The garden they walked through was overflowing with marvelous colors and spreading bushes. The fantasy of it all was a Hiln signature and anyone would be able to recognize their work.
Lila fixed her eyes at the entrance sign for a while. However, they were soon pulled into the beautiful vortex that was the garden. "Edith, have you come here before?"
Edith had her petite hands held behind her back, with a bit of pride to her stride. "The garden? No."
Assuming the size of the arch at the entrance and the grasses surrounded the whole area, the garden appeared to be massive.
Moreover, based on the picture carved on the sign, this garden was not a regular garden, but one with a maze. As a basis to support the claim, the entrance led to a narrow, straight space rather than an open and widely spread area.
"It doesn't look like a typical garden?" Asked Lila.
"It's a garden of mazes."
Lila leaned her head. "Is that common?"
Edith thought to herself for a moment before answering. "I wouldn't say it's common, but it's nothing special either. It's only the home owner's aesthetic."
"What happens if we don't escape? Are we captivated forever?"
Edith noticed Lila's concerned expression, and beamed widely. "Don't you worry. These sorts of mazes are fairly simple. There's no way we're getting lost!"
"...It's not that I don't trust you Edith, but we need to get moving quickly."
Lila only wanted to get to the knights as quickly as possible, she didn't have time to be getting lost in a maze, and if the maze was really as easy as Edith was insinuating, there wouldn't be a warning sign at the entrance.
She tried turning back to find another exit, but as she did so, Edith immediately grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the maze. "Let's go in!"
"...?"
"Come on! I'll take responsibility for whatever happens, so let's go in! Once you understand the logic, it's a piece of cake."
Lila preemptively sighed and let the enthusiastic Edith drag her back and into the maze.
*
After about ten minutes, Edith's newfound confidence was nowhere to be found. Lila awkwardly tilted her head towards Edith, who was now holding her arm in distress instead of excitement.
A trickle of sweat encouraged Edith to explain her attitude. "This is strange ... a garden maze isn't usually this complicated. Count Hiln has a peculiar taste. What if someone gets lost in this?"
Lila sighed, but this time out loud. Like us Edith?
She should have trusted her gut feeling. Lila was so overwhelmed that she clenched her dress firmly. She was too preoccupied to be stuck in a maze like this. Today is not my lucky day.
Lila was terrible at mazes. Her mind got easily confused by the repetitive patterns and dead-ends.
Edith's eyes trembled when she noticed Lila sigh heavily. "Don't worry at all Lila. Y-you trust me right?"
It seemed like she was trying to convince herself more than Lila, but Lila let it slide.
Edith must have felt the lack of trust. She gloomily slouched her back. Forget the exit. We can't even get back to the entrance. She thought, putting more weight on her heavy back.
Suddenly Edith clenched fists in a fit of confidence and made up her mind. "Give me one second, okay? Let me just see where this path on the left leads and I'll be right back."
"Wait what?" Lila was not on board with the idea. "What if you get lost again?"
"Don't worry, this handkerchief will help me." Edith took out a violet handkerchief from her pocket and waved it. Its smooth material and meticulous details appeared quite valuable.
"I'll shred this into pieces and sprinkle it throughout my walk. Then, I'll be able to trace my way back easily."
After showing Lila the handkerchief, she took out a pocket knife that was often used by ladies for self-defense.
"You should just keep following the right Lila, and once I confirm there's no way on the left, I'll run back and join you."
"Not a bad plan." Their goal was to find the exit without any of them getting lost, and if each individual went separate directions, they would cover more ground and save more time, Lila had no reason to reject her.
"Right! Okay then we should pick up the pace, that way we'll find the exit quicker, okay good luck!" Edith hastily disappeared deeper into the maze and left Lila to keep going forward.
Lila nodded to herself and followed along the right-side hedge, her long heavy dress was beginning to feel bothersome but she kept going regardless.
*
I've gone quite far ... but there's no dead end. Is the exit really this way? Lila asked herself.
But Edith didn't return. That meant that she was yet to meet a dead end as well. Lila sighed to herself and casually turned her eyes to the bushes. As if on queue, the hedge suddenly started shifting.
Swish Swish
Lila hastily took a step back, it was obvious that the movement was not due to the wind or any natural causes. She patiently waited for someone to appear, but no one did, so she took the initiative to ask. "Who's there?"
As expected, there was no response. Maybe it was a small animal.
But Lila doubted herself as the intensity of the movement was certainly bigger than any small animal she knew.
Lila suddenly stopped in her tracks. What if a couple are having an affair in the bushes, and they're too embarrassed to answer me.
Lila clicked her tongue, then hustled forward. She couldn't stop thinking about reaching the exit, it was more important than anything at that very moment.
Since Edith isn't coming back, maybe there are two exits.
As Lila picked up her pace, she heard rustling from the same pile of bushes, this time she turned and gave it her full attention.
"...?" Lila felt a little confused about what she found. Sticking out from the bushes was a person's head looking directly at her.