"Yes, but he is fine now." Lotus responded, "His current condition left him vulnerable to the cold and he collapsed. If it hadn't been for Rook, he probably wouldn't have made it that day. With Yuu and Grim dragged away, he was left in the care of Diasomnia's freshman, Ren Ebonviles and didn't return till Grim and Yuu came back. Don't worry. He got better."
"Good." Riddle sighed in relief and continued, "As long as you're confident, we'll trust you."
"Of course!" She responded with a wide smile.
.....
Lotus opened her eyes and found herself back in her dorm room. Ying Hui popped out of her ring and giggled, "Master, you've gotten better and better at telling tearful stories now. Those people will never catch on to us!"
Lotus heaved a heavy sigh and said, "All right. Remember to let those two be, Ying Hui."
"Yes, master." Ying Hui bowed and returned into the ring. She had wanted to scold the two for doing something as reckless as this in the master's absence, but the master had let them off instead meaning she understood their intention. Perhaps, it would be all right, then?"
It was the dawn of a new day as Lotus got out of bed and changed before going down to see Grim and Yuu waiting for her.
.....
"Fnaa~ It's been forever since I slept that good, y'know." Grim groaned as he walked down the same main street.
Suddenly, Yuu yawned as well... again.
"You okay, Yuu?" Lotus spoke up curiously. That night, her butterflies notified her that the mirror was active again and again throughout the time Yuu had gone missing. The mirror also appeared again the night after they quelled the overblot and she had returned. In that mirror, there was a strange round creature that called out to Yuu, but never really communicated much back. Around that time, the butterflies also added to having felt a strange aura coming from Yuu while he was talking to the mirror.
"Yeah..." Yuu sighed, "I woke up yesterday in the middle of the night because the mirror in my room-"
"Oh yeah, you. Last night you totally stepped on my tail right!" Grim cried out in dismay, "Jeez. You gotta be careful!"
Lotus noticed Yuu's expression lit up in surprise. Lotus frowned quietly in thought as Grim continued, "What? Why do you look so surprised, weirdo."
"Hey there, Prefect. Happy New Year!"
It was then that Ace popped out from behind them with Deuce in tow. Deuce said thoughtfully with a nostalgic smile, "We always spend time together but seeing you today makes me nostalgic for some reason."
"Eh heh. I bet you're just sad you didn't get to see me over vacation." Grim teased with a sneer.
"You guys, stop standing in the middle of the road." Jack walked over to them with a sigh.
Seeing Jack before them, Lotus was rather surprised as she said, "Looks like there's been a lot of snow from where you were at."
"Oh, Jack. Did you get darker by chance?" Ace added in surprise.
"Did I? Well, Lotus is not wrong..." Jack looked to Lotus in surprise, "It's probably because I was skiing for the entire break."
"Eeeh, your hometown gets lots of snow?" Ace said with envy before he was left confused and forced to walk forward with the group, "Wait, what does that have to do with him getting him getting darker? That's how you knew there was a lot of snow right? Because he got darker?"
Lotus raised a brow, "During the dark, snow is reflective and reflects a lot of light. Light is still made of UV rays, so those who spends a lot of time with snow and ice during the day tends to get darker easily too. It's the winter season and Jack returned to his hometown. He wouldn't get all that dark, even if he had gone over to the Scalding Sands, much less the Rose Kingdom. Meaning, his hometown is more likely Pyroxene where it snows the most during the winter."
"Woah..." Jack looked to her in surprise, "That's amazing deduction..."
"Eh, really?" Ace looked to him in disbelief.
Jack nodded hesitantly, "My hometown is the Land of Pyroxene. It often snows heavy during that season too and I go skiing there every year in the snow."
"Heh." Jack chuckled, "It's impressive that Lotus got all that down just by looking."
"Doctors have to be observant to details to understand a patient's health." Lotus responded with a huff, "Just asking them for details won't be enough. Sometimes, they have their own circumstances and lie. People like that are those I prefer not to interact with on a daily basis. They're really a huge pain, even though I'm not allowed to inquire more details than necessary. People, like you guys, are definitely more sensible than them, at least. That's why, Grim, if you ever break my trust and fake an illness..."
"I won't! I won't! Geez..." Grim groaned before glancing over to Jack and the other with great interest, "Still, what's 'skiing'? I wanna try it too, y'know!"
"Woah, Grim! Stop running around our feet!"
However, Deuce's voice was a couple seconds late as Grim crashed face first into someone hiding behind one of the statues and tripped him.
"Ah!"
"...Oh my bad! You alright?" Deuce cried out as he rushes forward and helps the student up.
"Ah, Ugh..." The student took one look at Deuce revealing a face full of tears.
That's when Lotus first noticed this person's pretty carved face and soft wavy platinum colored hair.
"Eh!? Yo-you're crying!?"
"Teacher, Deuce made a kid from another dorm cry!" Ace teased Deuce as he called out with a sneer on his face.
"Don't make fun of me, Ace." Deuce scolds Ace before turning back to the smaller student apologetically, "It hurt enough to make you cry, I'm so sorry. I'll take you to the infirmary so use my shoulder as support..."
"Um, Deuce..." Lotus called over to him with a sigh of exasperation.
However, Deuce was already helping the student as Jack places a hand on her shoulder sympathetically, "There's nothing we can do... He's already forgotten and too focused to help to remember you're a nurse' assistant on campus..."
As Lotus shook his head and shrugged, the smaller boy that could've been mistakened for a young well-bred girl muttered under his breath, " I'm... over this...!"
"Eh... Over...?" Deuce looks to him in confusion.
"Geh!" The boy turned around and quickly rushed away from them going down the path to the classes.
"And there he goes." Ace commented as he walks over to Deuce in confusion.
Seeing this, Lotus raised a brow, "Does anyone know who he is? That arm band...'
"That guy's in the same class as me. I'm pretty sure he's from Pomefiore..." Jack responded, "Epel Felmier."
"Epel from Pomefiore..." Deuce repeated the words thoughtfully.
Lotus thought for a bit before responding, "That kid..."
However, she shook her head and followed the others to school instead. However, she sent the butterflies after him curious as something about that boy doesn't feel natural.
That night after she had returned to the dorm from checking in with the staff, the butterflies had returned with some news regarding Epel. Apparently, Epel was caught shortly after he left them on the main street and was dragged back to the dorm. There, they found that Epel talking with someone and made to practice posture and etiquette while also wearing make up. Seeing the familiar figure forced to coach him next to Rook, her lips twitched down into a frown as she could feel a migraine coming along. She leaned against her window sill between her room and the outside as she let out a deep sigh of irritation, "That guy again?"
Sensing her dislike for this man, Little Jun said in confusion telepathically, "Does big sister really hate this man?"
Lotus shook her head to shake off the feeling and grumbled, "Hate, no. Greatly dislike, more like. He has a trait I hate the most should men have it. His beauty is annoying not bad at all. However, seeing this case, it may become more of a compliment for him... Hmph! What a joke!"
Saying this, she gritted her teeth with a great scowl. Zhang Yong, who now gained permission to access into the ring, was internally relieved and grateful to his parents and grandparents that he didn't retain that level of feminine beauty. If not, their family may owe a great apology to their miss!
Looking away in annoyance, Lotus grumbled as she waved a hand softly in the air in loft dismissal, "Enough! I don't want to see him in my eyes again. Seeing his dorm uniform, it's obvious that he's a dorm leader. As for that gaze..."
Lotus paused as she stared out the window, "It's obvious he has some use with this Epel..."
"Master." Crystal spoke up, "The mirror..."
Lotus smirked having found something more entertaining and used her spiritual sight to see into Yuu's room with just her aura. Once again, Yuu was up and the mirror was showing him something more nerve-wrecking.
The Beautiful Queen?!