Found Sleeping Beauty (5)

"What's happening?" Ben turned to us.

"The garden is really beautiful," I pretended to appear shocked.

Luke had already sent me a message he was taking care of the guests out in the garden while Sienna and I were still working on the decorations. Meanwhile, more people left the ballroom to join the others in the garden. The front entrance had more guests leaving than the ones who entered just to exchange greetings.

"We fixed up the garden a bit," I admitted when Ben couldn't take his eyes off the sight in front of him.

"But the decorations will die when the power runs out in the batteries inside the fans," I let him know beforehand.

"Batteries?" Ben looked at me like we were talking about something ancient.

"You know those tiny circular containers filled with electricity," I explained.

"Cillian sent me a message that almost all our guests are in the garden," Ben facepalmed.

"Isn't the ballroom better than the garden?" I wondered.

The ballroom was definitely better than the garden that only had flashy decorations. It was carefully prepared, taking everything into account. Maybe people were attracted to new things rather than sticking to the beautiful ballroom.

"It should be," Ben sighed.

Sienna and I took the chance to sneak back into the ballroom as people quickly surrounded Ben on how he got the idea. Alice, who was too focused on the guests asking more questions about the garden, thankfully didn't notice us coming in. Unfortunately, as Cillian had mentioned, the ballroom was almost empty.

"I guessed it all worked out in the end?" I noticed that only Henry was on the stage.

"I heard about the garden," Henry asked if that was the reason why we were late.

"You could take the first turn," I felt guilty.

Henry didn't hesitate to flop onto the bed, "I just need an hour." He covered himself with the blanket after placing an alarm on his marble. Fortunately, we wouldn't have to serve as the lookout for this location as we looked down at the empty ballroom. All we needed to do was to cover for him in case anyone asked for him.

Only a few people in the neutral fraction remained in the middle of the ballroom to guide the potential guests who chose to come inside. We avoided their line of sight as they took the time to rest. While Sienna sent a message to Delia that Henry was taking the first turn, I yawned, hoping the hour would quickly pass by for my turn.

"Where's Henry?" Cillian was the first to ask when we came down from the stage.

"He's busy helping with the decorations in the garden," I quickly came up with an excuse.

"Some of our classmates were asking for him," Cillian explained.

"I think he'll be done with the decorations an hour from now," I sent Cillian back to handle his classmates.

"Actually, can I take my turn right now too?" Sienna glanced at the second floor.

Since the ballroom was empty, I decided it wouldn't be too bad to cover for another person. I nodded my head as Sienna dashed towards the second floor. All I needed to do was to sit down on a chair near the entrance where there was the highest chance of anyone asking for them. While nobody passed through the entrance, I sent a message to Delia that Sienna was also taking her turn as well.

I started to nod off as thirty minutes passed. We wouldn't be able to use the second floor after Sienna's turn since it would be near lunch time. I scheduled a message to send to Sienna to clean up the bed after her turn. It was unfortunate we spent so much time on the garden.

"Is Sienna Auclair Clarence here?" Someone came up to me.

"Unfortunately, she's out in the garden, greeting other guests," I blurted out the first excuse that came to my head.

"Also, is Henry de Blanc in the ballroom? I couldn't spot him in the garden," Another guest came behind the first one.

"He should be in the washroom," I pretended I just recalled him sending me a message.

"But Delia told me she should be in the ballroom," another person joined in.

"Then she should be in the washroom too," I was starting to run out of excuses.

Why were there suddenly some many people that were searching for them? I wondered what Cillian was doing, not covering for Henry. Could it be that they were their classmates?

"How do you know Sienna and Henry?" I was too lazy to include their last names.

"We're her classmates," one of them explained.

"And we're also his classmates," another group joined in.

"Well I'm in the same fraction as Sienna and Henry," I decided to stall them until they came back.

Behind my back, I sent a message to Henry to run to the entrance as soon as his turn was over. Since he started ten minutes before Sienna, he could help cover for her with me. I brightly smiled as I unintentionally formed a small circle with them.

"We're really close. That reminds me, we never met before, have we?" I was starting to blurt out the most random things.

They warily stared at me as I desperately hoped that time would quickly pass. The circle was inside an awkward silence like there was a blizzard between us.

"May I ask who you are?" One of them narrowed their eyes.