Pretending To Be Gilead's Prince and Master Wizard

-KRISELLA-

I had a weird dream last night. Something that involves being kissed by someone, though I actually don't have a clear picture of that guy's blurry face. 

Who knows. Those candies that I had eaten the other day had really affected me that much, huh?

When I came to my senses the next day, the light from the large window located to my right started to fill in my dark amber eyes. My mind was still half asleep when I opened my eyes and nonchalantly gazed around the room.

What a weird dream it truly is, I thought to myself.

My movement was a bit sluggish when I decided to get up from the bed. I raised one hand to gently rub the sleep from my eyes as I turned my head to the alarm clock placed on the nightstand to see what time it is…

"What?! It's already seven in the morning?!" I almost yelled, my eyes widening from the shock it caused.

I wasted no time and almost speed my way towards the bathroom to clean myself up without having time to fix my bed. Damn it, I was so used to Alex or Lucas waking me up early in the morning that I did not bother to set an alarm on my clock any longer.

Later that morning, I need to skip breakfast if I wanted to be on time for my first-period class. It was a hassle every single time I shared breakfast with my mentors, right? I had to wear a royal robe over my uniform, then change back to it once I was ready to leave. That act alone could pretty much consume a lot of my time already.

I wasn't able to excuse myself from my mentors, saying I need to get going to school now. But, who knows where they are right now. And I don't have time to look for them only to ask permission to leave.

With my paper bag in one hand and the mini leather backpack slung behind my back, I pushed through the school entrance of Gilead Academy and almost ran so that I could reach my first period class on time.

I was panting heavily when my name was called from behind.

"Dexter!" I almost yelled his name in shock, looking surprised that I had finally seen him. "Great to see you once again."

"Likewise," Dexter replied with his usual radiant smile. "Are you in a hurry or something?"

He gave me a scrutinizing look when he saw me panting nonstop from all that running I did from the time I left the castle up to the time I arrived here.

"Yes," I said honestly. "Uhm, do you mind?"

He shook his head casually. "No. Not at all."

"Thanks! See you when I see you!" 

I waved my hand goodbye and was just about to make another run going to my classroom when something came into my mind all of a sudden.

Right. The jacket! How stupid of me!

"Kris…" Dexter mentioned my name as he saw me walking back to him. "I thought you said you are in a hurry?"

"I forgot something to return to you," I said and immediately handed him the paper bag. "It's your jacket that I borrowed the other day."

"Oh. Right. To be honest, I almost forgot about it." He made a soft chuckle, his smile reaching his ears before his eyes looked at me once more.

"Thank you Kris!" he added.

"No problem. I would like to thank you as well for letting me borrow it," I smiled back.

I paused for a moment when I heard the bell started ringing, indicating our first class in the morning would be starting anytime soon.

"Oops, I better run before I will be late for class," I said in a hurry.

"Sure, go ahead. See you around!"

With one last wave, I started dashing my way towards my first-period classroom.

---

Due to the loud thud on the black board caused by Mr. Wimbshaw, our last period class teacher, some of my classmates that were on the verge of sleeping suddenly became alert in their surroundings.

"Pay attention to class, will you?" he stated in a reprimanding tone while his brows were drawn together. "School is not a place for you to sleep, but a place to learn and grow."

"Well, as they say, school is our second home," one classmate of mine, who is a guy, dared to speak in a somewhat sarcastic manner. Several of my classmates cracked a laugh that triggered the teacher to be even more irritated. "So it's technically our second house. We should have the privilege to sleep--"

"Silencio!"

With a mere wave of Mr. Wimbshaw's hand, that classmate of mine was literally silenced for as long as the teacher wanted. The class went silent after what transpired to our dear classmate.

"Now, where are we again?" Mr. Wimbshaw smiled as if he didn't do something just a few seconds ago.

There was not much time left until the bell rang announcing the end of the day's classes. As usual, our teacher dismissed the class with another set of homework to be completed and turned in the next day. That is how he perceives school.

We heard the snapping of his fingers, finally enabling the unfortunate lad earlier to talk once more, before Mr. Wimbshaw officially calls it a day and left the room.

I was already done stuffing my things inside my bag when Cailin approached our seats (since she was seated in the first row, clearly because she has a poor eyesight) to join us on a walk until we reached the gates of the academy. 

While walking towards the gates, I was quite shocked when I witnessed the princess of Cordova simply stroll by our group while accompanied by her little entourage. At the moment we crossed paths, it felt like the time had literally slowed down.

It took a lot of courage on my part not to look back in her direction and kill this curiosity that starts to build inside me. Her eyes…. I saw it shifting at me a while ago from the blonde girl that she was talking to earlier.

And that look she made for nearly a second, it's as if… there's something going on in her mind at that time she looked at me.

Does she already have an idea who I was? I pray not!

"Krisella? Is there something bothering you?" Cailin asked out of the blue when she must have sensed my sudden silence earlier.

In the end, I can't do anything but shrug these negative thoughts away and convince myself that the scene I saw just now might only be a product of my imagination.

I forced a smile and looked at Cailin. "Nothing. Don't worry about it."

Fortunately, she dropped the subject and they continued their topic earlier, which happened to be about books that they found enjoyable. When we eventually reached the gates, they had enjoyed their topic so much that they decided to arrange a shopping trip at the nearest bookstore.

And here I am, being forced to invent some lame excuses once again to avoid group bonding and be attending my training sessions. Damn, I would love to be able to hang out with them at that book store and browse some interesting texts.

Being a fake prince surely could be a pain in the neck from time to time.

Sighing, I can't do anything but stare at their backs as they began walking away from me going towards that store they have mentioned earlier. Once I made sure they aren't in the proximity, I also started my walk back to the castle.

At the castle, things got weird at this point; the archbishop couldn't look straight at me, Lucas' face flushed every time I glanced at him, and Alex constantly yelled at every move I made. (Well, I wasn't really that surprised at the third one because he really does enjoy humiliating me, but this seems far worse than the previous training days.)

I wonder what seems to be the problem…

The tray of freshly baked cookies was placed on top of my table in the prince's office before he poured a cup of tea. The steam rising from the tea gives off a pleasant odor that fills my nostrils instantly.

"I believe this is a new variety of tea that you served for all of us today Lancelot," I pointed out as I bring the cup closer to my lips.

"Indeed, it is," the archbishop replied, still not looking at me in the eye. "It's called Assam tea, if I recall."

I felt much delighted by its well-blended taste filling my taste buds at this moment. 

"What an extremely delicious tea it is," I complimented. 

Upon observing that the behaviors of the men, who are currently in this room with me, are still in their suspicious acts, I could not contain my curiosity any longer and gathered all my courage to finally ask them.

"Why do you seem quite… aloof… around me lately?" I inquired, my eyes observing them one by one. "Did I do something wrong?"

"It is best for you not to know," Alex immediately replied before he excused himself, saying he will be on his office to run some important errands. 

Strangely enough, the other two gentlemen did the same thing.

Now, that is very suspicious indeed.