When Ariel opened her eyes,
She realized she was lying in bed.
“A dream?”
In a situation that felt unreal, Ariel tilted her head in confusion.
Especially since she had been in a dazed state due to the transcendent sickness, it felt even more surreal.
But she quickly realized that none of it had been a dream.
“……”
The room showed clear traces of destruction, though things seemed somewhat settled now.
Broken furniture, bloodstains not fully wiped away,
And the medicine vial.
“It wasn’t a dream.”
Still dazed, Ariel sat up on the bed.
It wasn’t a dream.
Johan had risked his life to save her. He had asked her to live. He said he needed her.
That truth made her happy.
“Mmm…”
Now that she understood it hadn’t been a dream,
Ariel felt a twinge of disappointment that Johan wasn’t there—
But before long, she also felt relief.
“Ahem!”
She buried her face in the blanket.
There was no one watching, but her face burned with embarrassment.
She had been in a constant haze. Dreaming with her eyes open.
In that dream, the boy had said—
“He said he wanted me to live.”
Johan who was covered in blood had come to save her.
He had pleaded for her to live.
“He said he needed me.”
Flop.
Still wrapped in the blanket, Ariel collapsed back onto the bed.
Her head was spinning.
“He said it had to be me.”
Well… he hadn’t gone quite that far.
However, Ariel who had been dreaming with her eyes wide open unfortunately couldn’t distinguish between delusion and reality.
Before she knew it, the delusions began to seep into reality,
And the image of Johan in her mind was starting to change.
“Ugh…”
Pang! Pang!
Ariel flailed, smacking the bed with her small, delicate hands.
Her imagination was spiraling further out of control.
She knew it was happening, but stopping it was hard.
At the very least, that relieved smile Johan had shown at the end of that hazy dream had felt real.
He was always such a difficult person.
Even just talking to him made him scowl and show his displeasure plain as day.
And yet, that person had smiled.
It was a smile she never even imagined he could make.
Ariel wasn’t foolish enough to completely confuse delusion with reality.
“This is bad…”
Still, even knowing that, she couldn’t pull herself away from the fantasy.
She didn’t even want to.
Ariel was sick.
And this time, there was no cure.
***
When I opened my eyes, I realized I was lying in a hospital bed.
I stared up at the now somewhat familiar ceiling, then turned my gaze to the side.
“Full-body contusions, four fractures, and signs of anemia. We’ll need to monitor your condition for about three days.”
There stood the doctor.
“A minor injury, then.”
“That’s one way to put it.”
And there was Lobelia.
Still… a minor injury? How is this a minor injury?
Maybe I’m the one who’s messed up in the head.
At this point, I really don’t know how to process this strange world anymore.
“Oh, Johan. You’re awake?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Feel free to stay lying down.”
“Your grace is boundless, Your Highness.”
“That strange speech of yours still takes some getting used to. Anyway, Johan, how much do you remember?”
“…It’s a bit fuzzy.”
Where did the dream end and reality begin?
Did I actually succeed in persuading Ariel?
Maybe hitting my head on those flying pieces of furniture did more damage than I thought.
Or, like the doctor said, maybe I just lost too much blood.
“Hmm, I see. Well, we’ve got a rough picture of what happened. Ariel was in some kind of trouble, and you saved her. That much is correct, yes?”
“I believe so.”
There was no longer any need to hide the fact that Ariel had been suffering from transcendence disease.
After all, the problem had already been solved.
I knew now that she had tried to keep it a secret because she was afraid of becoming a burden to Lobelia.
Of course, unless Lobelia asked me directly, I had no intention of bringing it up.
And she didn’t. Perhaps she’d decided it was something better heard directly from Ariel.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, I didn’t lose my friend. Ha… I really was foolish. I thought I understood everything, even after hearing your warning.”
“Huh? My… warning?”
Did I say something like that?
I don’t know. If that’s what Lobelia took from it, I guess it counts.
“Well, I suppose you must be curious about what happened afterward.”
“Yes…”
It’s not exactly strange that I ended up in a hospital bed.
After a beating like that, it’d be weird if I weren’t admitted.
But still, I can’t help wondering about the details—
Specifically, who brought me here.
“I was the one who found you, actually. I kept hearing a commotion from Ariel’s room, and it bothered me enough that I went to check. When I got there, the door and everything else had been completely wrecked…”
Lobelia shrugged and let out a sigh.
“Just thinking about cleaning up that mess gave me a headache. Johan, I hate to say this, but maybe next time think things through a little more before charging in?”
“Ahem…”
“Not only did you barge into the girls’ dormitory without permission, but knocking out the dorm manager on the way wasn’t exactly the wisest move.”
“…I did that?”
“Well, it wasn’t me, was it?”
Something’s not right here.
Come to think of it, it was strange how I entered the girls’ dorm without any resistance.
Did someone else break in before me?
No, if that were the case, there would’ve been a commotion.
Judging by what Lobelia said, it didn’t seem like there were any other victims…
It was Yuna.
She must have cleared the way in advance so no one would get in my way.
Putting aside how she acted like she could read my mind, her methods were awfully forceful.
But from her perspective, this was the fastest and surest way.
It’s hard to blame her for that.
“I managed to take care of things on my end, at least. Ariel is my dear friend, and you’re the one who saved her. I owed you that much.”
“Your grace is overwhelming…”
“But I feel like this whole thing has deepened the connection between us a bit.”
“…It has not.”
“Oh, don’t be so stiff. Did I say something false? It’s not easy for me to just ignore you, you know.”
“Turning your back on me might actually be the best way to help, Your Highness.”
“That’s not an option. I too have my honor and authority to uphold. How could I call myself a ruler if I can’t even repay a debt to my benefactor?”
“Just taking care of the aftermath is more than enough.”
“Well, not for me.”
“Wait… what?”
Did I do something wrong?
Why is she being so clingy? What is she trying to pull?
“I’ll be visiting soon with a nice gift. You can look forward to it.”
“…….”
“Aren’t you going to say you’re honored?”
“I’m not.”
“Well, that’s a shame.”
With that, Lobelia smiled sweetly and walked out of the hospital room.
***
I had a dream.
Blue flames were burning.
A boy stumbled backward as the blue fire blazed before his eyes.
He was so young that he didn’t even understand what it meant.
The concept of death, suddenly intruding into a peaceful life, was far too distant for the boy to comprehend.
What could the person engulfed in those flames have been thinking?
What kind of expression did she wear?
Stars shimmered within the blazing fire. He could see countless stars filling the sky, sketching out the Milky Way in midair.
I was captivated by that starlight.
I slowly reached out toward the beautiful Milky Way that didn’t fade even under the bright blue sky or the sun’s blazing light.
I tried to grasp those stars.
And I…
Even now, I’m still gathering those stars from the Milky Way, one by one.
***
Was it because I recently resolved a major issue?
For the first time in a while, I dreamt about the past.
“Haaah…”
My head was pounding.
Even though I slept well, I felt a crushing fatigue weighing down my whole body.
Honestly, I just wanted to lie back down and rest some more, but…
“Time to vacate the room.”
“Doctor, I think that’s an inappropriate way to treat a patient.”
“I don’t give beds to minor injury cases for more than three days.”
“Seriously…?”
How was I a minor injury case, really.
Anywhere else, they’d call this a serious injury and keep me bedridden for a month.
“The bones are set, and the bruising’s gone down, hasn’t it? Youth is a wonderful thing, isn’t it? Now just take your medication and tough it out.”
“Don’t you usually discharge people when they’re fully recovered?”
“Mmm, not us. Out you go.”
“Son of a…”
I’m only putting up with this because it’s free.
And that’s how I got kicked out of the hospital.
I seriously hate this cradle system.
“Ugh.”
My whole body ached.
But what made me angry was the fact that, even though I did feel some fatigue, I didn’t actually feel any pain.
The Cradle only employed the best medical staff and equipment.
I was genuinely exhausted, yet my body kept sending signals that everything was fine, so there was no one I could even complain to about this unfairness.
“Haah… Should I head to the workshop and grab the stuff I left there?”
Originally, my goal had been to hand over the medicine and try to persuade them…..not to get beaten up by someone’s power and risk my life.
Because of that, I ended up leaving most of my belongings at the workshop.
“Congratulations on getting discharged, Johan!”
“Yeah, it’s been a while for you too.”
I was walking down the road when a familiar head of pink hair approached me.
It was Yuna.
She handed me a block of tofu with a smug grin.
I mean, what was this? I wasn’t getting released from prison….why was she giving me tofu…?
Still, I took it.
“Oh, right. Yuna. You’re the one who took care of the dorm manager, aren’t you?”
“Mhmm! I mean, you finally showed up all serious for once. It would’ve been such a shame if you’d gotten stopped at the entrance!”
“Then that’s fine.”
I’d been worried there might’ve been some outside interference, but apparently not.
Thankfully, the Cradle was peaceful.
How long had it been since things were this calm?
Now that the deal with Ariel was finished, I really could just focus on breathing and doing nothing for a while.
It was around the time Yuna and I arrived at the workshop.
It should’ve been the middle of class, but I could sense someone moving around inside.
“What…?”
Maybe Professor Georg had come to pick up something for class?
Thinking nothing of it, I opened the door.
“…Oh… Johan, is that you?”
“……”
There sat Professor Georg, looking practically like a corpse.
He was in my seat, mixing various solutions and continuing his experiments.
No way… seriously?
“Uh, I’m back, Professor Georg. Everything went well.”
“Just a bit of time… Whoa, you’re early. Has it been about two hours? Whew.”
“Yes… it seems so. Luckily, the persuasion went well, so I was able to come back early.”
I couldn’t believe he was still sitting in the same spot three days after I’d left him with the research…
Had he seriously been here the whole time, doing nothing but research for three straight days?
So this is what it takes to be a teacher in the Cradle…
“Hey, you see this? Look how much I’ve done! This is me we’re talking about. I pulled this off in just two hours…”
“……”
“That’s weird? According to my calculations, the reaction should’ve taken around six hours to finish. What the…?”
“You must be exhausted. I’ll take over the research, so why don’t you get some rest?”
“Oh, really? Whew, good to know you’re alive, at least. You take it easy too. The emergency’s over, right?”
Yeah, I should probably give up on alchemy as a career path. I don’t want to end up a wreck like that.
“I’m going to wrap up and head out for the day myself.”
And I really shouldn’t come near the workshop for a while.
There’s definitely something here that breaks people down.
This place is cursed.
“Whew, then I’ll rest a bit and head to the afternoon class.”
With that, Professor Georg slumped down onto the couch.
It wouldn’t have been surprising if he’d just passed out right there, but instead, he waved a hand vaguely in the air and asked,
“Oh, right. Johan. Have you decided on a name for the medicine yet? Even if it’s just a prototype, it’s still a treatment, so you’ll need to write up a report eventually. You spent quite a bit of the budget, too.”
“Ah.”
Right, I had completely forgotten.
It’s not like I wanted to make a name for myself, so I hadn’t really paid much attention to it.
I took a moment to think about a name for the medicine.
“Well, there must’ve been some kind of reason or trigger behind it. Just name it after that.”
This medicine was one of my long-cherished wishes.
Its meaning was all the greater because I had come back and achieved something I once gave up on.
And then, suddenly—
“While chasing the rabbit…”
Ariel came to mind, clutching her hat.
A person who lived in a world different from mine.
As she drifted farther away, I instinctively reached out my hand.
I tried on a hat that didn’t suit me at all and ran after her.
And before I knew it, I had come this far.
I went through things that were completely unlike me and risked my life more than once.
It was all because of Ariel.
Yes, I had been chasing the white rabbit.
“Let’s call it ‘Wonderland’.”
I had ended up adrift in a strange land, far from my ordinary world.
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