Exhaustion

Hope hadn't slept this well in a long time.

He opened his eyes, everything was blurry. It seemed to be a dimly lit room, and the shadow in front of him seemed to be a person. He seemed to be lying on a bed, which was soft but a little narrow.

As an albinist, he has always faced some vision problems, but even so, his vision has never been as bad as it is now.

He struggled to lift his head, trying to see the figure in front of him, but his forehead was quickly pressed down by the other person.

He still couldn't see anything clearly, but he could smell a faint scent of Rose mixed with soap.

The scent reassured him.

The person holding Hope down looked down at him, his brown hair falling down and swaying beside Hope's face, occasionally brushing against Hope's ear, making it tickle.

"Don't move," Elizabeth said, sitting down next to Hope. "The professor said you're in dangerous condition."

"Professor..." Hope hesitated for a second before remembering who the "professor" was. "Professor Armitage... Skull No. 1..."

"The professor has already taken Skull No. 1," Elizabeth said. "You suddenly fainted and had a nosebleed. I didn't know what to do, but thankfully the professor arrived in time."

"I'm fainting... Why am I fainting?"

"I don't know." Elizabeth shook her head. "Professor Armitage knew, but he didn't tell me, and I didn't ask."

"He was terrified when he saw you. I've never seen him so terrified. The professor wouldn't let me touch you and brought you a lot of medicine to drink, but even so, he still said your situation was dangerous. He stayed by your side for half an hour, and then suddenly said that everything was fine, so we carried you here."

Many medicines... perhaps very expensive ones.

Hope felt a headache coming on; he didn't have a single penny... Ah, only the few tens of cents of royalties that August hadn't yet paid.

The situation was worse than he had imagined.

He had a vague feeling that the problem lay in the "exchange." Skull No. 1 had clearly not told him everything about the "exchange"—or perhaps it considered it common knowledge that didn't need to be explained.

"Where is this?" Hope asked.

"The professor's office."

office...

Hope then realized that she wasn't lying in a bed, but on Professor Armitage's sofa.

Elizabeth and Professor Armitage pushed three sofas together so he could lie down on them.

The office was dimly lit because the curtains were drawn.

It was afternoon, and the setting sun cast warm yellow rays through the curtains. The temperature was neither too high nor too low, and it felt somewhat cool.

Smelling the Rose, Hope felt content to take another nap.

He forced himself to stay awake and began to search his own body.

"What's wrong?" Elizabeth asked.

How long have I been unconscious?

Elizabeth put down what she was carrying, Hope noticed it was a thick book, almost halfway through.

He remembered that Elizabeth's Pocket Watch was on him, so he could only get up and look at the clock in the office.

"5:15," Elizabeth said. "You've been unconscious for about five hours."

Five hours...

It wasn't dinnertime yet, Hope felt slightly relieved, but he hadn't found what he was looking for within himself.

All he could do was ask Elizabeth, "My key... have you seen my key?"

"Ah, here it is," Elizabeth said, bringing the small brass key to Hope from a distance where Hope couldn't see her.

Hope took it and reconnected with the Heart-shaped Padlock.

He was slightly relieved that no one approached or entered his room, but the five-hour period of being out of contact still made him somewhat panicked.

He struggled to get up from the sofa.

"Don't move!" Elizabeth, somewhat annoyed, forcefully holding him down. "You're not feeling well right now."

Hope guessed she was right, and he felt his muscles go limp.

"I just..." Hope said somewhat awkwardly, "I need to go to the bathroom... You see, I've been lying here for five hours."

Elizabeth kept her hand on Hope's shoulder, and after a second of silence, she withdrew it.

"I'll help you go," she said.

"No, not like this..."

"Raise your hands!" Elizabeth commanded.

Hope felt mild pain all over his body, and he stood up with Elizabeth's help.

Elizabeth didn't actually help Hope to the restroom; instead, she helped Hope out of Professor Armitage's office and called out to a passing librarian outside.

It was Bean, the guy who stopped Hope and Elizabeth at noon.

Elizabeth tells Bean that Hope was poisoned by some kind of Medicine and nearly died.

Bean was terrified. He had been keeping a straight face when he saw the two of them, but after hearing Elizabeth's words, he carefully supported Hope's shoulders and kept urging Hope to walk slower.

Thus, with Bean's help, Hope walked the short distance between the office and the restroom in five minutes.

He finally had to tell Bean that he couldn't stand for long before Bean quickened his pace.

The public restrooms in the Phillips Library consisted of many individual stalls. Hope closed the stall door, keeping Bean out.

He closed his eyes, and "Uncertainty" was activated.

Hope returned to the Whateley House's storage room.

He sat on his bed for a while, but there were no unusual sounds coming from outside.

He opened the curtains again and looked out the window. The Whateley House estate was still as quiet as if it had been abandoned, and Wilbur and Lavinia were doing nothing.

Hope once again activated "Uncertainty," going to the roof of his original room and lying on it to listen to what was happening inside.

The sound, like waves crashing against the beach, kept coming.

The Transparent Monster is still inside.

Hope finally felt relieved and returned to the Phillips Library restroom. He loosened his belt, urinated, then flushed and opened the stall door.

Bean was strolling outside when he saw Hope come out. He jogged over and took Hope's elbow.

Hope raised both hands and held them until she passed the sink and rinsed them with water before lowering them.

"Thank you," Hope said.

"Don't say that," Bean replied. "Do you need to rest?"

Hope doesn't need a rest.

Elizabeth seemed to have been waiting at the door the whole time. She took Hope from Bean and thanked Bean in return.

"Professor Armitage is back," Elizabeth said. "He said you shouldn't have woken up so early; he expected you to sleep until the next morning."

Besides Hope and Elizabeth, there was another person in the office.

A figure walked over and took Hope's other hand.

Hope realized that she could no longer even see the people standing next to her clearly.

With the help of Professor Armitage and Elizabeth, he returned to the sofa, where they both helped him lie down.

"Thank you, Professor Armitage," Hope said.

Professor Amity shook his head.

"I wasn't able to help much," he said.