Pretending To Be Gilead's Prince and Master Wizard

When I invited Dexter over to talk for a bit, I expected him to reject me right away. But instead, he agreed on the school park behind the school where only a few students happened to be passing by.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Dexter gets right to business as soon as we arrive at the premises of the school park. He pressed his lips together and waited for me to say anything.

Before confronting him, I had already imagined how I would ask him the question I had in mind. I would stare him in the eye, dead serious, and ask directly into his face: "Are you a spy of an enemy nation?"

The question should be as easy as that, right? After all, he is my friend, someone whom I used to talk to constantly when we were children. But now that we are in this kind of situation, why does it seem so hard to ask that simple yes or no question?

"Krisella?" I snapped back into my senses after hearing his voice. I must be too absorbed in my own thoughts that I forgot he was actually waiting for me now.

"Well, I just wanted to ask you some questions, Dex. I hope you don't mind."

By the time I ask him this question, I am sincerely hoping that he is not who I suspect him to be. Although I might risk my identity by asking him this question, I promise that I will be careful about every word I will utter to him.

Dexter shrugs and says in a calm tone, "Sure. Go on."

I suck in my breath, straighten my back, before the words finally come out into my mouth.

"Are you a spy or not?"

There it goes. I finally said it. Now, what I need to do is to wait for him to answer it.

He looked at me with a straight face, like he was actually thinking of what words to say. It took him a while to think. After all a moment of silence, he starts to laugh. And I was like, Seriously?

"What are you even laughing about?" I could feel my cheeks burning up with the mix of humiliation and annoyance in it. He could tell that I am being serious around here, but that's the first response I got?

Dexter must have sensed my silence so therefore, he finally stopped laughing.

"Oh, my bad. I really thought you are totally messing around right now, Kris,."

I put on a nonchalant expression in my face and lifted my right index finger to point at it. 

"Does this look like the kind of face that likes to mess around?"

The humor in his eyes now starts to fade. "No."

"Good," I smiled bitterly. "Now, I wanted to ask you again… are you or are you not a spy of other nations?"

I could tell that he is about to laugh in my face for the second time around but is trying to hold it off upon seeing my dead serious face right this second.

"God, no, Krisella! Where did you even get that idea from?" Dexter gives off a light chuckle and looks at me as if I am going insane in front of him right now.

"Then…" I trailed off, pointing at the bandage wrapped on his right hand. "Where did you get that wound? And when?"

If I remember it correctly, Alex was able to cause a wound in the enemy's right hand yesterday. And now I see it in Dexter's right hand too. If my suspicions about him are indeed true, I don't really know what I am supposed to do after.

"Oh this?" Dexter waves his right hand upward and shows the bandage wrap. "I was practicing my fencing lessons with a friend at the activities building yesterday when my buddy really got serious with the practice and hit me on my right hand. Hey, you know you will have fencing lessons during the second year, right?"

That, I didn't honestly know about. 

"No," I shook my head. "I don't even know how to use a sword, for goodness' sake." 

That was actually a lie, though. I had my fencing lessons with Lucas from time to time as part of my training sessions in being the fake prince. But of course, I won't tell him about it.

"Now, I believe it's my turn now to ask you a question too," Dexter says and leans a bit closer to me. I scoot back. "Why are you suddenly accusing me about all of these things? Is this about the news about the recent battle between the captain and a spy in the marketplace yesterday?"

I nodded my head.

"Why do you think I would involve myself in that kind of situation and lose my scholarship here in the first place? Are you even there to witness the fight? Or have you even unraveled the mask of that ninja-like guy in the black suit at the rooftop? Have you caught him?"

I shook my head to either side. 

"So there you have it. I hope you are satisfied now with the answers you got from me." Dexter smiles now as he is about to leave. "I'm afraid I have to go now. I have a lot of homeworks to work on right now."

"I hope you are not mad at me." I said, searching his face for any kind of rage or if he is really keeping something from me.

"No, I'm not. It's just that… unbelievable… for me to hear all those accusations from my childhood friend. You know what I mean?"

I looked below the ground, searching for something interesting in there.

"Yeah. Well, take care then."

"You too."

And just like that, he was off to wherever he should go now.

Pertaining to his question earlier, am I really satisfied with the answer I got from him just now? The answer is no, I'm not. Upon listening to him intently, I suddenly wondered. No one truly knew what had exactly happened during that time. 

But how come he knew so much about it? Like he was actually there right from the start?

---

Alex has finally showed up during our magic training sessions after three days of absence. He is a bit in a foul mood, and I notice that he is taking it on me, whatever his frustrations are since he is being extra annoyed with every spell I make. It's like I did nothing correct out of the ten spells he made me do at this moment.

"Stop," I said, hands crossed over to my chest. "You don't have to treat me like I am some sort of an emotional punching bag to you or something." 

At first, I thought he would be really annoyed and just yell at me, but instead I noticed the look in his eyes softens and he begins to be at ease with me.

"I'm sorry. You're right, I shouldn't let my frustrations take it on you." he sighs. 

I looked at him right now and had the sudden urge to pull him and give him a tight hug. But even if I wanted to, the people that might see us would be confused if I really did that.

So instead, I asked in a lower voice, "Have you found her? Rica?"

Reluctantly, he answers, "No."

That's why he's been upset right now. He is frustrated that he could not give justice to his grandma's unnatural death. I patted him on the shoulders, like a boy would really do to his mate who feels down.

"Want to hear some great news from me?" I said, making it a little bit enthusiastic as I could. 

Though I could tell that he doesn't feel like it, he props his head up and asks, "What is it? That should really be a good news, or else---"

I roll my eyes and cut him off, "I found out who was the spy who attacked us yesterday. However, he denied it until I confronted him. But I know it's him. I know when he's lying or not."

Alex looks confused now. "Who is it? Just tell me."

"I've got no proof yet, but… I think it's Dexter-- my childhood friend."

---

-THIRD PERSON-

"You moron!" 

One strong hand hit the tender face of a young boy who is now lying on the cement ground after being slapped like that. His hand reaches for the part where it now hurts the most.

"You had the chance to kill the impostor earlier… and you didn't do it?!"

One can now hear a deep voice that seems taken from the world's core yelling in anger far away from any observers. His silhouette can be seen standing against the light he and his companions have been carrying, so it is impossible to see his face right now.

In contrast, the boy of earlier spoke again, "I can't! So long as that captain or the counsellor is with the impostor, I cannot fulfill my duty. Make a way to separate her from the rest of the confidants."

The tall man standing in front of the boy rubbed his chin as if thinking about something. Finally, he says, "Fair enough. I will take care of it right away. By that time it happens, I want you to do your work easily. Do you understand?""

The boy nods and responds, "Yes… father."