5. Do You Believe In Magic?

Grace and the paramedics exchanged glances.

"We … will take her to the hospital for treatment. Maybe she will need minor surgery," the paramedic answered before glancing at his friend.

“They are right. I will be treated," Grace quickly added, giving a stiff smile. She didn't want other people to suspect Adro was crazy.

Adro took a deep breath and nodded once. Then he did as he was asked: moving Grace from his arms onto a strange-looking iron bed.

Then, the paramedics began to attach various tools and straps to Grace's body and legs so that she wouldn't fall. Once finished, they put her in the car.

Behind them, Adro stared in disbelief at the iron carriage, which had no horses pulling it and had strange interiors. This place was insane.

"Are you coming along? Are you the guardian?" One of the paramedics asked Adro.

Looking at Adro, Grace didn't know whether he would come with her or return to the abandoned mansion. In fact, Grace didn't want to bother because he was basically a stranger to her.

"I'm going with her," Adro answered as he climbed into the car.

***

The ambulance drove fast through the city road, which was starting to bustle with activity.

Along the way, Adro kept looking out the window. It was indeed a different world. Everything looked not just foreign, but strange. The roads, buildings, and people here – everything was so different from any part of the world he had ever visited.

"Why is this thing moving so fast? How is it being moved?" Adro asked the paramedics who were caring for Grace, just to confuse them.

"Um... that... actually, he had just come from abroad. In his country, he lives in a quite remote village, so he isn’t used to speeding cars." Grace immediately stepped in. She touched Adro's knee while smiling wryly and shaking her head slightly.

Adro understood what was on Grace's mind. Now, he had new speculation that the girl might have lived in this magical world for a long time or even come from here. Therefore, he complied by remaining silent so that people would not suspect him. He didn't know where he was now or what kind of people lived there, so he decided to behave himself so as not to cause trouble.

"If I may ask, what happened to hurt your legs like this?" The paramedic asked.

"Um… I ... I fell," Grace answered.

"In that abandoned mansion? What were you doing in there?" He narrowed his eyes.

Adro, who saw Grace seeming to be having difficulty, immediately jumped in, "We just went inside it out of curiosity. It's not like we were doing magic rituals or anything. She's not a witch."

"What?" The three of them said in unison.

Then Grace made a fake laugh. "Hahaha! Sorry. He likes to joke around. What he meant was that we were just visiting the mansion because rumors have it that the former owner of the mansion used to perform witchcraft or some weird rituals so that the mansion became haunted. Hahaha..."

"So, the old owner of the mansion was a witch?" Adro looked at Grace, provoking the paramedics to look back at him in surprise.

'YOU'RE OUTRAGEOUS!' Grace growled in her heart.

Adro kept making things worse every time he opened his mouth. Now, Grace had to rack her brains while enduring the pain in her legs.

"Hahaha... I know, I know ... You are the best jester. OK, now, please stop that. Don't make me laugh anymore because my whole body hurts. OK?" Grace looked at Adro with pleading eyes.

The paramedics laughed at them. "You guys are so funny. I know the rumors about the mansion being said to be haunted. But I've never heard of the rituals you mentioned. Next time, you have to be careful. It might make you curious, but you shouldn't play inside. The mansion must be prone to collapse," said one of them.

"Then, are you two a couple?" Asked the other paramedic.

"No. I have a bride-to-be waiting at the palace-"

"Well, that was out of nowhere … But we are cousins." Grace cut Adro's words as fast as she could. "He is my aunt’s son. He is wearing a prince costume because we were making a video clip in that mansion."

Adro looked at Grace questioningly. But the girl instead looked back at him while shaking her head slightly. From her lips, he drew the words 'Shut up!' secretly.

Frowning, Adro nodded slightly. "Yeah, she's right. We're brother and sister." He said while occasionally glancing at the girl who was massaging her nose bridge.

"I'm going crazy..." Grace muttered as her legs felt increasingly throbbing.

Arriving at the hospital, Grace was taken to the emergency room. Meanwhile, Adro continued to follow her while being astonished at whatever he passed.

Adro couldn't believe there was a building so tall that it reached the sky - even taller than the tallest tower he had ever seen. What's crazier was that the building had a lot of glass, which was a quite rare material.

Inside the building, there were no torches or oil lamps that produced bright, white light. Everyone was dressed so strangely. Many women here wore trousers. Their clothes were also colorful, not varied, with strange cuts and drawings.

Finally, Grace's bed stopped, and she was placed in a ward to be examined by a specialist after she received some treatment for small wounds that she didn't realize were there. Meanwhile, Adro was invited to sit in a small chair next to Grace's bed, which had turquoise curtains on the right and left sides.

Grace kept staring at Adro all this time, thinking about what was inside his head. Then, she cleared her throat. "I’m sorry to bother you, but have you thought of a clue?"

Turning to Grace, Adro nodded slowly. "It's like I was thrown into another world. That door was a magic door, I believe. It was the one that brought me here."

"Another world? Are you sure? That doesn't make sense. And about magic ... there shouldn't be magic in this world. But… after seeing you show up from that door..." Grace mumbled.

"So, there's no magic in this place?" Adro asked, getting an innocent shake from Grace.

"Then, can you explain how a carriage moves without a horse and how the lamps give white light?"

"It's all man-made technology, not magic. There is no magic in this world, Mr. Adro." Grace answered.

"Technology?" Adro repeated.

Grace nodded. "Well, how do I explain this ... So, technology is the result of discoveries made by people who study physics, science, or computers. Unlike magic, technology can be explained with logic and makes a lot of sense. It can also be studied by anyone - although you have to be smart and studious enough to get into it."

Nodding slowly, Adro muttered. "That sounds like what alchemists or healers do." Then he looked back at Grace. "You said there's no magic here, but you sounded like you know about magic and witchcraft. Do you believe in magic?"

Grace shook her head. "Magic is just a fairy tale that's considered unreal here. Rather than magic, we call it a Magic Trick which is fake magic, and it's only done to entertain people."

"Then what happened to me will seem absurd to you." Adro exhaled and shook his head slowly. "In my kingdom, witchcraft is rarely seen, but it exists. We believe witches are hiding in the wilderness, and now I can prove it. I have to return to my world and catch them. He will cause problems for my kingdom."