It felt like an eternity had passed. I couldn't calm myself at all. Fimi still hadn't returned.

  I sat on the edge of the bed again and picked up the box with the mysterious medicine from the tray. Inside were several paper envelopes with crushed herbs. It was probably a good thing I'd refused to drink it in the end. Who knows what was mixed in there.

  I returned the box to its place just in time: the door opened and Fimi entered the bedroom. Behind the maid, the curious face of a younger girl appeared in the hallway and then disappeared. Instead of her, a boy of about ten years old entered after Fimi.

  When I heard that someone named Isaac had helped me in the garden, I expected to meet the same man whose silhouette I’d seen back then. Even if it was one of those involved in the stupid prank, I couldn’t make out his face in the garden. So I wanted to see him now, hoping to at least clarify something. But now my surprise knew no bounds.

  For a moment, I was speechless.

  The boy looked like a model student at a prestigious school. Short, neatly combed back hair of a rich, dark chocolate shade. A polite, perhaps even too polite, smile on a pale face. His crisp white shirt, black vest, and trousers looked like a uniform straight from an elite tailor. His polished shoes were the finishing touch.

  The schoolboy didn’t fit in with the image of the one who helped me, nor with the one Fimi was talking about – the person who should know what to do. This only reinforced my belief that this was a rather drawn-out and disgusting joke.

  Fimi remained by the door. The boy walked on, stopped a few steps from the bed, and bowed very politely, holding his vest in place with one hand. I didn't like the look in his eyes: despite his smile, his gray eyes seemed to look right through me. His thoughts were elsewhere.

  “I'm glad to see you're feeling better, my lady,” Isaac said. His voice was clear and slightly high-pitched, quite typical for a small boy. But I still tensed up when I heard it. A little belatedly, I realized what it was: I sensed a slight pretentiousness. Isaac's speech sounded like a schoolboy reciting a poem with flying colors. This impression gave me an absurd thought: a boy pretending to be a boy.

  I tried not to think about it and focused on remaining composed and speaking politely.

  “Listen,” I began. “I'm so sorry the adults dragged you into their ridiculous pranks, kid. I won't scold you, I promise... Just tell me, who asked you to call me ‘my lady’?”

  Isaac looked at me with an expression that I couldn't quite read. But there was definitely a hint of bewilderment in that look. And condescension, as if he were looking at people who said something stupid and yet still believed it. The boy sighed and smiled.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “My lady is the only joker in this room right now. You haven't addressed me as ‘kid’ in a long time…”

  The pretentiousness and a certain falseness in his voice were more distinct this time. And he seemed less childish now…

  “I take it this was Colliner's idea, right?” I suggested, remembering one of my colleagues with a penchant for somewhat strange pranks. “He loves these kinds of productions, but this is too much even for him... I commend him, he really went to the trouble this time, rented an old mansion…”

  I was already thinking out loud more than speaking to the child. Panic was welling up.

  To my surprise, Isaac remained largely calm.

  “My lady, I understand that sometimes some rather peculiar and problematic creatures end up in the garden... Although ‘Colliner’ is too strange a name even for them. But I assure you, neither I nor the servants are planning any prank. We didn't create rules and establish discipline for any of us to indulge in such behavior...”

  “Then what kind of mansion is this, and why was I abandoned in the garden in my nightgown? And what the hell is this ‘my lady’ supposed to meananyway?”

  I couldn't contain my irritation any longer. My fingers gripped the edge of the mattress tighter, until it tingled unpleasantly.

  This time, Isaac looked at me puzzled, and almost immediately frowned. Something in my heart sank, a bad feeling. Now I watched warily as Isaac walked to one of the windows. He folded his hands behind his back, examining something intently. At that moment, it was hard to see him as just a little boy trying to act like an adult.

  “Fimi,” Isaac said softly, without turning around. “Leave the lady and me for a moment. There’s one magical issue we need to clear up…”

  Already perplexed by Isaac’s reaction to my last words and that foreboding feeling, I became even more confused. I must have misheard... Magical issue? What magic was he talking about? And looking at the surprised Fimi, who quickly took her leave after Isaac’s request, I only became more convinced that he had clearly said something wrong.

  As soon as the maid left the room, Isaac turned to face me. He was still calm, but his gaze was too serious and wary for his age. He raised his hand as if holding something in his palm.

  “Evirium,” Isaac said quietly.

  A short laugh escaped my lips - either nervously, or because of my skepticism towards his previous words about magic... But the next second all these emotions and doubts were thrown aside.

  It was like taking a sip of coffee. The drowsiness fades after the pleasant bitterness, and my head begins to think more quickly. At the same time, I felt as if I'd inhaled something fresh, invigorating... For some reason, the word ‘spicy’ was on the tip of my tongue.

  I watched, mesmerized, as a silvery light appeared above Isaac's palm - shapeless, like a skein of thread, floating languidly in the air. For some reason, it seemed familiar. A chill ran down my spine, adding to the intense feeling of invigoration. My gaze met Isaac's focused one—and it seemed to me that he no longer looked like a ten-year-old. More like a teenager. He exhaled faintly…

  At that moment, one end of the thread darted toward my wrist, entangling it. Cold, but soft. The other end wrapped around Isaac's wrist. My skepticism barely had time to object to what was happening; I blinked once and…

  The room immediately disappeared, replaced by a gray, foggy nothingness. My panic immediately flares up: I feel as if I'm still sitting on the bed, yet there's nothing beneath me, and it feels like I'm falling. I scream, losing my balance, but... I hear nothing.