Eirin grimaced. "Who are you talking to?" She looked around to make sure that there was someone else with them.
Pierre giggled, showing even his gums. "You, of course. We're the only ones here," he said.
Eirin's right eye twitched. 'Do all the good-looking guys have something wrong in their heads?'
Pierre patted Eirin's shoulder and said, "Don't worry too much. Shade is a strong guy, probably even stronger than a buffoon. He'll heal quickly."
Eirin could not understand if Pierre was saying that out of certainty or if he only wanted to diss Shade while not aware.
"I'm not that worried. Who said I was?"
Pierre chuckled. The lovely tone of his voice filled Eirin's ears. "If you're that worried, we should ask Mr. Arthur for permission to visit Shade in the hospital." His smile grew as he reached out his hand to the girl. "What do you say?"
"I said I'm not that worried."
Even though that's what the teenage girl thought, she couldn't reject a handsome guy's offer. Then Pierre started walking towards the hedge maze, leaving Eirin puzzled.
"I thought we would ask for Mr. Arthur's permission?"
Pierre turned around with a smile and said, "Don't worry. We'll ask him after we get to the hospital."
'That literally beats the meaning of asking permission,' Eirin thought.
Although bewildered, Eirin followed Pierre as they entered the hedge maze. Her eyes roamed around, and there was nothing to see but greenery. The hedges were tall enough to cover everything and were a little cramped, making Eirin realize that there was a high chance she'd get lost if she ever entered this place alone.
The feeling of being in an enclosed space makes Eirin's heart go wild with anxiety. She has never been good being in a cramped place like this. And so, her anxiety caused her to ask the young man if they were still in the correct direction. All she wanted to do was leave the maze as soon as possible.
"Of course, don't worry. Shade and I made it to the portal from here," Pierre said, glancing at Eirin and reassuring her. "Though he kept grunting. Maybe because we kept bumping into the hedges. That must have hurt."
Eirin blinked thousands of times as she was left astonished. How could this handsome young man be this aloof? Hearing that made her somehow pity the already wounded Shade Cromwell.
It almost felt like an endless maze. Eirin did not notice where they were— more likely, she could not notice even if she tried. Seeing nothing but the hedges causes Eirin to feel dizzy.
"We're here."
Eirin bumped into Pierre's back after he stopped suddenly. A huge tower made from stone not far from them greeted Eirin. Compared to the hedge maze entrance, unkempt grass surrounded the tower, and the hedges were overgrown as if no one had been tidying the place. Who would even live in a tower in the middle of tall hedges?
"It's a little more of a walk from here."
The two continued walking. Eirin could feel the tall grasses grazing her pajamas, making her stop upon realization.
"Hold on."
Pierre turned around with his head tilting. "Is there something wrong?"
"We're going to visit the hospital right now?"
Pierre blinked thrice. "Yes, that is the plan."
"While I'm still wearing my pajamas?"
The handsome young man scanned Eirin from head to toe and blinked his beautiful eyes twice. "Is there something wrong with it?"
'No, is there something wrong with his head?' Eirin thought as if she could not believe the young man's response. "Isn't this an appropriate look? On second thoughts, maybe I should just go back. You're right, anyway. Shade Cromwell is a tough cookie. He wouldn't break with just a few injuries, right?"
Even after all those excuses, Pierre did not let Eirin leave and continued pulling her towards the mysterious stone tower covered with vines. They ended up knocking on its wooden door. When Eirin looked up with her round eyes, she could not see the top of the tower.
She unconsciously asked if the tower had reached heaven itself. Pierre would chuckle and say that he also wonders about that.
The wooden door creaked as it opened on its own. Pierre pushed the door slightly and sauntered inside. Eirin followed the young man with no choice as he grabbed her by the arm. They entered the ground floor, and there was nothing inside. Only their slippers sliding through the varnished floor echoed the place.
Dust and spider webs stuffed the area, making Eirin keep swinging her hand in front of her face, trying not to sneeze from all the dust, but it was futile.
"Pierre? You're here again! I kept telling you that the master would get mad if he saw you in the magic tower ag—ain..."
The man with a small stature and short curly hair rushed from the stairs towards them. His forehead creased as his small brown eyes gawked at Eirin. He soon stuttered upon realizing who it was.
"I-It's Eirin Luxfield. Shade Cromwell's girlfriend!"
"I'm not his girlfriend."
The unknown man squealed and even covered his mouth after hearing Eirin speak.
"D-Did you hear that? The school idol spoke to a lowly man like me."
Eirin grimaced as she moved behind Pierre. Weirded out by the unknown man before them, Eirin wondered when she started being called the school idol.
"Anyway, we're here because we want to visit Shade in the hospital," Pierre said without blinking. "Could you let us use the portal, Unique?"
The man named Unique frowned, pulled Pierre by the arm, and said, "I know you're good-looking, but you shouldn't snatch other people's girlfriends."
Eirin rolled her eyes and shook her head. She did not bother explaining, knowing that these people didn't listen to her anyway; instead, she roamed her vision again. The inside of the tower looked vast, and there was nothing but the three of them there. This made Eirin wonder: shouldn't magic towers contain magical tools and machinery?
She looked up, but endless stairs led to the top, from which she could only see a little light.
"We'll go to the portal, okay?" Pierre ignored Unique's words as he called Eirin's attention. "Follow me."
They walked up the stairs while Unique chased them, saying, "Hey, this isn't good. When the master returns here, he'll scold me if he learns of this."
"Don't worry, Mr. Arthur gave us permission."
"Did he now?"
Eirin and Pierre stared at each other while Unique waited for Pierre's answer. However, Pierre only smiled and opened one of the doors on the second floor. She could not believe that a good-looking man and noble student like Pierre Blouin would do something like this.
"What if the master of the magic tower gets angry with us? What'll we do?"
"I'm not lying when I said Mr. Arthur gave me permission," Pierre said, pointing his finger at what was in front of them. "See? The portal's open. It won't open if the master of the magic tower isn't letting us get out of the academy grounds."
Remembering how Pierre said they would ask permission after getting there leaves Eirin doubtful. However, she followed Pierre towards the huge glowing blue circle at the end of the empty room.
"Why is this place so empty?"
Unique's eyes were sparkling as he stared at Eirin and said, "I-It's because we're preventing the portal from sucking things. It'll be bad if it keeps sucking objects like a black hole."
Eirin nodded as she did not bother asking any more questions, seeing how flustered Unique would become whenever their eyes met.
"We'll be back before lunch."
Pierre reached out his hand to Eirin. "It'll be difficult for first-timers, so we must hold hands," he said. Eirin took a deep breath before accepting Pierre's hand. "On three."
"One... two... three!"
"Blech!"
Eirin sensed her stomach flipped upside down as she fell on her knees as soon as they exited the portal. She looked down with her blurry eyes and her head spinning.
"W-What's going on?"
Even after asking that question, Eirin could not stop vomiting, as if her head was still being spun nonstop.
"I apologize. I should have warned you that first-timers get dizzy and end up vomiting sometimes."
Eirin looked at Pierre with disbelief in her eyes. She could not stop letting rainbows out of her mouth while she cursed inside her head. "This is the worst," she said after wiping her mouth and quickly glanced at Pierre. "Are we far from the hospital?"
"We're here. That huge building right there."
Eirin looked up and spotted the humongous white building in front of them with the hospital sign above. When she looked around, her confused mind could not understand everything her eyes perceived.
"What's with these houses? They look like from the medieval times."
The houses near the hospital were made with timber and wood, and the hospital was the only one made from stone and metal, just like how it was where Eirin lived before.
"These houses looked exactly like those from a video game."
"What's a video game?" Pierre helped Eirin stand up. "Anyway, the people in this country love their tradition after all. Although the Queen decided that the hospital must be advanced to help the people better, the elders were against it. They have this old mindset."
They walked towards the hospital entrance, but Eirin heard the familiar sound of an ambulance ringing in her ears before they could enter. Her heart thumped so loud that she froze on the spot. Sweat broke out of her temple, and her fingertips were cold. She could not move another step from where she was standing and could only stare at the entrance.
"Eirin?"
The ringing in Eirin's ears continued, and Pierre's voice drifted into the background. Memories of the pain and fear surged into her, almost taking her strength away.
"Are you still dizzy?" Pierre held onto Eirin's arm, making the teenage girl flinch. "I think we should ask the staff for some water. You're looking pale."
Pierre helped Eirin as they walked towards the entrance. The teenage girl was not strong enough to escape Pierre's grasp.
'It'll be fine. It's fine. You're fine.'
Eirin's breathing grew heavier as her grip on Pierre's hand tightened. After asking the front desk for Shade's room, they entered the elevator while Eirin closed her eyes.
'It'll be fine. You're fine,' Eirin kept repeating those words inside her head.
Her stomach churned, and more cold sweat dripped down her cheeks. The sound of the ambulance reaching their ears as they got out of the elevator made Eirin tumble, and if it wasn't for Pierre's quick reflex, she would have hit the ground.
"Are you okay? Are you dizzy?"
"A-A little."
Eirin stuttered with her hands trembling. Pierre assured her she could rest when they reached Shade's room. However, as soon as they arrived in front of Shade's room, the young man had disappeared.
"Wait here, I'll inform the front desk."
Eirin grabbed Pierre's arm in panic. "W-Wait, don't leave me here."
"I'll be quick, I promise." Pierre slipped away from Eirin's grasp.
"W-Wait, n-no!"
Eirin gasped as she held onto her chest. She could no longer breathe. Her head spun as she immediately leaned against the wall before she could fall to the ground.
'I need to get out of this place,'
Just when the memories she had suppressed started launching at her.
Eirin ran through the hallway, huffing and puffing, without knowing where she was going. She ran down the stairs, struggling to gasp for air until she finally reached the rooftop.
The sound was gone.
"You, what are you doing here?"
Eirin's eyes filled with tears and landed on the owner of that voice. His deep black eyes stared at the teenage girl as he raised an eyebrow. Eirin could not understand why her heart felt relieved seeing him.