Chapter 29 – Waking Up Wrapped Like a Mummy
A few days later, in the academy infirmary...
Jessica inhaled sharply.
"Excuse me?"
Magnus looked unimpressed. "You heard me. Two and a half days."
Jessica stared at him.
Then at the elite student.
Then back at herself—still wrapped up like a cursed artifact waiting to be buried.
Her fingers twitched beneath the bandages.
She let the silence stretch for a moment longer before clearing her throat.
"Soooo... can you let me out?"
The elite student, who had spent the entire conversation looking exhausted beyond belief, slowly turned his head toward her, blinking once like she had just suggested he take on a dragon with a wooden spoon.
Magnus, in contrast, tilted his head in mock consideration, rubbing his chin. "Mmm."
Jessica raised a brow.
Magnus glanced at the elite student, then back at her. "Maybe."
Jessica squinted. "...Maybe?"
Magnus nodded, entirely serious.
Jessica nodded back, mirroring his tone. "Maybe?"
The elite student let out the longest sigh Jessica had ever heard.
Magnus finally grinned, crossing his arms. "I'd love to let you out, honestly. But the healers would probably skin me alive."
Jessica narrowed her eyes. "They wouldn't."
Magnus shrugged. "They come by hourly to make sure I know that whoever is on guard duty isn't supposed to let you move until they evaluate you. Personally."
Jessica slumped deeper into the bed, muttering, "I hate this place."
Magnus smirked. "You've mentioned that before."
Jessica exhaled through her nose, fingers twitching under the layers of wrapping. "So you're telling me I'm stuck like this until the healers decide otherwise?"
Magnus nodded. "Pretty much."
Jessica closed her eyes. "Wonderful."
A pause.
Then—
"You might wanna fix your expression, though," Magnus added casually. "They might keep you here for another week if you keep looking like that."
Jessica's eye twitched.
The elite student actually coughed to hide what might have been a laugh.
Jessica groaned and tilted her head toward the ceiling.
This was going to be the longest infirmary stay of her life.
___
Jessica had just settled into mentally preparing herself for an entire day of being stuck in this ridiculous mummified state when the infirmary door swung open.
One of the younger healers stepped in, holding a tray with glowing vials. The moment her eyes locked onto Jessica's twitching, thoroughly annoyed face, she froze.
Like a cat caught knocking something off a table.
Jessica frowned.
The girl's eyes went huge, and without a word, she turned on her heel and bolted out of the room like she had just seen a ghost.
Jessica blinked.
Magnus sighed, rubbing his temples.
The elite student next to her muttered, "Here we go."
Jessica watched the door, utterly baffled.
"...What?"
No one answered.
Less than a minute later, the door swung open again, and this time, an older woman in healer robes stepped in, her expression carefully neutral.
Jessica recognized her as the senior healer in charge of the infirmary.
The woman observed her for a long moment, then gave a slow nod. "You're awake."
Jessica raised an eyebrow. "Very observant."
The woman exhaled. "Apologies. We weren't certain."
Jessica narrowed her eyes. "Certain of what?"
A slight hesitation. Then—
"We weren't certain what to expect, Lady Jessica."
Jessica frowned. "What does that even mean?"
The senior healer folded her hands in front of her. "I apologize if this sounds disrespectful, but we... didn't know."
Jessica blinked.
Didn't know?
"Didn't know what?"
The senior healer's tone remained measured. "If you were truly—"
A slight pause.
Jessica's eyes narrowed.
"One of Lucien von Hohenfeld's people."
Silence.
Jessica's brain flatlined.
"What."
Magnus actually choked on air.
The elite student at her bedside sat up straighter, his entire body language screaming 'oh, I am NOT getting involved in this'.
Jessica stared, trying to process what she had just heard.
Lucien von Hohenfeld's people?
Jessica's face contorted in pure bewilderment.
"Okay, I'm sorry, what?"
The senior healer gave her a pointed look, as if expecting her to just understand. "We're not releasing you until we conduct a full mental health evaluation."
Jessica blinked again. "I don't even know what the hell you're talking about."
The senior healer sighed through her nose. "That doesn't really help your case, Lady Jessica. You were experiencing a full psychotic break during the healing process."
Jessica gaped at her. "I what?!"
"You were hallucinating," the healer continued, tone professional but firm. "You were screaming in an unknown language, resisting spells that should have put you into a deep unconscious state, and you even physically attacked the people trying to help you. That is not normal."
Jessica opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Magnus finally spoke up, casually resting his chin on his hand.
"To be fair," he mused, "I'm not entirely sure I'm not crazy if I went through what she did."
The healer shot him a look.
Magnus just shrugged. "I mean, think about it—she was healing when she passed out. Then she woke up feeling like she was boiling alive and the first thing she saw was more people touching her and casting spells."
Jessica turned her head toward him, suddenly realizing exactly why she had fought so hard.
The boiling.
The burning.
It felt just like—
Magnus leaned back against the wall. "I don't know about you, but if I passed out, woke up mid-healing, and felt like I was still being burned from the inside out? Not sure I'd stay restrained either."
Jessica exhaled. "Thank you!"
Magnus smirked. "Of course, I also think I might be a little crazy, too."
Jessica rolled her eyes.
The senior healer pinched the bridge of her nose. "This is not helping your case."
Jessica huffed. "I am not one of Lucien von Hohenfeld's people! I don't even know what that means!"
The senior healer did not look convinced.
Jessica held her head back slightly, pressing her fingers against the bridge of her nose.
Unbelievable.
She exhaled slowly, tilting her head toward the ceiling as if asking whatever god was watching why she was cursed to deal with this.
"So," she muttered under her breath, "he's really decided to court the most bothersome girl in the entire Academy, huh?"
Magnus grinned, arms crossed. "It's looking that way."
Jessica groaned.
The elite student looked like he wanted to quit his job.
This was already the most confusing day of her life.
And she was only just waking up.