Zane stepped into the hospital room behind her, his eyes settling on the old man lying in the bed.
"Headmaster, we've come to see you."
Nicole spoke softly, then took a seat in the chair beside the bed. The old man gave her a warm smile and a nod before turning his gaze to Zane.
"You look just as Nicole described. She's mentioned you often lately, so I've been wanting to meet you."
"I hope I'm not disturbing you."
The old man's tone was polite. Zane shook his head and replied quietly,
"Not at all, sir. You're Nicole's elder, which makes you my elder as well. I'm sorry I haven't come to visit before."
Looking at the old man—his hair mostly white, yet still smiling and full of vitality—Zane felt a small sense of relief.
It really was just a meeting.
"Haha... Nicole, his reaction is exactly as you said. You really do know him well."
The old man chuckled, and Nicole's lips curved into a faint smile. Zane raised an eyebrow, quickly catching the meaning behind the words.
With a small sigh, he took a seat beside her. The atmosphere in the room lightened noticeably.
Just then, a nurse opened the door and came in, checking the monitors and changing the medication.
Nicole moved aside, pulling her chair next to Zane. While the nurse worked, Zane leaned toward Nicole.
"How's his condition?"
He might look fine, but Zane wanted to be sure.
"Not great. I don't really understand these illnesses, and the research I did was confusing—but it's clearly serious."
"Still, the Headmaster and his attending doctor both say things are improving. He should gradually get better..."
After she spoke, Zane asked,
"Is there anything I can do?"
Nicole gave a small shake of her head, pressing her lips together before saying,
"Don't worry about it, Zane. We've done everything we can for him. Now... we just have to wait and see."
"Other than waiting, there's nothing we can do."
They exchanged a few more words, and by then the nurse had already finished her work with quick efficiency.
Once she left, the old man beckoned to Nicole. She went to his side, frowning slightly at what he whispered to her.
Still, she sighed, turned, and started toward the door.
"Zane, I'll leave him to you for a bit. The Headmaster suddenly wants candy, and I don't have any on me, so I'll go buy some."
Zane nodded, watching her leave. When the door closed, something occurred to him. He turned to see the old man watching him with a kindly smile.
Zane pulled up a chair beside the bed and asked quietly,
"Did you send Nicole away on purpose?"
The old man didn't bother denying it—he simply nodded.
"There are things better left unsaid when that child's here."
"But the candy part was true, so I wasn't exactly lying to her."
He chuckled, then went on,
"Nicole's spoken of you every time she's visited lately. I know you've helped her a great deal. I was going to thank you on her behalf... but I've decided I don't need to."
"The 'debt' between you should be settled between the two of you. It's not my place to interfere."
Zane caught the deeper meaning in those words. Unsure how to respond, he instead asked with mild curiosity,
"So you're fond of candy, sir?"
"Haha, I can't help it—I was influenced."
The old man gave a rueful smile.
"When Nicole was little, most of the children in the orphanage loved candy. But back then, life was hard enough that even getting enough to eat was a challenge, let alone sweets."
"Later on, Nicole somehow learned how to make candy. She was just a child herself, but she started making it by hand, then gathered others to sell it with her."
It wasn't that he'd taught her business skills and she'd learned from him—Nicole had shown a knack for it first, and only then had he guided her.
"They often brought me candy. It might've been oddly shaped, but it was a gift from the children, and I came to enjoy sweet things."
"For a while, the orphanage was filled with laughter."
Hearing this, Zane recalled something Nicole had once said:
"These cheap candies cost almost nothing—a month's worth of small commissions at Hare's House could buy loads of them. And just one piece can make a child happy for a long time."
Indeed, for children with so little, a piece of candy was rare joy.
"For a while?" Zane asked. "Did something happen?"
"Their little venture wasn't exactly proper business," the old man replied. "Before long, the sheriff came knocking, and their candy stall had to close."
"But Nicole didn't stop there—she found other ways to earn money, leading a band of kids along the way. I told them to cut it out more than once. They toned it down, but never truly stopped."
He shook his head with a smile.
"I can't deny it, though—they helped me a lot. The orphanage was far livelier thanks to that girl."
With just the two of them in the room, the old man spoke to Zane not as to a stranger, but as if he were another of Nicole's children.
Zane understood—it was Nicole who shaped the man's attitude toward him. She must have spoken well of him many times.
"Sir, how did Nicole end up at the orphanage?"
The thought came to Zane suddenly. Everyone in Hare's House was alone—Billy was a robot from the outer ring, Anby had a military background, Nekomata's past was already known. But Nicole... she was the girl who had grown up here.
"She..."
A flicker of nostalgia passed through the old man's eyes. He shook his head slightly, then looked at Zane with a smile.
"That's not my story to tell. You should hear it from her."