A Bit of Deliberation

After several minutes of weighing her options, Ingrid was still at a loss for what to do. Should she heed the note's instructions or risk running back to her room to verify the state of her wardrobe? She knew which she would rather do but that didn't mean it was the right move to make. If she disobeyed the note and whoever was behind this was telling the truth, then what would she do? And who was to say whether or not this person had something planned just in case she did decide to ignore the note? Ingrid didn't know what she could expect from them. Because, at the very least, her tormentor had taken the risk of sneaking into the bathhouse and stealing her clothes. Whoever it was, they just got lucky she had fallen asleep in the bath.

Actually... they had been incredibly lucky. Too lucky. Their whole plan seemed to revolve around knowing her routine, knowing that she would take a bath after training. And, apparently, they even knew her recent struggles with staying awake during her post-training bath... They noticed that and realized it gave them the perfect opportunity to strike. Whoever set this up must have been watching her for a while now. Ingrid felt her skin crawl at the thought. How hadn't she noticed this? "Wait a minute," Ingrid mumbled to herself as something dawned on her. It just felt like too much of a coincidence that she started having these sleeping spells all of a sudden when she never had this issue before. "What if... what if they're responsible for that too?" Ingrid's eyes widened as the pieces snapped into place. It all made sense. They learned her routine, found a time when she was alone, and did... something to make her sleep by the time she got in the bath, so she would be **** to them. They tested it out a few times to see how long they could expect her to sleep, and then they struck. Whoever was responsible put a lot of time and planning into this.

Ingrid felt unsettled, cautiously looking around her surroundings. Was the perpetrator watching her even now? Ingrid bit her lip, suddenly feeling like she didn't actually have a choice in this anymore. If this person really did go to such lengths to arrange this, then Ingrid didn't doubt that they could get to her wardrobe. She would just have to play along for now and hope she could figure a way out of this. She resigned herself for what she was about to do. Her feet slowly carried her to the bathhouse entrance, while her heart pounded away. She opened the door just enough to peek outside. The sun was shining brightly and Ingrid could feel a cool breeze blow by, but otherwise she didn't see anyone in the immediate area. She let out a sigh of relief. She knew she was going to be seen, there was no way around it if she was supposed to go to the dining hall - the only time that place was empty was when it was closed - but if she could delay being seen, then she would for as long as she could. Ingrid took a deep breath, bracing herself. She pushed the door open and stepped outside.