V3: Chapter 34: The Time is Approaching
Click
The box lid opened.
Everyone around held their breath, bracing themselves for battle, striving to remain conscious and clear-headed, not wanting to fall into the illusion again.
However, everything was quiet; nothing happened.
The mages in front cautiously peeked into the box.
The result.
The box was empty, just a blank expanse of darkness. The tentacles, the illusion, everything—the disgusting and terrifying scene—seemed like illusions, as if they had never existed in this world.
Octaville picked up the small box, turned it over, and tilted it. Nothing was there, only some dust falling out. It seemed there truly was nothing.
"Sigh."
She sighed and placed the box back on the table.
Now look what happened! They'd gone to so much trouble to bring back that little box, only to find it completely empty, without even a tiny clue, and several magicians had been injured – a truly disastrous outcome.
However, when Laura opened the box, Octaville carefully observed her expression. She noticed a moment of stunned silence in Laura's eyes, followed by a change in her demeanor.
Thinking this, she looked at Laura, who was lying unconscious on the bed. Octaville went over to the bedside and gently nudged Laura's arm.
"Laura."
"Laura."
She called her name twice.
But Laura's eyes were tightly closed, her cheeks were flushed, and her breathing was uneven, making her appear to have a fever.
Octaville reached out and touched her forehead.
It was burning hot; she really did have a fever.
"Was she frightened, or...?"
Had she remembered something, or perhaps discovered a crucial clue?
Octaville called Laura's name twice more, but still received no response.
So she said to Prescott, "Professor Prescott, could you get her some fever reducer? She seems to have a fever. Hmm... maybe the fever isn't actually from a sickness, but..."
Prescott understood.
"Okay, I'll get her everything, not just fever reducer. Hmm, I'll get a potion that cures all effects."
"Alright."
Octaville nodded.
Now they just had to wait for Laura to wake up and ask her what she saw. If there were any important clues, that would be good; if not, there was nothing they could do.
About three minutes later, Prescott returned with the potion.
Octaville had Laura helped up and fed her the medicine.
"How long will it take for this to take effect?"
"Quickly, she'll be fully recovered in about five minutes."
So, everyone gathered around Laura, patiently waiting for the five minutes to pass.
Time ticked by.
Three minutes.
Laura showed no reaction, probably because the time hadn't been up yet.
Five minutes.
Laura still showed no reaction, her eyes closed, unconscious.
Eight minutes.
Laura remained in the same state, without any change.
Ten minutes.
Same as above.
Finally, Octaville was completely certain.
“It seems ordinary potions are useless. Her reaction just now was strange; it didn't seem like she was trapped in a hallucination, but rather that she awakened some kind of memory, or perhaps thought of something bad.”
Among these people, Gladys and Laura were the closest and most intimate. Now, seeing Laura lying on the bed with her eyes closed, Gladys became worried and squeezed through the crowd to the bedside.
She swallowed hard and asked, “Lord Tower Master, how is Laura? Is she badly injured? When will she wake up?”
Octaville shook her head.
“I’m not quite sure when she’ll wake up, but from her appearance, she doesn’t seem to be injured at all. As for what’s wrong with her, I can’t observe it.”
Everyone around waited in the room.
Time flew by, and about an hour passed, but Laura still showed no signs of waking up.
Laura’s coma lasted for a whole day, and she didn’t wake up even by nightfall.
Helpless, Octaville let Gladys return to the Langwendi mansion alone.
Gladys was unhappy and worried about Laura, so she wore a long face. However, when she saw Liang Lin and Liang Di, her face lit up with a smile. Octaville and Hilary had told her not to let Liang Lin and Liang Di worry about anything else.
Gladys was a grown-up now, not as naive and impulsive as she had been as a child.
"Why didn't Laura come back with you?"
Although Liang Lin was carefree, Liang Di was observant. She looked behind Gladys but didn't see Laura.
Gladys forced a fairly natural smile and made up a lie.
"Oh, the Tower Master said she had something to tell her, so she let her stay in the Magic Tower. Hmm, she probably won't be back tonight."
"I see."
Liang Di felt something was off, but didn't think much of it. She figured Gladys, who couldn't keep secrets, would tell them if something happened to Laura.
About five or six days passed, and Laura still hadn't woken up.
During this time, Liang Di asked Gladys a few more questions, and Gladys kept saying that Octaville had sent Laura to do something, to train her, or something like that.
However, half a month passed, and Liang Di's due date was approaching, but Laura hadn't returned to the Langwendi mansion even once, not even a trace of her.
Liang Lin and Liang Di finally realized something was wrong.
"Gladys, something happened to Laura, didn't it?"
Liang Di's main tactic is surprise.
Gladys, who was distracted, was startled by the words, shuddering and widening her eyes as she looked at Liang Di, offering an extremely unnatural smile. She raised her hand and touched the back of her head, a gesture she only made when she felt guilty.
"How could that be? The Tower Master is with her most of the time; Tower Master wouldn't let her get hurt."
"Oh?"
Liang Di keenly noticed the key phrase.
"So, Laura is injured now and recuperating in the Magic Tower?"
"Uh!"
Gladys was still too naive. Although she was more mature than before, she still panicked when the words were blurted out.
"No, no… Miss Liang Di…"
Her voice grew softer and softer until finally, Gladys pursed her lips and lowered her head.
"Yes, she… is injured."
Comments (0)
Please login or sign up to post a comment.