Hortus Arcanus planēta

ACT 2

Trigger

That night, as Ella and I changed into our nightclothes, we talked about everything that had happened during the day.

“Ella, you were getting nasty remarks from Surie, Ropé, and Nepe today—are you okay?”

“I can handle a few mean comments.”

“But you looked really upset back then. Like this.”

I scrunched up my face to imitate her. Apparently, that struck her as funny, because for the first time, Ella burst out laughing.

“Pfft… Ahahahahaha!”

“Was I really making that face? That’s hilarious.”

“Yeah. Hahaha.”

We laughed together for a while.

“By the way, it looked like Mother and the others were dumping a lot of work on you. Were you okay?” Ella asked.

“I was fine. It was just work, after all.”

Back in my world, I had been constantly busy as a student, so both physically and mentally, I was used to it.

“I’m glad to hear that. Oh, by the way—can I take a closer look at that button you’re wearing? Is that okay?”

As Ella reached out to touch the button on my arm, I suddenly remembered what El had told me.

“Don’t!” I shouted—but it was already too late.

Light burst from the button, and Ella clutched her head.