Chapter 7 7. Responsible

"Can I find my way home using this phone thing?" Adro asked with a wide smile.

Grace sighed. "The phone can connect you with people who are far away from you, but it can't take you anywhere. Sorry,"

"Oh, I see," Adro muttered.

Grace just looked at him with her lips sealed. That man had a soon-to-be wife waiting for him. Grace could imagine how that woman felt when her future husband suddenly disappeared just a few hours before their wedding ceremony. She must have been panicked and afraid.

"But ... I'll try looking on the internet about where you're from. Maybe it's in another part of the earth." Grace stretched out her hand, asking for her cell phone back.

"The name of my kingdom is Groendez a Lend," Adro said as he handed over the cell phone.

Grace nodded and typed the name into an internet search. She even spelled it for Adro so she wouldn't write it wrong. But unfortunately, the search brought them nothing.

"I'm so sorry. I've looked for it, but there is no name Groendez a Lend in this world, Adro-" Grace said, then she realized something. "... Sorry, I mean Prince Adro."

Adro shook his head a little. "It's all right. I'm not a prince in your world; you can call me by name the way I call yours, so it feels fair." He smiled gently at her. "On the contrary, I should thank you. Maybe for you, my appearance was impossible. Believing that I was a prince from an unreal kingdom must have been complicated. I so much appreciate you believing in my words."

"Honestly, I thought you were crazy at first, you know," Grace chuckled. "But you also have to remember that I witnessed with my own eyes when you came out of that dead-end door. Even though all of your stories didn't make any sense, I couldn't help but believe it, right?"

Adro gave a warm smile. "Thank you, Grace,"

If Grace hadn't warned her heart enough, maybe she would have fallen for Adro because he had a look and posture that women's common sense could not bear.

"Oh ... I think you need to change clothes," Grace realized.

Adro looked down at his dirty ivory-white wedding suit. He pondered a moment, recalling the time he waited so long to wear the suit on his wedding day and stood side by side with his bride. It was an intricately detailed suit, designed only for him by the best royal clothing expert and her mother. Unfortunately, he was stranded in a strange world and even damaged his precious wedding suit. It's such a shame!

"I'll ask the nurse if they have any clothes they can lend you," Grace muttered as she pressed the bell button near her bed's headboard.

"By the way, I'm sorry if my question might offend you. But didn't people look weird at you all this time with clothes like that?" Grace asked.

"They kept looking at me as if I were a madman. While you were gone, I waited in a room that had lots of benches and lots of people sitting there. During that time, I learned a little about your world. There were a lot of complicated and strange things in here."

Grace nodded. "What about your world? Can I get a picture?"

"Of course," Adro answered, and he began to explain, "The place where I come from is a magnificent, vast kingdom. All my people live prosperously on fertile land, so their crops and livestock are abundant. My father is a wise king. Even though it seems like our civilization is not as advanced as yours, we have never been lacking. In my kingdom, everyone dresses neatly and fresh. We plant lots of flowers because we admire beauty. My people are also hospitable and friendly, unlike the people here - Sorry, I didn't mean to insult your hometown."

Grace shook her head. "That's fine. Here, everyone has their own business, and most of them don't just smile at strangers and greet them for no apparent reason."

"Well... If I think about it, it seems like your world is an ancient kingdom, Adro. Is that door a time machine? But why didn't the kingdom's name appear on the internet? Is that a lost kingdom?" She continued with a murmur.

"A lost kingdom?" Adro repeated.

Grace nodded. "Now, we are in the modern era-the 21st century. In this century, there are no longer kingdoms with a system like yours. Most countries are no longer led by kings but by presidents or prime ministers. And there is also a lot of history that has not been revealed. So many kingdoms are declared to have disappeared. However, even in the ancient kingdoms, there were no magic or monsters."

"So, you mean, my kingdom is extinct?" Adro asked with a blank look.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

A knock was heard on the bedroom door, and someone opened the door from outside. It was a male nurse.

"Good afternoon, Miss Grace. Do you need anything?"

"Yes, I do. I wanted to ask if this hospital has men's clothes that I could rent. My friend's clothes are damaged, and his house is very far from here." Grace explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Miss. We don't provide clothing other than for patients." The nurse answered.

"I see. That's okay. Thank you," Grace replied. Then the nurse nodded before walking out.

"I'm fine wearing these clothes. There's no need to bother you," Adro said.

But Grace shook her head while fiddling with her cell phone. "No, you're not. I'll call my friend to bring clothes here. I know it won't be comfortable wearing that suit all day in the summer."

"You're too kind to people you've just met. Sometimes trusting other people too much will only give you unpleasant outcomes. You don't know what they're thinking," Adro stared at Grace.

"Well, I'll think about it later..." Grace muttered without taking her eyes off her cellphone screen.

Not long after being busy typing, Grace smiled with relief and put the cell phone on her lap. "My friend will come here with new clothes for you. I hope you can wait patiently."

Adro smiled. "Thank you for being so kind to me,"

"No problem. I can say that you are my guest now. After all, you were the one who helped me out of that mansion. I can't imagine what I should do to get out of there with an injured leg because I fell all the way down from the second floor."

"Your leg was injured because you fell from the second floor?" Adro raised his eyebrows high. "I thought it was injured because I hit you."

"What? How could just getting hit by someone cause a leg to be injured this badly?" Grace chuckled. "I fell from the second floor. When I was climbing the stairs, it suddenly collapsed, so I fell into the basement. That's why I got injured like this."

Adro turned pensive and muttered, "Because I thought I was the one who injured your leg, I feel responsible for you."