Chapter 22

Nadia still hadn’t come to school, so we went to visit her. We stood in front of her home, carrying a box of fresh bread we bought from a bakery. Not just any bread, the expensive one. One you find in malls and stuff. I would be lying if I said I didn't want to try one. I could, thanks to the payments, but it felt like a waste. All that money for something that goes down your throat and disappears after a few seconds-

Ehem. Let's discuss that another time.

“You think she's home? What if she's actually sick?”

“You believe that?”

“No.” I shook my head.

Carol stepped forward and rang the bell. A maid came out.

“... Mister Harto?”

Carol turned to stare at me, and I pretended not to notice.

“Umm, sorry for bothering you. We want to visit Nadia.”

“... Let me go check on Miss Nadia first.”

She went back into the mansion, returning not long after. She opened the gates for us and led us to the second floor, to Nadia’s room. The door opened, revealing Nadia inside, still wearing her long-sleeved pajamas. She seemed tired, despite it being in the afternoon. Nadia let us come in while we gave the bread to the maid. She took it downstairs.

“Nadia…” I called out. Nadia smiled wryly.

“Sorry for making you come here.”

She urged us to sit around a small table, decorated with various figures. Action figures of heroes and characters, some from Eternal Destruction, others from many different famous FPS games. Similar things decorated her cabinet. Model guns, toy robots, and other stuff like that.

“I promise you… this has nothing to do with my… violent tendencies.”

“Ian has and will throw at me a bunch of studies that prove that games have nothing to do with violence.”

He had done it in the past when I accidentally joked about it. Despite how he looked, he could be really smart when he wanted to. I remember him doing his own research into the matter for a simple Indonesian language study. Even the teacher praised him for it. I understand. Sometimes, you make mistakes, and you don't want things unrelated to it to be blamed because of your mistake. I… might have some experience in that regard.

“... If games can make you violent, then I should have become a good golfer,” Carol murmured.

“... You play golf games?” I never heard about this before.

“Occasionally. Did you know that in one game, I've gotten the timing down so that I can hit multiple hole-in-ones in a row?”

“Timing…? I didn't even know you played golf games.”

“The more you know, I guess.”

“Are you interested in golf? Carol?” Nadia asked.

“Real-life golf? Not really.”

The maid returned with warm tea for the three of us.

“Thank you.” I took a sip. “It tastes great.”

It tasted much fresher compared to bottled tea.

“Still… I'll be lying if I said I'm not surprised,” Carol murmured. “Your room… isn’t as I expected.”

“What is your room like, Carol?” Nadia asked.

“Books, mostly.”

“You really like books, huh?”

“Yes. I want to own a library one day… and my own publishing company, if possible.”

She had big dreams. Meanwhile, I haven't the slightest idea where I would be in the future. I didn't even know which direction I wanted to take in university.

“You've got big dreams, Carol.” Nadis smiled wryly. “How about you, Harto?”

“I got nothing.”

“You didn't even think about it…” Carol murmured. “I can take care of you, though.”

I could barely make out the second sentence. What I did hear, I didn't understand. Was she talking about helping me find a job?

“You're not going to pursue drawing?”

“I don't have any plans for now.”

My parents also asked if I wanted to pursue a career in the art industry. That's… kind of tough. With how common AI is these days, there's no telling if such a job would still exist in the future. Besides, just because you're good at something doesn't automatically mean you'll find success in that field.

Luck definitely plays a role in it.

“... How about you, Nadia?” I asked.

“I… don't know…”

“You're not going to continue acting? Are you worried about this controversy?”

“... I guess I'm kind of tired of it?”

She had been doing it for several years at this point. No wonder she felt some fatigue. This controversy certainly didn't help.

“I mean… I'm concerned, yes, but I don't think this will go on for long.”

True. I couldn't remember any controversies that happened during the past year. I'm sure there were many, but I didn't pay attention to gossip.

“... It'll be around for longer than usual, because I did hit someone… But… people will probably forget about it.”

“... Why did you do that? You didn't strike me as someone who likes violence,” Carol said.

To me, Nadia is a kind person. It's hard to imagine her doing so on purpose.

“... It was a trap.”

“A trap?”

“... Rizka told me that I need to meet her, or else she'll expose ‘something’.”

“... That doesn't sound so concrete.”

“I know. I couldn't remember if I ever did anything wrong. But… I feared she was serious, especially after what happened in my previous school.”

“Is Rizka involved as well?”

Nadia shook her head. “I… don't know. I… I crossed a line back there.”

“What happened?”

“My old school is considered an elite school, so bullying is a big no-no.” Nadia took a breath. “But… Some people bullied a girl in secret. She has high expectations on her shoulders, so she didn't report it to the teachers or her parents. After that, I… I stepped in. And it pretty much spiraled out of control. They made it as if I was the one bullying.”

“... What happened then?”

Nadia let her body flop to the floor. She looked up at the ceiling. “She ended up moving away between the semesters. I couldn't handle the atmosphere after that, so I transferred."

“... You're afraid Rizka will expose that?”

“Yeah.”

When someone's as popular as Carol, more people would be watching them. People observe your every move, and even the slightest fault is enough excuse to call you a villain.

“If Rizka did… I didn't have any proof… I won't be able to protect myself, nor the girl who was bullied. She had moved away. I wanted her to have a peaceful life after that.”

“So you thought about dealing with the problem on your own?”

“I was stupid.”

The picture was taken at what looked to be a discreet angle. It wouldn't be surprising if someone staged the event to make Carol look bad.

“She warned me to come alone, but… I should have known better.”

“Still… how bad is she to the point that she made you slap her?”

“... I have no excuse for the violence but… She spoke harshly about us.”

“... Us?”

The only time I met Rizka was when we went to the library together. Even then, calling it a meet was an overstatement. She had seen both me and Carol, but hadn't spoken with either of us. Carol didn't even care.

“She somehow found out about you two just from our meeting.”

“I'm working with her, so she knows me. As for Harto…” Carol turned toward me. “Private investigator.”

Nadia pulled herself up, staring at me. “Definitely.”

… Isn't that a bit scary? Has someone been following me this whole time? Whoever they were, they certainly moved fast.

“What did she say about us?”

“... She calls you attention-seeking, sweet-talking… girl, while she called Harto an artist that only knows how to trace drawings.”

Well, that's a bit harsh… and not true. I may not be good at making manga, but I drew every line myself.

“... I'm sorry, because of me-”

“Is that all?” Carol asked. Nadia fell silent and averted her eyes. “That’s not all, is it? There must be another reason why you did what you did.”

“... We got into an argument.”

“And?”

“She pushed me.”

I gasped. Was that why she slapped her? Did Rizka do it first?

“But still… I should have known she wanted me to do something violent. Had I simply accepted her push… and didn’t react… neither of you would be in this trouble.”

“... How hard was the push?”

“... I almost fell.”

“I see…” Carol’s voice turned cold. I could feel the temperature of the room dropping, despite no change in the AC’s temperature.

“Had I noticed the trap… Had I not reacted to that… It was just a push… Why was I so stupid? I should have known. I really am-”

“Stop.”

Nadia froze up, glancing at Carol. Carol took a deep breath, letting the emotions fade away from her face.

“What's done is done,” Carol said. “You apologized. Do you feel genuinely sorry for what you did?”

“Yes.”

“Then there’s nothing else we can do about it. All we can do now is keep silent and hope it passes.”

It sounded cruel, but it was the unfortunate truth. There was simply nothing we could do.

•••

“Sorry for keeping you so late.” Nadia forced a smile. It was obvious that she still had concerns.

“I'll… be fine. Please don’t worry about me.”

I didn’t want to leave her. She looked so vulnerable. I worry about her fate. Yet, at the same time, this is Nadia. She had faced controversies before. None on the scale of the current one, but I believe she could face it.

“See you tomorrow, Nadia.”

“... Yeah, see you tomorrow,” she answered reluctantly. Maybe she didn't plan on coming to school.

With that, we parted ways.

“... What do you want to talk about?”

Carol had sent me a signal by lightly pulling my sleeve. After Nadia returned to her home, Carol brought me some distance away.

“... One of the ways to prove Nadia's innocence is in court.”

“... But that won't end well, will it?”

Carol shook her head. Even if we could prove the truth behind Rizka, a court case would cause the issue to spread further. Some would see it as Nadia's way of protecting herself.

“We just can't win, can we?”

“... We can.”

“Oh?”

Carol nodded. “I'll look into it. I'll tell you tomorrow.”

“Alright.”

I accompanied Carol until her driver picked her up, then took a bus home.