28
Who is this?
Who came looking for me?
Evie, whose eyes widened in surprise at first, quickly regained her composure and knocked on the door forcefully.
"I'm here! Get me out, please!"
She didn't care now who was next. What really matters is that someone, finally, came looking for her.
As Evie was banging her hands on the door and screaming, she heard from outside the metallic sound of the lock being opened.
A squeak, then a bang!
The heavy door opened wide.
Immediately, two people standing outside rushed over, jostling each other as if competing for who would enter the painting exhibition hall first.
"Are you well?"
“Are you hurt?”
How madly had they run to get here?
Their hair was scattered by the wind, their panting breaths, drops of sweat running down their faces, and their school uniforms were wrinkled.
Even under the moonlight, their tired appearance was clearly visible.
Evie looked at them with a surprised face and called their names:
"Mr. Arcel? Mr. Lusca?"
She thought, of course, that those calling her from outside were academy employees.
So why did these two people, who had nothing to do with her, come looking for her?
Then she realized, amidst their intermittent breathing, that they were looking at her with great concern.
“I'm fine! I was just here, sitting quietly...”
“That's exactly the problem!”
Lusca, who was trying to regain his breath, suddenly shouted.
Evie shivered at his loud voice, so he ran his hand over his face and sighed deeply.
“Sorry, I didn't mean to get mad at you. But you've been here, alone since noon...”
“Really, I'm fine!”
At that moment, Arcel turned his head to look at the chair Evie was sitting on.
Rather, to the cloth with which she was covered.
It was clear to any onlooker that this cloth was not made to cover a human being.
A thick, tough, dusty fabric, originally made to cover objects.
Was she cold? Traces of Evie covering it were still visible on the fabric above the chair.
“Acho!”
Suddenly, Evie sneezed, making her talk about being fine seem meaningless, and then she shuddered slightly.
Her face was a little red, as if her fever was starting to rise.
Seeing this, Arcel immediately took off his school jacket.
“Wear this.”
Then he placed his jacket on Evie's shoulders.
There was an age difference between them, Evie was quite small compared to her peers, while Arcel was tall among his peers.
In addition to the difference between the body of a girl and a boy.
All of these factors made Evie, wearing his jacket, look like she was wrapped in a blanket.
"there!"
At that moment, the sound of many footsteps was heard quickly approaching the hallway from which the two came.
Their steps were as quick as Arcel and Luska's.
Then the door suddenly opened, and the person in front entered.
"Found you! You're here!"
Seraphina took confident steps, then hugged Evie, who was still wearing Arcel's jacket, and lifted her off the ground.
"You have a slight fever. This place is a bit cold, isn't it? Ah, did you startle me? Maybe you caught a glimmer of the magic I used. By the way, aren't you thinking about becoming a witch? I feel like our waves are harmonizing wonderfully…"
“Director!”
“Seraphina!”
The staff and Loska shouted at the same time, interrupting her non-stop flow of speech as she hugged Evie.
"Okay, okay. Let's go back to the academy first, then we'll talk. Aren't you hungry?"
Seraphina shook her head as if to say, “Enough.”
Evie looked at her and muttered:
“Director...?”
Who is this that suddenly rushed in and picked me up?
The manager?
Evie thought, remembering that when she arrived at the academy yesterday, she saw staff and professors, but she never saw the principal.
“I thought it would be someone older.”
The pictures of the previous managers hanging in the dormitory were all of old people with white hair.
There might have been, occasionally, a middle-aged person, but there was no one in their thirties like Seraphina.
“Now, pack this girl’s things first. Then...”
Seraphina stopped issuing orders to the staff.
Her eyes were fixed on a painting on the wall.
Then she made a bitter smile.
"I was wondering why we found her so quickly. It seemed like Lillian's protection was with us."
Lillian.
Evie's eyes lit up when she heard that name.
It was a household name. Name engraved on a gravestone in the forest.
“It appears that the person in this painting is also named Lillian.”
Seraphina left the exhibition hall still carrying Evie.
The staff, Arcel and Luska followed, carrying Evie's bag which she had left on the chair.
As she walked out, Evie waved her hand gently at the painting.
She could still feel that touch that had been above her head a moment ago.
A feeling as if someone was patting her, reassuring her.
Until the moment the door closed, Evie continued to wave her hand, promising in her heart:
I will come back again.
* * *
During the return to the academy, Evie remained in Serafina's arms.
“I can walk.”
"No, stay calm so we can examine you carefully. Are you feeling pain elsewhere?"
“No, nothing.”
Suddenly, Arcel spoke from behind:
“But her hands are hurt, aren’t they?”
Evie looked at her hands.
Maybe because of her violent knocking on the door in the afternoon to summon someone? Her hands appeared swollen, with red marks.
Seraphina saw Evie's hands and asked Arcel:
“Right. How did you know?”
“Because she was locked up, I thought she might have knocked on the door.”
Loska, who was standing next to him, interjected:
“There were many signs of collision on the door lock. It means she tried hard from the inside.”
“Oh my God...”
Serafina's face froze upon hearing their words.
She walked into the employee building, sat Evie down in a chair, and then examined her hands.
“True, they are quite swollen. Fortunately, they are not injured. But it may be difficult for you to carry things or write for a few days.”
Seraphina ordered the staff to bring medicine and bandages.
After the staff left, she looked at Arcel and Luska.
“Okay, before everyone goes back, I want to know how you two found this girl before me.”
Loska immediately offers:
“We heard from other students that they know where it is.”
"How did these students know? Why didn't they tell the staff or professors until things got worse?"
“This...”
Luska quickly closed his mouth. Then he looked desperately at Arcel, as if to say: "What are you waiting for? Help me!"
Arcel sighed lightly, then spoke calmly:
"We can't say the details. Those were the conditions we received. We swore on behalf of our families."
"Good."
Seraphina could not force them to reveal the names.
But at that moment, Arcel smiled, with the same bright smile he had shown to the students before, and said:
“But we promised not to reveal the identity of the students, we did not promise not to reveal the person who caused this matter.”
* * *
“Ah, I'm full…”
Remora leaned back on the couch, relaxing.
Even as she was lying down, the corners of her mouth automatically rose.
“They haven't found her yet, have they?”
You won't die. But the museum hasn't officially opened yet, so no one will find it until its staff arrives tomorrow.
The museum was scary even in the daytime.
Especially the painting exhibition hall, which only has high windows that allow a minimum of natural light to protect the paintings, without any other windows on the walls.
To spend the night in a place like this, surrounded by scary paintings...
“You might be crying in fear right now.”
She's a baby girl. After a whole day of crying, she will surely come back and beg: “I don't want to stay here, I want to go back to my place!”
At least, that's how it will be.
“That means I'll be the only winner.”
Remora remembered the cheerful thoughts she had had all day.
To be second in line with Arcel, and to participate with him in academy activities.
To build a friendly relationship with Lusca, and perhaps, if all goes well, to become friends with Irene Terence, and one day, when Irene becomes Empress, perhaps to borrow some jewels from her…
While Remora was smiling in her imagination, as if these events had already happened, a knock was heard at the door.
She got up, thinking it was her roommate.
But a voice came from outside:
"Miss Remora Issel? Are you in there?"
"from…?"
Remura cautiously opened the door when she heard a strange sound, and found one of the dormitory staff standing there.
The student in the room opposite opened her door as well, looking at them curiously.
Suddenly, Remura's body froze in tension.
Why? Why is an employee looking for me at this time?
The employee smiled and said:
“Some missing items have arrived. Can you come downstairs to confirm their identity and fill out the paperwork to pick them up?”
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