did I have a dream or something? Did I miss him that much?
It was at that moment that we heard a knock on the door. Before I could say anything, Christa Edwards appeared with a quill drenched in magic ink.
“I am Christa Edwards of the Fitzsimmons Times. You are Miss Dalton, right?”
“Edwards, it’s not the first time we’ve seen each other.”
The monitor for recording the patient’s condition discovered a new illness in me: ‘Anxiety Disorder 15%.’ Edwards must have seen it too, but she didn’t really care.
“What is your relationship with Kyle Villard? Is it true that he carried out that horrible attack on you? And is Rosemary Blossom involved?”
“Hey, Christa Edwards! Ariel is a patient! Her condition needs to be stabilized!”
“You don’t have to answer that if it was difficult to answer. It was said that you made yourself get nominated for the ‘Queen of the Banquet’ because of your burning jealousy towards her. Of course, it’s just a rumor.”
“That is complete nonsense!”
It was Brianna, not me, who shouted that, and despite this, Edwards didn’t even glance at her. Edwards’ sharp eyes were directed only at me. As if the truth was written on my forehead.
“So, what about it? Are you really just childhood friends? Maybe it’s something like this? Some young lovers promised each other a future, but the presence of a beautiful intruder tore them apart, and the girl, who couldn’t accept the breakup, demanded an explanation from the boy, only to receive merciless violence in return. Kyle Villard has a good reputation in the academy, but everyone has a dark side.”
“You know, Edwards…”
I blurted out, my anxiety level approaching twenty percent.
“I was actually the one who invented the spell to vomit slime.”
Eup. Christa Edwards covered her mouth with both of her hands. It was fortunate that her memory of that time was still vivid.
“You see, unlike Kyle, I was actually terrible at magic. That’s why I decided not to use it again. I kept on making people throw up something other than slime. One time someone vomited something like melted sardines, and it was really disgusting.”
While speaking, I drew a magic circle with my hand. Edwards’ complexion suddenly turned pale.
“Besides, I’m in a mess right now. Maybe the melted sardines will come out somewhere other than the mouth.”
Edwards threw down her quill and ran out. I read what she had written and tried to break her quill to pieces, but I was too weak.
Helpless, I plopped down on the bed. Brianna continued to gossip about Christa Edwards for a long time after she left and then stormed off, claiming she was late for class.
***
If Professor Chapman’s judgment is correct, I couldn’t sleep at all, perhaps because of the divine power circulating in my body. I listened idly to the birds singing through the window, then fumbled at the table, suddenly craving candy. Instead of the squishy texture of a candy bag, I felt something hard and round, like a piece of iron, under my fingertips.
I picked it up and saw that it was an old pocket watch. The surface was engraved with twisted lines and a simple yet elegant wolf pattern. No one else knows, but I knew what it was. It was a memento of Grandpa Damien, whom Kyle Villard cherishes dearly.
Why is this here? As I frowned, a voice suddenly rang in my ear.
“Oh, that’s so cool.”
“What the heck!”
Edgar Ramos was dying of laughter as I looked at him with severe profanity written on my face. He was hanging on the windowsill with his arms.
“Hey, don’t be too funny. I might fall.”
“Just jump.”
As I was about to close the window, he quickly grabbed my wrist.
“Miss Dalton can really be cruel. We’re on the third floor, you know.”
“It’s not the 4th floor; it would be fine.”
Anyway, I rescued Edgar. He probably had enough strength in his strong arms to lift himself up without my help, but he complained so much that I did it anyway.
“So it was true that you woke up,” said Edgar, brushing the dust off his trousers.
When I asked him how he found out so quickly, he replied with a vague “Well” and made a gesture of twirling a handful of his wheat-colored hair around his finger. Oh, Brianna. I should have cast a spell to stick your tongue to the roof of your mouth before you closed the door.
“Why did you come through the window when the door was fine? Is that etiquette in your country?”
“Since you seem genuinely clueless, I’ll cut you some slack. Surveillance is quite strict around here.”
“Surveillance?”
“You almost died, you know? If Villard hadn’t caused that commotion and taken you to Keran, you would probably be gone by now.”
He raised his hand and made a cutting gesture in his neck.
“It turned out Villard was the one responsible for your injuries; then why was that bastard so desperate? Well, thanks to him, I had to endure ten years worth of pain.”
“Why would you?”
“Well, Miss Dalton, you were cruel and ruthless, so you wouldn’t know, but even someone with no affection for you would be surprised to hear that you were critically injured.”
“That’s mine!”
Edgar, who was sitting at the console, ate a piece of candy before I knew it and let out an ‘mmh’ sound.
“It is very sweet. You really have the taste buds of a child, don’t you?”
“Who said you could eat it freely?”
“Do you want it back? Here.”
“You’re disgusting!”
He approached me with a piece of candy wedged between his front teeth. I grabbed the candy wrapper and threw it at him in disgust.
“Besides, I’m supposed to be courting you.”
“According to the Fitzsimmons Times.”
“How comfortable is that? I don’t have to play with a girl anymore, which is not even my nature. It’s the perfect excuse for them.”
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