Chapter 19: The Escaped Rabbit
“WHAT are you planning with all this?”
“Nothing. There’s no ulterior motive behind what I’ve been saying.”
After Mia fled the law classroom, Henrik stopped by Felix’s desk, shooting him a cold glance. But Felix’s answer was clearly fake. Despite the smile on his face, his eyes showed a disturbance he couldn’t mask.
Henrik felt he needed to get to the heart of whatever Felix was up to.
“Oh, really? Well, fine. This is what I’ve been wanting. I’m not going to hold back, you know?”
But Felix didn’t take the bait.
“Go ahead. Knock yourself out.”
Felix smiled, his face no longer showing any hint of turmoil. Henrik hadn’t realized Felix was capable of masking his feelings so effectively. Usually, Felix’s emotions were bubbling right on the surface, ready to overflow any time. This cool detachment didn’t suit him.
Henrik felt a cold chill go down his spine as he realized he wasn’t going to get anything more out of Felix. It was the first time he’d ever had to consider the possibility that Felix might have him beat.
“Henrik? What’s up?”
Mia’s voice broke Henrik out of his thoughts.
“I wanted to ask you about how to write the application file. Do we all need to sign it?”
There was a smile plastered on Mia’s face. A hollow smile that seemed about to crumble at any moment.
Staring at Mia’s smile, Henrik realized that he probably wasn’t going to be able to fill the hole Felix’s absence had left. His predictions were proving themselves to be alarmingly true.
The answer to the legalese question Mia just asked me…the answer to finding a real cure, not just a palliative one…those answers may lie with none other than him…
Henrik had never compared himself to anyone else before.
He’d never thought of himself as powerless.
The first taste of failure was hard to swallow. Henrik sighed, causing both Mia and Mathias to look at him.
He dropped his gaze down to the documents on the table, trying to distract himself.
Oh, yeah. We need to get hold of animal test subjects, too…
But first, they needed to get past Bralle, Professor Fair and Square himself. The evaluation wouldn’t go smoothly, that was for sure. There was a big risk Bralle would reject their proposal based on something totally unrelated.
We could leave campus and hunt down wild animals to use…although I hate the thought of doing that. Besides, it’s not like there’s a ton of suitable animals just roaming around…
As Henrik rubbed his chin thoughtfully, his gaze fell on the red-eyed rabbit, which was looking right at him.
“Well, here’s a perfect specimen right here.”
Henrik was just thinking aloud. But right after he spoke those words, the rabbit seemed to stiffen. Then it turned and jumped out of the window, leaping down to the gardens below.
✦ ✦ ✦
“GET Prince Emil at all costs.”
That was the order Angelica’s father had given her when she entered the Academy.
Angelica had nodded earnestly in response. How could she say no, when this was vital to her father’s work?
An aristocrat’s daughter didn’t have a lot of choices in life. All she could do was hope that the path laid out for her would lead to her happiness.
But Angelica had dreams, like any young girl. If only the man she was to marry could be someone she liked! In first year, she’d let her sights become clouded. She had begun to wish to herself, “Please, let it be him!”
It was something like love at first sight. That’s how beautiful he seemed to her.
But after the Sanatorium Invasion Incident last year, Angelica had given up on Felix. A dimwit like that couldn’t possibly be a secret prince. No prince would have ended up having to repeat a school year, anyhow.
So, she had no further use for him. That was the conclusion Angelica had forced herself to come to at the end of last year.
Now she had a new target, Zeke. He’d been dodging her flirtations, but that only added credence to the rumors.
So she was only using Felix—who, oddly, had started flirting with her again recently—to further her own agenda.
Ooh, she’d sure ruffled her feathers! That witch Mia Baumann. Strutting around the place, thinking that all the boys were just desperate to attend to her, even though she was as lowborn as they came!
Angelica didn’t know if Felix and Mia were just friends or boyfriend and girlfriend, but she was delighted to have caused a rift between them either way.
It was strange, though. She’d fully expected Felix to go running after Mia.
But he hadn’t. Instead, he’d announced he was done with Mia, and Angelica had missed her chance to tell Felix to take a hike. Now she was stuck with him.
Is he really done with Mia, though?
Or was this all part of some plan? Why had Felix chosen to get close to Angelica now? Was it because he was attracted by her father’s position as the Mage Army Cabinet Minister? For the third son of a baron, such a man’s daughter would be a prize indeed. Young men without titles of their own to inherit could only hope to gain status through a good marriage.
Men live for stuff like titles and social clout. Whoever married Angelica could get access to that through her father. Felix wasn’t the first guy who’d approached her thinking about what he could get out of her.
Still, it was weird, though. Felix just didn’t seem the type.
He hadn’t been at all nice to her before. It just didn’t make sense.
Felix had seemed totally devoted to Mia, like a faithful dog. How could he be finished with her so easily? No, there was something else going on here.
After all, it doesn’t seem like it’s so easy for him underneath it all…
Angelica had the feeling Felix was trying to hold back tears all the time, despite the brightness of his smile. If it was all an act, then what was the act for?
Does he want something from me? My father’s social status, perhaps? Or his money? But Felix comes from a rich family, why would he need our money?
She found herself wondering about Felix’s background once again. Even though she stopped suspecting him a long time ago, little seeds of doubt were once again beginning to germinate in her mind.
“Your Highness…”
She whispered it. Just to see what would happen. But Felix didn’t turn around. The term of address didn’t seem to register with him. As Angelica continued to stare at him, he finally turned to her.
“What?”
He wore the expression of someone who hadn’t heard what she’d said. The expression of someone who hadn’t realized they were being addressed.
His response was so natural. Almost too natural.
He’s lying.
He was lying to himself. Angelica, who was a master at self-deception, knew what that looked like better than anyone.
She shot a glance at Zeke, who gave her an awkward smile. Perhaps he had noticed the uncertainty taking hold in Angelica’s heart.
I need to find out the truth.
Making a false accusation could bring embarrassment upon her. So, she needed to make sure.
But how? How can I know for sure?
All of a sudden, there was a disturbance outside the window.
“Open up! Hurry!”
Angelica looked over in surprise to see Mia Baumann’s face. She was tapping on the window pane.
“Er…?”
A classmate opened the window for her, and Mia took hold of the frame, hauling herself up to lean through. Then she yelped.
“Have…Have you seen the rabbit?!”
Mia was looking straight at Felix, as if addressing him.
Angelica looked over at Felix as well, rolling her eyes over Mia’s pushy behavior.
Felix’s expression was unchanged. The same beautiful smile.
“I haven’t seen it.”
Mia looked pained for a moment, but then she smiled too.
“Oh, okay. Thank you.”
As Mia disappeared below the window once again, Felix suddenly clutched at his chest. Angelica frowned, wondering what was wrong with him. Felix seemed to have lost all composure, suddenly.
The sounds of his harsh gasping breaths seemed impossibly loud in the silent classroom. Angelica suddenly remembered that he’d repeated first year due to illness. In the past year, he’d seemed so healthy that she’d almost completely forgotten about that.
Oh no, what should I do?
Then she remembered…back on the day of the entrance ceremony. She’d helped Felix when he was in a similar state…
“That…that girl. Someone get her! Get Mia!”
Angelica leaped across the room, heading for the window. But someone grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. She turned in surprise to see that Felix was holding onto her for dear life.
“I’m…fine. Leave her…out of this. Get…my…uncle.”
Felix looked like he was on the brink of death. But he was so insistent.
Uncle?
Angelica was frozen, gazing in alarm at Felix’s face, handsome even in distress. She didn’t know what to do!
“Has anyone seen a rabbit…?”
A low voice boomed out, and a big form suddenly appeared, filling the classroom doorway.
“You!”
Red eyes, like fresh blood. It was the mage student, Felix’s friend. He took one look at Felix gasping for breath and bellowed in alarm, his voice shaking the furniture.
“Felix!!!”
“Math…ias?”
Mathias Weiss barged into the room. He picked Felix up and slung him over his muscular shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
“I’m taking him to the infirmary!” he yelled at Angelica, whisking Felix quickly out of the room and away.