[x] Keep asking her questions. There must be a good reason.

"What's happening out there?" I asked. "Why can't you let me through?"

Elena paused for a moment, not looking at me in the eye.

"It's dangerous," she whispered. "You must stay here. I have my orders."

"Orders? From who? Sakuya? Remilia?"

She said nothing. I couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"Patchouli?"

The moment I mentioned that name, her eyes widened slightly. Something caught her off-guard. Elena quickly shook her head.

"No!" she cried. "I-It wasn't her! Miss Patchouli has been missing since -"

She stopped mid-sentence and clasped her hands over her mouth. Clearly, she said something that she wasn't supposed to say.

"Patchouli is missing?" I asked.

"..."

Elena looked away and kept silent. I sighed loudly. It pained me to interrogate her like this, but I had no choice. I had to keeping pushing her for answers.

"Did something happen to her? You have to tell me, Elena."

"..."

"Please," I said. "If you can't tell me why I shouldn't leave my room, then at least tell me what happened to my friend. I can't just sit quietly here without knowing anything."

"..."

She glanced at me for a moment. I gave her a determined look. Elena sighed before looking away.

"Miss Patchouli had gone missing," she said. "No one had seen her since last night, and none of the mansion staff could find her. Miss Sakuya searched the entire Voile library herself after finding you."

"After finding me?"

"You were found unconscious. She had you brought back here to recover."

"What about Koakuma? Has anyone seen her today."

At the mention of that name, her face turned pale white. She quickly looked away. I had the most horrible feeling in my gut.

"Elena?"

"..."

The fairy maid lowered her head, her voice but a whisper.

"Koakuma was found."

"And? Where is she now?"

"She wasn't in the mansion, and..."

A thin trickle of tears started rolling down Elena's cheeks. Somehow, I already knew what she meant. But I had to hear it myself.

"What happened?"

The fairy maid looked up at me with damp eyes.

"Miss Meiling found her body in the woods. She hanged herself."

After telling me those words, she started sobbing loudly. But I wasn't much better off. It took a couple of minutes for it to sink in. I sat myself on my bed and covered my face with my hands. My mind was a complete blank. I lost all awareness of my surroundings. 'This was just some bad dream,' I told myself. Just a bad dream.

Someone, please wake me up.