In between some shelves, hidden in the corner of her room, Silence finally woke up.

Grabbing a mirror on one of the shelves, it could be seen that the night of crying had not done her good. Signs of irritation and bags coated her eyes, her once straight hair was now coming out of her head like branches and her joints cracked excessively as she tried to grab the small hand-mirror.

With a roar like yawn, she rose from her position, heading to the bathroom to look at her condition.

She looked at the big mirror over the sink, seeing her disheveled portrait in the reflection. Her sky-blue eyes dyed red and tear streaks dried on her cheeks, she washed her face in a rush, throwing water at it and rubbing her eyes. It didn't really change as much as she wanted, so she thought of running a bath. She forgot to take one yesterday anyway, so she could use one now.

She dried her face as the memories from yesterday haunted her again. 'Huh. I made a complete mess out of myself yesterday, didn't I?'

She shuddered remembered losing herself to her rage, silencing everyone whilst preaching at them hotheadedly and then fled with tears streaming down her cheeks. Clenching her teeth, she tried to remember all the stupid things she had said, and the possible reactions they would have to each word.

'What if they take it the wrong way thinking I was over-dramatic? Wouldn't they start thinking I was lying? Could they think I'm now a villain because of it? Shit. They do, don't they?' she thought of all the worst case scenarios, burying any optimism and perseverance in a sea of doubt. She realized this was bad, so started to stop herself.

She slapped herself. 'Calm down me. Calm down me. But what...' She slapped herself again, this time, harder. It successfully cut off her thoughts but hurt a lot. She whimpered from the pain, as she started to run a bath, getting new clothes out and then getting into the now filled bath, Trying to keep her thoughts positive whilst doing so.

She got comfortable, sitting in the tub as she tried to tame her wild hair. She pulled out a shocking amount of clumps in the process. It wasn't easy with the pain, but with enough shampoo and brushing, her hair became manageable. She continued to wash her body, as she finished, she rested her back against the side, with so many thoughts bubbling around that she couldn't pick out a single one.

She looked up, at the rising steam released itself out of the window. Looking out of it, she saw a beautiful azure sky. It was autumn now, so this was reasonable weather. Seeing the sun's position in the sky, she assumed it was about noon. Some chirps from birds and mumbles from people talking from way below came into her window, distracting her temporarily from her thoughts.

She was in a trance-like state again, before she realized something.

'Wait. I just slept for fifteen hours? This is awkward. It's the weekend, so I'm free to sleep in, but I'm pretty sure Rebecca and the others are getting awkward. Since I didn't wake up in my bed, I assume she didn't go in. Or did she just ignore me because she thinks I'm a villain? Wait, is even she sentient? I guess if she has hobbies, she has emotions. But...' she thought, thinking back to the maid who, as of now, probably didn't know what was going on.

Her maid was one of The Headmaster's androids, so to say she had emotions was iffy. But Silence didn't really care, considering she was still the first honestly friendly face she'd seen in over a year, she still felt bad for her. But would she still be friendly after this?

Whilst thinking about this she finally remembered she had set up a barrier, so even if someone was frantically knocking, she couldn't tell. She broke it, allowing in the noises from the outside.

As she assumed, someone started knocking loudly.

"Silence? Are you there?" The familiar voice droned on, parroting the same two questions like a broken record.

In response, Silence got out of the bath. Wrapping herself in a towel, she went to answer the door.

On the other side, a flustered maid, Rebecca, stood awkwardly, panic and stress covered her face. She still knocked and parroted the questions like a robot. Even after the door had been opened. It took the maid a while notice Silence there, her immediate reaction being to hug her. Silence felt like her rib-cage would shatter, Becky's hug was just that strong.

Realizing her master's soul was trying to escape, she stopped squeezing her as tightly but didn't let go completely.

"M-mistress, are you okay?" Becky asked trying to hold back her tears.

"I'm fine." Silence replied on reflex. The maid's look didn't change, clearly seeing through the lie. She realized Becky was probably smarter than that, and her genuine care was already evident from her look and tone.

She explained whilst trying to squirm out of the maid's hug. "Uh. I-I really am fine now. Last night was hard, mentally and physically, but I'm used to worse..." she cut herself off, as she didn't want to seem too pitiful. Rebecca's face started drooping after attempting to imagine it.

As Silence finally got free from the hug, her stomach rumbled. Embarrassed, her face became flushed. She remembered the last meal she had was yesterday's lunch, her sense of hunger returned and her stomach started hurting.

Seeing it as a chance, Rebecca grabbed her hand, after traversing the steps to the dining hall. Silence felt something at the back of her throat, the feeling became more intense as she came closer to the hall. Most of this came from the face she was only in a towel soon, a fact Rebecca didn't notice. After a while of dragging her, she finally realized this. And with solid minutes of bowing and apologizing, Silence got dressed and they continued. Slightly relieved, her throat cleared up.

'At least no one saw me...' Silence thought, as she tried to imagine her embarrassment if that was the case.

She noticed some people looking at her getting dragged along by Rebecca, but, with her white complexion and with what happened yesterday, they didn't try to get close. Silence didn't know how to take this. She was aware that most of the elite knew who she was now, and with their seemingly cold reactions now, this fact increased to the crippling pressure Silence already felt, making her illness-like symptoms come back in full force.

-

After walking for what felt like an hour, the same door that greeted her yesterday now loomed over her down an ominously long corridor. The door now closed, thinking about what lied on the other side made her feel weak. With every step, her knees now shook, her face became a shade whiter and every breath became physically painful.

Rebecca opened the door.