Pretending To Be Gilead's Prince and Master Wizard

Everyone was stunned the moment Alex stormed off outside the office with a loud thud on the door as he closed it behind him.

I looked at my other two mentors and they immediately went towards me.

"If there's anything that Alex hates to discuss more than anything in this world, it's that thing you just mentioned about," Lancelot said. I saw Lucas nodded behind him.

"Where did you get the idea anyway?" Lucas asked in a curious tone.

I scratched the back of my neck. "Well, from a close friend of mine at school."

They were rendered speechless after what I just said, like the topic itself is already considered a taboo subject that should never be discussed lightly.

"So…. they are still at it huh? Even if it already happened two years ago before Prince Arthur mysteriously disappeared." Lancelot rubbed the end of his chin as he said those words.

The question that was raised in my head earlier at school suddenly popped up in my mind once again, so I immediately asked.

"How long has the prince been missing, anyway? You haven't told me anything about it." I said as a matter of fact.

"About a year now." Lancelot was the one who answered. "Somewhere between March and April of last year."

I nodded my head as I tried to remember that valuable information in my head.

"Can you also tell me what happened at Sodor? My friend thinks Alex is a coward for allegedly abandoning his troops in the war, though I hardly believe that until I heard Alex's side about this."

I suddenly recalled to them what Ariella had said to me a while ago.

'Well… it is really not in our position to tell you the exact details as to what happened in Sodor." Lucas stated. "But if you really want to know, I'm afraid only Alex himself could give you those details that you needed."

"But rest assured Krisella, " Lancelot chimed in. "Alex is not the type of person who would abandon his people."

I smiled at what Lancelot had said. "Yeah. Even if he is a jerk inside, I know he wouldn't do something as stupid as that."

I decided to give it a rest for the meantime and probably would ask for an apology from him tomorrow for what I did a while ago.

Yeah… after classes, I should go ahead and apologize to him.

---

The following day after classes, I went with Ariella to buy the things that we will need at the marketplace for a magic experiment that our group would be doing this coming Friday. Maggie is not with us in the group so that is why she's not with us here today.

We don't have classes since today is the city festival of Citadel but then I agreed to come with her today before we parted ways yesterday.

As I looked around the whole place, the air was filled with festive music as the band played with their instruments and were marching all around the area. The streets are now filled with lanterns that are ready to be lighted later at night.

Despite the upbeat music and the people dancing merrily on a corner, Ariella's face was filled with so much grief. Perhaps, she couldn't bring herself to enjoy the festivities since this same day also reminds her of a great friend that she had lost forever.

I know it could be devastating on her part… and I wish I could do something to ease her pain right now. Yet, what should I do?

"Thank you." I heard Ariella said to the store owner once she was done buying all the stuff she needs for our upcoming experiment.

"You want to, uhm, go around and see what's going on around the public plaza?"

I tried to invite her to something that I know she would love to do, but I was quite surprised when she declined my invitation.

"I think I would need to rest my head for now. But thanks for inviting anyway and for coming with me today. I appreciate it very much." she said as her lips curved up into a half-hearted smile.

So this is what it feels like for your invitation to be rejected.

We just went out of the store when we coincidentally came across the captain of the magic army walking down the same path that we are currently on right now.

I immediately turned to see Ariella's reaction with this one, and I swear I saw her almost murderous eyes glaring badly at the lad, like she wants to kill him or something.

"Hey, uhm, Ariella?"

But the girl didn't hear me calling and instead swiftly went towards the lad before I could stop her, not missing this opportunity to confront him-- now that the captain is alone.

"Hey, you!" Ariella bellows while one finger is furiously pointing at the lad.

The lad, in return, turned to look towards my friend with a bored expression in his eyes.

"Can I help you with something?" he replied in a lifeless tone.

"How dare you abandon your troops during the war in Sodor? Did you know my best friend trusted his life with you? And you just wasted it?!" My friend continued to shout at the lad. Good thing there are no bystanders here at the moment, just the three of us.

I did not miss the chance to see Alex's expression changed when the topic he hates the most was mentioned out of the blue.

---

"I expect no one, especially you who knows nothing about it, brought up this topic ever again! Do you understand?"

---

His words from yesterday suddenly echoed in my head. That threatening look he had when he said those words out loud… I couldn't let him do the same thing to my friend.

With that being said, I quickly dashed my way towards my friend and grabbed her hand.

"Ariella, there you are! We have somewhere else to go to right now! Come on, let's go!"

Without waiting for her response, I already dragged my friend away from the furious captain of the magic army before he could say something nasty to her.

"What are you doing? That is my one and only chance that I could confront him! And you wasted it!"

As expected, Ariella was mad about what I just did. But I was just concerned with the way Alex would react if I let her talk with him, though I couldn't say that out loud or she'll have a clue that Alex and I knew each other.

"Don't you think it's kind of unfair to directly accuse a person without really knowing the whole story about it?" I pointed out, which made Ariella's forehead creased.

I've never seen her like this before.

"That is why I wanted to confront him--"

"And then what?" I cut her off. "If he would state his side, would you believe him immediately? Would you trust his words more than you trust what you already know?"

That made her speechless and tilted her head down.

"I don't think so," I said, answering my own question.

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