He stared at the ceiling. Several hours had passed already, but sleep still wouldn’t come to him.

It was as if it eluded him on purpose, to make him imagine his head blowing up over and over again in a wicked loop.

His roommate’s snoring made things worse. The kid was fast asleep and unaware of the gnawing feeling eating up Hain’s mind.

That day, after dinner, they were supposed to attend another class. But Elise did not show up.

He tried to speak to Jhaan and ask him whether he had seen Elise, but the elf pretended he was a ghost and ignored him.

Something was off. He could feel it in the marrow of his bones.

Whenever he shut his eyes he thought of all sorts of dire and morbid thoughts that could’ve happened to the girl.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Frustrated beyond what words could capture, he sat straight up in his bed and let out a hacked-off grunt.

Just what was going on? First, some stranger gave him a necklace saying it was his, and now another appeared at a place he shouldn’t be.

What if the man in the boots did something to Elise? He must’ve seen that she was in there with him.

Wait! Could the stranger have tailed Elise, then? That would explain why no one had seen her the entire afternoon! He had to do something before it was too late!

He eyed his roommate before rising on his feet and putting on his trousers, shirt and cloak as quietly as he could. There was no time to waste!

He headed to the door, determined to find Elise and make sure she was all right when the doorknob came alive and grunted beneath his rushed touch.

“Whatcha doin’ kiddo?”

Biting his lips, Hain peeked at his snoring roommate before addressing the doorknob.

“I need to pee. Open the door.”

“The toilet’s inside the room, isn’t it?”

“Huh?” He looked in the corner where there indeed was a door with a poster of a toilet in women’s clothes making some suggestive poses. What the hell…?

In disbelief, he took another gander at his roommate and shook his head. Now what? He was stuck here!

“Go back to sleep, lad. Or you’d rather I snitch on the headmaster, ye?”

Sighing, he trudged back to his bed and dozed off not long after.