Vincent could feel the entire class's eyes focused on them. He was sure they were really anticipating what his reply would be. But judging from her personality, Vincent knew Gloxinia didn't mean anything by that. He cleared his throat.

"You mean go with you somewhere?" Vincent asked carefully. Gloxinia nodded.

"A new friend from another class told me of a good place to eat sweets. I want to try them this weekend," she beamed while explaining.

Vincent could hear the other classmates sighing in disappointment as they went on with their businesses.

These people, really…

Vincent stared at Gloxinia. He didn't really want to join her, but he couldn't find any excuse to reject her invitation, as he wasn't really fond of lying.

After all, he actually had nothing to do on a day off. He wasn't required to continue his observation on such days.

"You know, it turns out Lilly has a great niece in this school. Her name is Roselyn, from class G. She's the one who told me of the place," Gloxinia rambled on. She talked about how similar Roselyn looked to Lilly and how nostalgic it felt talking to Roselyn.

That was news to Vincent too. He couldn't really bother remembering the students' faces, especially the ones who weren't in the same class as him, so he never noticed her either.

Moreover, their classes were too far apart. Gloxinia and Vincent were in class A, while Roselyn was in class G. He almost never saw students from class E, let alone class G.

Then Vincent heard whispers.

"Roselyn? Hey, isn't she…"

“No way, it can’t be.”

Vincent glanced at the source of the whispers. It was a group of girls who usually gathered by themselves near them. They were also the ones who spazzed over both of them the most. Vincent observed their gestures, but it didn’t seem like they were going to continue talking about it.

“So, can you?” Gloxinia asked again while tapping on his arm, gaining his attention back.

"Why don't you just invite the girls of this class? You'll get closer to them that way," Vincent said while tilting his head to the side.

"Huh? But I want to go there with you first. You're my first friend," Gloxinia said as she looked down and pouted.

Seeing her like that made Vincent feel like he was scolding her or something. At this moment, he really regretted accepting being her first friend back then.

"...If it's only for three hours, sure," Vincent said, pulling his arm away from her reach.

He ended up giving in because he had no reason to refuse. It wasn't as if he hated sweets either.

"Okay!" Gloxinia nodded fervently. She then took out a scrap of paper from her pocket and a small cellphone from her bag.

It was an old model with a thick phone body and ABC keys. He could hear how tough the keys were whenever she clicked on them.

"Why aren't you using a newer model?" Vincent asked. Gloxinia lifted her head and raised an eyebrow, not understanding what he was talking about. He then pointed at her phone.

"There's a newer model?" Gloxinia asked as she stared at her phone.

"Of course. That model is around twenty years old already," Vincent answered.

"I see. I just used whatever Lilly left behind," Gloxinia muttered. Vincent nodded at her words. If that phone were originally Lilly's, then it made sense that it would be old.

"She showed me how to message and call, so I know what to do," Gloxinia said proudly as she typed on the relic.

Vincent watched as she typed her message carefully. One moment she smiled, another moment she frowned--especially when the old keys were hard to press on.

She changes expressions so well now, Vincent thought. Seeing her like this, no one would expect that she used to have no expression at all.

"Sent," Gloxinia said as she put her phone down with the most satisfied expression on her face.

"Good for you," Vincent said nonchalantly. He started to take out the books needed for the next lesson and placed them on the desk.

Gloxinia's phone vibrated almost immediately after she put it into her pocket. She took it out again and checked it.

It was a swift reply from Roselyn.

"I got the place, " Gloxinia beamed. She showed the phone to Vincent. On the screen were some pixelated texts.

Restless Cafe. Clockwork Tower 4th Floor.

"This is that building over there, right?" Gloxinia said as she retracted her phone. She turned her head to look outside the window. The building was visible at a distance from their class window.

Although it was called a tower, it was actually just a slightly taller-than-average mall building. A lot of students from Gloxinia's school would go there after school or during the days off to hang out.

Vincent nodded at her question. He never went there either, but he knew of the landmarks within this vicinity.

Meanwhile, Gloxinia was staring at the faraway building in silence. The biggest building she had ever gone to was the school, so she was curious about what that building held. Would it have more rooms than the school did? Was it the same as the towers in Lilly's stories? What's a clockwork? What's a cafe? She wondered all those things in her head.

There were so many mysteries that Gloxinia had yet to unfold.

When the bell indicating the class's start rang, everyone outside rushed in and took a seat. Gloxinia also turned around and faced forward, but her mind quickly wandered off again thinking of the tower.

Their Physics teacher walked in in quick steps.

"I'll have you pay attention today, Class! The material today will be used for the finals and--"

I wish the weekend would come faster, Gloxinia thought.

---

In a blink of an eye, the weekend came just as Gloxinia wished it would.

They were planning to meet up right at the Clockwork Tower itself, but Vincent couldn't help but worry.

"Will you really be able to get there by yourself?" Vincent asked on Friday, the day before they would go to Clockwork Tower. The school was over for the day and Gloxinia approached him to discuss their plans tomorrow.

Vincent looked visibly concerned when Gloxinia said they should meet up at the destination. Despite his minimum expression, she could see how his eyebrow twitched when he heard her talk.

"Yes. I can ride a taxi," Gloxinia said while nodding. She had always wanted to ride one.

"..." Vincent raised an eyebrow and stared at her with a look of distrust. It was as if he didn't think she would even get there before the day ends. Gloxinia could tell because Lilly once gave her the same look when she told her she wouldn't act recklessly among the humans.

In the end, Vincent yielded and agreed on meeting at the destination. His house was close by, so he arrived way earlier than the promised time and had been waiting at the front entrance.

Vincent was crossing his arms and leaning against a pillar as he waited. He was wearing a black shirt with the first few buttons at the top undone, and a pair of dark blue pants. His light brown hair was left unstyled, but it still looked neat. As usual, his perfect proportions and cold expression caught the attention of everyone nearby.

Right then, an orange taxi pulled over right in front of the entrance. After a short moment, the door opened and a girl got out of the car. It was Gloxinia.

Vincent widened his eyes at her. She was a surprising sight to behold.

Gloxinia was donning her usual hairstyle and wearing a white t-shirt tucked inside a skirt. It would've looked pretty stylish if only Vincent didn't notice that the skirt was her school uniform skirt.

Gloxinia found Vincent as soon as she got off the taxi. After thanking the driver and closing the door, she marched her way to Vincent.

"Taxis are amazing," Gloxinia said as soon as she got to him. Her eyes were sparkling with excitement from her first experience riding a taxi--no, a car.

"...Is that so?" Vincent asked.

"Yeah! The driver automatically knows how to go anywhere, and he did it so fast, too!" Gloxinia said while pumping up her fists.

"I see. Speaking of which, is that your school uniform skirt?" Vincent asked while pointing at her skirt. Gloxinia looked down at where he was pointing at before raising her head and nodding.

"Lilly's clothes don't fit me, so this is the only thing I can wear to go outside," Gloxinia said while looking straight at Vincent. Her eyes showed that she had 0 idea of what could be the problem.

"That is concerning," Vincent said. Before Gloxinia could ask what was wrong, he turned around and headed inside the building. He waved his hand slightly.

"Follow me," he said.

Although he said to follow him, he had bigger steps than Gloxinia due to his longer legs. She had to walk twice the speed just to keep up with him.

When they entered the building, Vincent glanced behind him before slowing down his steps until she finally caught up.

"Walk slower-- Wow," Gloxinia was going to complain to Vincent when she reached him, but she got struck by amazement before she could.

The inside of Clockwork Tower was dazzling. It was Gloxinia's first time seeing that many lights in one place. From where she was standing, she could see so many 'rooms' with open doors, each of them displaying different items.

The atmosphere inside was so different from how it was outside. It was like she stepped into a different world.

It also felt pretty breezy on her skin compared to outside, but being a spirit of the lake, she could handle this much coldness.

While Gloxinia was looking around in awe, she realized something. She turned to Vincent.

"Is this a department store?" Gloxinia asked. She remembered Lilly mentioning it before. She told her that department stores had a bunch of 'rooms' inside a building, and each of those 'rooms' were selling something. Much like this one.

"How many years ago was that? This is a mall," Vincent said before he started walking again without giving her a glance.

Gloxinia thought she would have to hurry over to him again, but she caught up to him sooner than she expected. She glanced up at Vincent--it seemed like he lowered his pace for her.

As they walked, Gloxinia noticed that the items displayed in front of the 'rooms' gradually changed from small items to full-blown clothes worn by mannequins. She was amazed at how much of a variety there was--female clothes, male clothes, smaller humans' clothes… There were so many styles she had never seen Lilly wear before.

"Did anything catch your eye?" Vincent said. Without her noticing, they already stopped walking and Vincent was facing her.

Gloxinia nodded repeatedly before she looked around and pointed at one 'room' with such an excited look.

It was a gothic lolita store.

"..."

"..."