But standing there was a boy — younger than her, with eyes too calm for someone his age.

  With a polite smile, he said, “Hello.”

  Aki kept staring at him, unblinking.

  “You must be Aki. I was expecting to meet you a while ago,” he said.

  Still, she didn’t react.

  “You will have to come with me. We’ll discuss everything on the way to the academy.”

  But Aki stayed frozen, lifeless.

  The boy gestured for someone else to come in.

  “…Aki, we meet again.”

  Aki’s eyes widened. “Doc… Doctor?”

  Dr. Nicolas smiled, as if he had expected that response.

  “We know what you did,” he said calmly, “so could you come with us? We need to discuss something, and it most likely won’t hurt to listen.”

  Aki slowly stood up, her eyes twitching. Memories that she thought were dreams began resurfacing—but she couldn’t tell if they were real. Maybe it was all hallucination. Maybe she was just imagining it. She couldn’t find anything to calm herself down.

  They were in the hallway now, but Aki was trapped in her own mind. No voice could reach her.

  This… this is a lie. You’re playing with me. Drugging me to think all of that was real. You did it before—Jiro—and now it’s Nicolas.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  She pressed her hands to her forehead, trying to ease the pain she felt.

  Why does it feel so silent?

  It wasn’t silent. The young boy was trying to start a conversation. Dr. Nicolas glared at her, warning her to stop being disrespectful.

  “You’ll have a great time,” the boy said. “You’ll even make new friends.”

  Aki gave no response, only a strange, blank look.

  Dr. Nicolas stepped back, and she was told to follow the boy.

  Aki couldn’t make sense of it. Why was she following a stranger to a car? Was it to gain freedom? Was it just because she recognized a familiar figure? Or did she simply want someone to talk to, even if she couldn’t respond?

  She tried to ask questions, but her voice refused to come out. Her body wouldn’t listen, as if some magic had shut her off.

  The boy gestured toward the car.

  Reluctantly, she didn’t move. She stared at him, then back the way she came.

  He didn’t get angry. He simply smiled again, introducing himself. “I am the Chancellor.”

  Chancellor? What Chancellor? His… chancellor? She stopped thinking.

  Her shoulders shook slightly as she was about to ask again.

  Dr. Nicolas returned. “You still haven’t sat in the car,” he cut her off.

  “Where are you taking me?” she asked.

  No one answered. Then a voice asked, “Do you want to know about your parents and where they are?”

  “Are you taking me to them?” she asked.

  “If you want to know, you should follow us,” he said.

  Scared by his dominating voice, she stepped back slightly.

  “Tell me! Where are you taking me?” she yelled.

  No answer. Panic overtook her. She ran to the road, screaming for help.

  Locals stopped her. “What happened?”

  “Two strange people are taking me somewhere, forcefully! Please help me!”

  Dr. Nicolas followed, huffing. “You sure run fast, don’t you?”

  Between them, a man confronted him. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  Dr. Nicolas explained that he didn’t know her and that the man should mind his own business.

  The man looked at Aki. “I cannot let you be taken by force.”

  Dr. Nicolas lost patience. “She is a psych patient, and she needs to be under our care 24/7. We’re transporting her to another hospital.”

  The man stepped aside slowly, intrigued.

  Aki screamed, “No! He’s lying! This isn’t true!” Betrayal and confusion flooded her. How could they believe anything he said?

  They all knew about the nearby psych ward and how patients tried to escape.

  Everyone stepped aside, apologizing for the inconvenience. Dr. Nicolas gestured, dismissing it. “No need to be.”

  He brought her back. Aki still resisted. When she refused to get in the car, he took an injection filled with a liquid and administered it. She resisted, but slowly she calmed, her mind numbing under its influence.

  After seating her, Nicolas drove.

  The drug didn’t knock her out completely—it just numbed her mind.

  Aki looked around from inside the car, her eyes twitching as if refusing to be there. The scenery shifted from big buildings to forest, transforming little by little into the forest she had seen at first glance.

  She couldn’t control her body. Liquid flowed from her, but she didn’t flinch. Mouth open, she remained still.

  Chancellor: “She is vomiting. Poor girl.”

  Dr. Nicolas glanced but said nothing.

  Time moved both slow and fast. Minutes later, they arrived at an island, thick with trees, shadows stretching across the ground.