Seeing no one guarding the gate for nearly two hours, Aki’s patience finally wore thin.

  Maybe luck really was on her side this time.

  Maybe that was why he’d helped her too.

  After so many wrong turns, maybe this was the one moment the world decided to let her go.

  Her heart pounded as she stepped closer.

  Slow. Careful.

  She crossed the gate.

  No one stopped her.

  There were even a few cabs parked just outside, engines idling like this was a normal place—like people left and returned every day.

  She ran to the nearest one, as if that familiar smell was asking her to follow.

  “Can you take me to X.X.X Hospital?” She asked while breathing heavily.

  “Sure,” the driver replied easily.

  Too easily.

  The ride barely took twenty minutes.

  When she stepped out, staring up at the hospital entrance, a strange unease crept in.

  Didn’t it take hours before?

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  When they brought me to the academy?

  The thought slipped, blurred at the edges. Her head felt heavier.

  Focus.

  Important things first.

  She walked inside.

  “Excuse me,” she said at the counter. “I’m here for a patient who was admitted.”

  The receptionist nodded. “Are you a relative?”

  “Yes.”

  “Name of the patient?”

  “Aki.”

  The receptionist’s fingers paused over the keyboard. His eyes narrowed slightly as he scanned the screen.

  “Aki…” He searched again, slower this time. “There’s no patient by that name.”

  “What?” Her voice tightened. “Please check again. She was in a car accident. With her family.”

  He frowned. “There’s only been one accident like that in the past two months. A woman. Alone.”

  “No. That’s wrong.”

  “Ma’am, you might want to check out another hospital.”

  The fog pressed harder now.

  “But I was admitted here,” Aki snapped. “For fuck’s sake.”

  The receptionist stiffened. His hand moved toward the phone.

  “Security—”

  “Don’t worry,” a calm voice said behind her. “She’s with me.”

  Aki froze.

  She turned slowly.

  The man stood there like he’d always been there—eyes covered with cloth, expression unreadable, age frozen in place.

  Hyde.

  Her stomach dropped.

  “W-why are you here?” she whispered.

  He tilted his head. “Taking care of my students. Of course.”

  Panic surged.

  “Stay away from me!” she yelled.

  “Please lower your voice,” the receptionist warned.

  Aki backed away—then turned and ran.

  “You know you’re not faster than me,” Hyde said calmly.

  She kept running anyway.

  In the next instant, he was in front of her.

  “Are you here to find your parents?” he asked.

  She stopped.

  “You should have come to me,” he continued. “I would’ve told you.”

  She shook her head, muttering something about the Chancellor.

  “That kind of work falls to me,” Hyde said mildly.

  “What?”

  “You wanted to see your mother, didn’t you?”

  “My parents,” she corrected.

  “Right,” he said. “Your mother.”

  Something in her chest tightened.

  “I know where she is.”

  Her breath caught.

  “I’ll tell you everything,” Hyde said, glancing upward as if looking at something. “If you come with me.”

  She didn’t answer.

  He sighed. “You can come willingly. Or not. Either way, this ends the same.”

  Her legs felt hollow.

  Her body answered before her mind could.

  So helpless that her answer slipped out before she could stop it—

  “…Okay.”

  She was back in a cab.

  The same driver.

  That same, familiar smell filled the air.

  Her exhaustion melted into something heavy and warm, pulling her under.

  And then her mind caught up.

  She broke.

  “I could’ve run,” she sobbed. “I had a chance. I could’ve screamed. I could’ve disappeared.”

  Her voice cracked, spiraling.

  “Why didn’t I? Why do I always listen? Why do I always stop?”

  No one answered.

  Two figures sat beside her, listening without reacting, as the city blurred past the window.