_"Her condition is stable now. She'll be fine. Her heartbeat has finally returned to normal, and her temperature has gone down." said the nurse.
_"Thank God, aaah." Horselius sighed.
He remained seated beside Celine until she opened her eyes:"
_Thank God you're safe. How are you feeling now?."
_"Haaaaaa!!!! Are you determined to kill me today! How many times do you intend to scare me!!!" Celine shouted.
_"I'm sorry for my stupidity. I'm so, so sorry. I..... didn't..... mean to.... Aaaaaaaaaah, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!" Horselius's tears began to fall uncontrollably.
_"Okay, okay, calm down!! I can't believe you're crying!!!."
_"Neither can I. Aaah, aaah. Hand me a tissue, please. The box is on the table beside you."
_"Here, take it. I still can't believe the head boy is crying over something like this!!."
_"I can't believe it myself. It got beyond my control. It's not a problem as long as it's just the two of us. The nurse has left the room, my deputy is carrying out her duties, and, naturally, the students are studying. Please don't tell anyone, okay?."
The girl's eyes widened, and she asked after realizing what was happening:"
_"Don't tell me... that you... skipped your classes to stay by my side?!!!."
The boy smiled faintly and said:"
_Don't worry about the classes. I'll ask one of the students to lend me their notebooks, and I'll have the lessons printed for both of us."
_"Notebooks? And not just one notebook!!! How many classes did you miss?!!!."
_"Ummm... actually... four."
_"Why??! Why did you stay by my side all this time?."
_"Because I couldn't leave you here. Besides, I'm responsible for everything that happened to you. I'm truly sorry, from the bottom of my heart."
_"Okay, stop apologizing, aaah. It can't be helped. I'll give you a second chance. Your actions really moved me."
Celine looked away after saying that, while Velaxor's face lit up with happiness, and he got up to fetch a glass of water for Celine.
Suddenly, the two heard a knock on the door, followed by a voice saying:"
_Sir, I've finished what you asked me to do. How is the girl? May I come in?."
The boy reluctantly gave her permission, while Celine found his reaction strange, as though he did not want to see his deputy.
Maria stood before Celine and formally introduced herself:"
_Hello, Miss Celine. It is an honor to meet you. I'm Maria Fordior, the deputy head girl. I'm glad to see that you're all right."
_"Thank you for coming. I've always looked forward to meeting you." Celine replied with a smile.
Not even ten seconds had passed before Horselius ordered:"
_Now that you've made sure she's all right, Maria, you can leave and finish what you have to do. You'll handle my evening duties in my place because I'll be leaving shortly, and don't think I've forgotten what I told you this morning. I'll check on the matter myself tomorrow. You'll have a very wonderful fate if I catch two or three of those rats."
_"Understood, sir, but I just wanted to remind you that this school has more than seven hundred students, and I'm only one person. I think I need an entire investigative team to help me, and even that might not be enough. The search will take a very long time, and naturally, I can't search their homes as well. So please, don't put such a huge burden on my shoulders."
_"You're the one who brought this burden upon yourself. If you hadn't opened your mouth this morning, you wouldn't have ended up like this. Get out of my sight now."
_"Take it easy, sir. You know that a task like this is impossible, which means you deliberately assigned it to me just so you could find an excuse to expel me. The principal won't be happy if he finds out about this."
The head boy laughed mockingly and said:"
_Ha, you're pathetic. Do you think you can threaten me by mentioning the principal?!! Hahahaha. I'm the one who makes the decisions here, and just so you know, Maria, I don't need to 'find' a reason to expel you. The reasons are already there, plenty of them, and of all kinds. You should be grateful that I've put up with you all this time."
_"Wait, wait. Then let me tell you that you're the one who was wrong from the beginning. The rumors spread because you were accompanying her in front of the students. If you didn't want to make it apparent to everyone else, you could have met her and spoken to her away from the students' eyes."
_"Why do I always have to correct the misconceptions in that empty head of yours? First, there is nothing between Celine and me of the kind of relationship you're imagining. Second, I don't need to hide anything, nor do I arrange secret meetings. I don't know why I even bother explaining this to someone with an empty head. Anyone with even a shred of intelligence would know that making rounds around the school requires an escort and involves different conversations. All of this is part of the duties of the head of the student council and their deputy. Regardless of gender, we have to serve all the students in the same way. I can't stand you anymore, aaaaaah!! Get out of here right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!."
Maria silently nodded and left.