Free Web Novel"Um..."
Aileen's voice came from the side, cautious. frёewebηovel.cѳm
"Sister, don't tease her anymore... Little Pa's face is practically burning..."
"I'm not teasing her."
Eleanor's voice remained calm.
"I'm just stating facts."
"But—"
"Aileen."
Eleanor interrupted her, a meaningful smile playing on her lips.
"Do you think there's anything improper between Pavela and me?"
Aileen's face also flushed instantly.
"I, I didn't think that!"
"Then that's that."
Eleanor shrugged.
"Since you didn't think that, what is there to explain?"
This logic...
Pavela felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't pinpoint what it was for a moment.
She could only watch as Eleanor used this subtle tactic to push all the responsibility for explanation onto herself.
If she didn't say those shameful words, she couldn't ask Eleanor to explain.
But if she did say those words...
It would be even more shameful.
It was a dead end.
A perfect, unsolvable dead end.
Pavela desperately turned to her last possible savior.
"Cecilia!"
Her voice carried a last shred of hope.
"Say something for me!"
Cecilia stood in the corner of the ward, her long black hair draped over her shoulders, her pale purple skirt unmoving.
Her posture was elegant, her expression calm, making her look like a exquisite sculpture.
But Pavela noticed—
Her eyes were vacant.
Completely empty.
Those eyes, which usually held composure and wisdom, now seemed to have lost focus, gazing blankly into some non-existent distance.
"Cecilia?"
Pavela called out tentatively.
No response.
"Cecilia??!"
Still no response.
Pavela observed carefully and found that Cecilia's lips were slightly moving, as if she was muttering something to herself.
She pricked up her ears and barely made out a few words—
"...Little Pa... Eleanor... sisters... Northern nobles..."
Pavela's expression froze.
Though Cecilia's body was still here.
Her soul had clearly drifted off to some other dimension.
"Cecilia!!"
Pavela raised her voice.
"Wake up!!"
Cecilia's body trembled slightly, and then her eyes finally regained a hint of focus.
"Ah..."
She blinked and looked at Pavela.
"Pavela... are you calling me?"
"Yes! I'm calling you!"
"Help me explain! Tell them it's a misunderstanding!"
"Misunderstanding?"
Cecilia tilted her head, her expression somewhat bewildered.
"What misunderstanding?"
"It's... it's..."
Pavela's voice grew softer and softer.
"It's what just happened..."
"What just happened?"
Cecilia's expression became even more bewildered.
"What happened just now?"
Pavela was stunned.
"You... didn't you see it all?"
"See what?"
Cecilia blinked sincerely, her expression earnest.
"I didn't see anything."
"I just remember we came to visit, and then Aileen stood at the door and didn't go in, and then Victoria said she wanted to see what was happening inside, and then..."
She paused, her brows slightly furrowed.
"And then I was standing here."
"What about the part in between?"
"What part in between?"
Cecilia looked innocent.
"Was there a part in between?"
Pavela completely gave up.
She buried her head back into the pillow.
"I don't want to live anymore..."
Her voice was muffled, coming from the pillow.
"Let me die here..."
"Pavela, don't be like that..."
Victoria's voice held a hint of distress.
"Actually, it's really not a big deal... I won't tell anyone..."
"You're already imagining things!!"
Pavela's voice came from the pillow, with a hint of despair.
"You already have a complete story in your head, don't you!!"
"N-no..."
Victoria's voice was a little guilty.
"I just... just imagined a little..."
"See!! You admitted it!!"
"I didn't admit anything!"
"You just said 'imagined a little'!!"
"That was just... just..."
Victoria's voice grew softer and softer.
"Just normal curiosity..."
Pavela let out a wail.
She just wanted to find a hole to crawl into now.
Or for time to rewind to ten minutes ago, to try and stop Eleanor.
Or even—
Just let that explosion blow her up completely, so she wouldn't have to face this situation worse than death.
"Alright, alright."
Eleanor's voice finally sounded again, with a hint of helplessness.
"Stop messing around."
She walked to the bedside and gently patted the cocoon under the blanket.
"Stick your head out, you'll suffocate in there."
Pavela didn't move.
"Pavela."
Eleanor's voice became a little more serious.
"I'll count to three. If you don't come out, I'll pull off the blanket."
"..."
"One."
"..."
"Two."
"..."
"Three—"
Pavela's head poked out from under the blanket.
Her silver short hair was a mess, her cheeks were as red as ripe apples, and her eyes even had a hint of moisture.
She looked utterly wronged.
Like a small animal that had been bullied.
"You're all bad people..."
Her voice was muffled.
"Not one of you would help me..."
Eleanor looked at her like this, and the corner of her mouth twitched slightly.
She sighed and reached out to gently ruffle Pavela's messy hair.
The movement was light and slow, as if comforting a startled cat.
Pavela stiffened slightly.
The warmth of that hand transmitted through her messy hair to her scalp, bringing with it an indescribable sense of calm.
Her shoulders unconsciously relaxed.
That urge to crawl into a hole, too, seemed to be pressed back down by that hand, little by little.
"There, there."
Eleanor's voice was very soft, with a hint of tenderness she rarely showed.
"No one is ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) laughing at you."
"They're just worried about you."
"Me too."
The last three words were said very casually.
But Pavela's ears still turned a little red.
She didn't reply, just buried her face a little lower, her chin resting on the blanket, revealing a pair of still watery eyes, like a small animal that had finally stopped struggling but was still vigilant.
Eleanor's hand moved away from her head.
Pavela subconsciously wanted to follow it—but she controlled herself in time.
She pretended nothing happened and shifted her gaze to the window.
The ward was quiet for a few seconds.
Then Eleanor stood up.
She didn't look at Pavela, but turned to the other three people in the room.
Her expression changed in that instant.
Not a big change.
It was just that the mischievous smile on her lips disappeared, and her eyes gained something Pavela couldn't quite describe.
A kind of... heavy feeling.
"Aileen."
Eleanor's voice returned to its usual composure, but her tone was half a degree lower than before.
"I have something I want to say to Little Pa alone."
"You take Victoria and Cecilia out to sit for a while. There's a small garden on the first floor of the Medical Building; it should be quiet at this time."
The words were spoken calmly and politely.
But Pavela understood.
This wasn't a suggestion.
Aileen clearly understood too.
Her amber eyes blinked, scanning back and forth between Eleanor and Pavela.
She opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to ask something, but ultimately swallowed the question.
When her sister spoke in that tone, it usually meant things were much more serious than they appeared on the surface.
"...Okay."
She nodded obediently, then turned to Victoria and Cecilia.
"Let's go, let's go sit outside for a bit."
"But we just got here—"
Victoria was about to say something when Aileen grabbed her arm.
"Come on, come on, we'll be back soon."
Aileen's voice feigned lightness, but her grip was anything but light.
Victoria opened her mouth, then looked at Eleanor's expression again.
There was no extra information on that face, but it was precisely this "nothingness" itself that made Victoria swallow the words on the tip of her tongue.
"...Alright."
She stood up, walked to the bedside, and gently squeezed Pavela's left hand, which was exposed from under the blanket.
"Little Pa, we'll come back to see you later."
Pavela lifted her head from the blanket and forced a smile at her.
"Mm."
Cecilia walked over and paused by the bed.
She didn't say any comforting words, just quietly looked at Pavela, then nodded slightly.
That look contained something Pavela couldn't quite understand—it was like understanding, and also a kind of silent instruction.
The three people filed out.
Aileen was the last to leave. She looked back from the doorway, her amber eyes holding a hint of worry, her gaze lingering on Eleanor's back for a moment.
But she said nothing, just gently closed the door.
Click.
The sound of the lock clicking shut was especially clear in the quiet ward.
Like a dividing line.
It neatly separated the lively, absurd, and mortifying farce that had just taken place from whatever was about to happen next.
