Pretending To Be Gilead's Prince and Master Wizard

(Just before all that chaos happened, let's rewind to the days where Krisella was wondering what her holiday plan would be…)

***

Holidays are just around the corner, indeed. Seeing that my classmates and my friends are busy discussing their future holiday plans in December, I also started to wonder what my holiday plan would be.

I heard from Ariella and Maggie that they would definitely spend their holidays together with their families. While mine was thousands away from Citadel, I do not have any ideas how to spend my holiday.

Thinking about it now makes me truly sad. Maybe, I still have to spend my holidays dealing with my obnoxious and that heartless, cold jerk Alex. It isn't happening yet but… I could already envision myself being shouted at and being told to repeat a certain spell for the 100th time. 

I can't help but weep in silence as I imagine that horrible scenario inside my head.

"What about you, Krisella? What are your holiday plans?"

All the thoughts inside my head are immediately gone the moment I heard Ariella's voice, questioning me about my holiday plan. I paused for a moment and pretended to be busy thinking about it.

I immediately looked at my friends' curious faces as they all patiently waited for my response.

"Since I am away from my family, I think I would just spend my holidays with my grandma. That wouldn't be such a bad idea, right?"

Maggie looks thrilled about it. With a smile, she says, "Not at all! I think that would be splendid, since you will still get the chance to spend the holidays with a family member."

At the back of my head, I wanted to correct her right here and then. Like, I wanted to say to her, "No… that is really not a family member, Maggie. Grandma Lucy is actually the captain's grandmother." but of course, I wouldn't say that out loud, or else I will be busted and would be kicked out of the castle.

"Well, why not go back to your village?" Cailin, who was reading a book while sitting next to Ariella, suddenly chimed in. That immediately caught me off guard.

Well, yeah, I would really love to go back home and spend the holidays with my family. But remembering how I robbed my mother of her savings just to get here and how I ran away from home without even leaving a written letter, I think spending my holiday time with them would really be questionable here.

But then again, I can't tell all these things right in my friends' faces, or else I lose them all once they know what I have been up to for the past few months that I have stayed in Citadel.

Waahh.. I wish I could taste my mom's hot chocolate with marshmallows on top. I so love the taste of it ever since I was a kid and up until now.

Going back to Cailin's question, I answered, "Well, I would love to. But I am too broke right now to afford a train ticket back to our village. And besides, I wanted to be with my grandma this holiday to make a change."

"Aww, how sweet of you to do that." Maggie reacted.

"Perhaps we could do some shopping after classes? You know, it would snow soon, so we better buy ourselves new coats, gloves, and bonnets to protect us from the cold." Ariella, the ever-shop-a-holic person in this group, had suddenly suggested. I gave some thought about it.

Lancelot has just given me my pay right before I left for school. He also said that I could take a break for now and shop with my friends, if ever I plan to visit Central Town anytime soon. Surely, that would set Alex on fire if ever he finds out I skipped today's sessions, but Lancelot insisted on the shopping idea and said that he would take care of Alex's temper.

Ahh… what an angel he truly is!

"What about you, Krisella? Can you come with us? After classes?" Ariella asks, snapping me back to reality. 

In the end, I made up my mind and would enjoy a little portion of my pay shopping with my friends. With a big smile on my lips, I replied, "Absolutely. I'm in."

That made all of them happy. Even though I don't come often to their shopping sessions after classes, I am still happy that they still invite me anyway every time they are planning to shop at Central Town.

***

More shop goers have visited Central Town than they had been in the past few months, another indication that holidays are, indeed, getting nigh. Those stores that are often left empty-handed most of the time had suddenly many consumers going in and out of their establishments, and many more knights on patrol have also been doubled.

A few minutes after arriving in Central Town, my friends and I have started hopping to one store to another just to find the perfect winter clothe(s)  that would enable us to survive in the upcoming winter season. 

I was trying my best to save more money than spending it, so after shopping with them, all in all I only bought one baby blue bonnet, two pairs of gloves-- black and grey-- and one blue peacoat. I already have an extra coat stored in my luggage back in the castle, so I thought that buying two of these would just be a waste of money.

Ariella looked at me disapprovingly and said, "I believe you'll need more coats than that, Kris."

I only shrugged at her statement and smilingly replied, "I already have a coat hanging in my apartment room. It would only be a waste of money to buy two of these." 

Also, it is not in my character to pretend to be rich and show off what I buy to others. That would be so pretentious of me if I did that. Plus, I couldn't afford to spend more than what is necessary so that I could save more money and move to a decent room in the future-- that is if ever I would not be needed in the castle any longer.

"True," Ariella finally agrees as she nods her head in agreement.

When we finished purchasing our winter attires, we then agreed to eat at a certain pastry shop that my friends all love to go to. On our way there, I happen to notice something.

"That candy store that I used to go to…" I suddenly said, catching their attention. "Why is it closed all of a sudden?"

"Oh!" Cailin clapped her hands together as she explains what happened. "I heard that it was closed since they are selling those prohibited sour candies that make teens drunk so easily."

I clasped a hand to my mouth as I suddenly remembered that unfateful incident where I ate seven of those candies and went back to the castle in a severe drunk state. That maybe drove Alex to raid the store and close it down for good. Oopsie.

***

I had so much fun spending my time with my friends. It feels like forever since the last time I was seen hanging out with them. And it truly saddens me to know that we have to part ways in the end and go to our respective houses after all the fun we have been through.

It was nearly seven in the evening when I returned to the castle. True to his word, Lancelot was able to explain to Alex about my shopping plans. And when we happened to cross paths at the lobby, with me already dressed as the fake prince at that time, he didn't get mad. Just fumed a little bit on his ears.

"So how was your day? You had fun?" he questions, but also leaves a deadly threat that if ever I will have a random plan without consulting him, I will be dead for sure.

Almost hesitantly, I replied, "Y-yes. I had fun."

I thought he would eventually raise his voice to chastise me or something like that, but he didn't. Instead, he taps the empty space next to him on the couch as he invites me to sit beside him. 

That made my face flush. In every step going towards him, I could feel my heart pounding heavily in my chest. But as I settled down, no one spoke for the next couple of minutes with each of us avoiding each other's gazes. Weird.

To end this awkward silence between us, I volunteered to speak first.

"My friends have asked me what my holiday plans are. Honestly, I think I have none. You know, with my family away from me… I couldn't enjoy the holidays that much compared to them.`` Then I heave a sigh after that.

Alex looks me at me in the eye and says, "But you have a family here, dummy. You… me…Lancelot and Lucas, we make a pretty big family, don't you think?"

Hearing his answer makes my heart melt and my lips to form a smile. 

"No matter where you go after all of this…" he continues, pausing for a moment. "You will always have a family here."