Honestly, I didn't quite understand what exactly had happened, but it seemed Amalia had some kind of nightmare...
At least, she told me that she had seen something terrible in her dream, because of which she completely lost control of herself.
I didn't know how frightening the dream she had was, but in any case I decided to support her.
Amalia refused to let go of my hand, and so I sat by her bed all day, holding her hand. And the night passed in exactly the same way.
In the end, when I woke up the next morning, I felt discomfort because I had spent too much time in an uncomfortable position.
Well, never mind. The main thing was for Amalia to get better.
First of all I checked her temperature and, with relief, discovered that the fever had noticeably gone down. Her breathing had also become more even and calm. This meant that at the moment the girl was successfully recovering!
Perhaps she would spend one more day in bed and be completely healthy. That was a great relief.
Meanwhile, although I was worried about Amalia's condition, another thought also wouldn't let me go.
To be more precise, I couldn't get that scene I had accidentally witnessed yesterday out of my head. The sight of the laughing boys heading to the library was still before my eyes. And for this reason I couldn't shake off my worry about Erica.
Even if I had convinced myself that everything would be all right with her, I still had to make sure of it personally with my own eyes.
Thus, I decided to go and check how Erica was doing. Amalia was still sleeping deeply, so I didn't dare wake her. I carefully freed my palm from hers and after that quietly left the room.
I just wanted to quickly check on Erica and return.
I headed straight to the library.
Nevertheless, when I came to this place, I found an unexpected scene. Usually the library was always orderly and quiet, but this time I saw that there was a small mess here, and the first thing that caught my eye was the broken door of the storeroom.
Puzzled, I walked up to the only adult person who was here and asked him:
"Mister, excuse me... what happened here?"
The janitor turned to me. He was holding nails in his teeth and a hammer in his right hand. At the moment he was busy trying to nail the broken door handle back onto the door.
Seeing me, the man snorted, clearly displeased.
"Can't you see? The kids added extra work for me!"
I was puzzled.
"What do you mean?"
The janitor sighed heavily.
"I don't know what exactly happened here, but it seems there was a fight. Just look... they even knocked out the door! Are they not beasts?"
Hearing this, I was taken aback.
"Wait... you said a fight? But who exactly fought? When?"
"Hm..."
The janitor scratched the back of his head.
"I don't know, but when I was leaving after work yesterday, I saw only a few children here. Mebius with his buddies and your red-eyed friend... Erica, I think her name is."
That was enough that when I heard it, my heart in my chest froze.
I didn't even hear the janitor's further words as he continued to complain:
"They fought, and all the trouble falls to me! Now I'll have to repair the door! And where is the justice in that?!"
But right now I had no time for that at all.
Without even listening to the janitor's grumbling to the end, I immediately flew out of the library. My heart was pounding madly in my chest as the most terrible thoughts immediately came into my head.
Had Erica really fought with those children? Or rather, had they beaten her?!
Unable to believe that such a thing had really happened, I searched for Erica everywhere.
Of course, first of all I ran to her room in the dormitory and knocked there for half an hour. Nevertheless, without ever receiving an answer, I realized she wasn't there. After that I ran to look for Erica all over the orphanage, but all my attempts remained fruitless. She was nowhere. And the longer I couldn't find her, the more worried I became.
Had Erica been beaten, and was she now somewhere in a serious condition? They hadn't beaten her to death, had they?
In the end, considering that even the door had been knocked out, I realized that the scale of the fight had been truly serious.
I was almost going mad with worry.
But finally, after a search that took almost an hour and a half, I managed to find Erica.
I couldn't believe my eyes when I suddenly saw a familiar dark head sitting on the shore of the lake. It was the lake where we had come when we all swam together last time. I couldn't believe that I had really found Erica in this very place.
What was she doing here?
Nevertheless, the closer I got, the more convinced I became that it really was her.
And finally I exhaled with relief.
"...Erica!"
Hearing my voice, the girl sitting on the shore turned around. It was then that I finally became convinced that it really was Erica, and I ran up to her.
"Erica!"
I was very worried and therefore immediately rushed to check her condition. I checked her whole body for bruises and injuries, without ceasing to ask anxiously:
"Erica... how are you? Did you really fight yesterday?!"
But the girl, not even looking me in the eyes, pressed her lips together.
"How do you know?" she asked quietly.
"I went to the library today, and the janitor told me everything. He said you fought with Mebius and his friends!"
When I said this, Erica lowered her head.
I understood that it was hard for her right now, but I couldn't stop asking.
"Erica, were you seriously hurt? Does anything hurt? We need to go to the infirmary right now!"
But she unexpectedly shook her head.
"No..."
"What?"
Erica pressed her lips even tighter, still not looking me in the eyes.
"No need to go to the infirmary."
I was dumbfounded.
"What? But why?!"
Erica hesitated before saying:
"I wasn't hurt yesterday."
"...You weren't hurt?" I asked again.
"Yes. They only fought among themselves, but they didn't touch me. I took advantage of the moment when they were distracted and ran away..."
I opened and closed my mouth upon hearing this.
Of course, while examining Erica's body, I had already noticed that she had no serious physical injuries. And nevertheless, even despite that, she could have internal injuries. Since such injuries were more dangerous, I was seriously worried.
But now, when I learned that Erica really hadn't been hurt, I of course felt relief.
That was very good news.
But still...
"Where were you yesterday?" Erica, after hesitating, asked the main question. "Why didn't you come?"
I was taken aback when she raised her eyes and looked at me for the first time.
Honestly, I didn't even immediately find what to answer.
"I..." I swallowed. "I'm sorry. Yesterday Amalia got sick, so I stayed with her all day. I didn't even know that something like that happened to you. Forgive me..."
I felt guilty that I had left Erica alone at the moment when she needed help. She must have been very scared yesterday and completely alone when those children intimidated her. At the mere thought of it, my heart ached very much.
Nevertheless, when I said this to her, Erica was silent for some time and said nothing. She didn't even look at me. And then, unexpectedly, she quietly asked a question:
"If you had known about what happened yesterday, would you have come to help me?"
"I..."
I hesitated.
At that moment her red eyes were turned directly to me, and Erica looked at me very seriously. And I... didn't even know what to say.
If I had known that something like that would happen yesterday, would I have dropped everything and hurried to help her? Could I have left Amalia alone in her condition and come there instead? That was what she wanted to know.
Before answering, I was silent for several seconds, although it seemed obvious.
"...Of course. I would have come."
But judging by Erica's expression, she didn't really believe my answer.
She frowned slightly. At that moment there was a strange and complex expression on her face that I couldn't even read. And then the villainess asked another question.
"Hazel..."
"Yes?"
"Tell me... who is more important to you?"
"What?"
I blinked in bewilderment and looked at her.
"Who is more important to you, Amalia or me?"