Page 16 of Is It Wrong to Escape My Fate? (Dealing With Fate #1)
Needless to say, my knights weren’t amused with my escape attempt. They shooed Claude away but gained someone else, and that was Lord Grimwald, once again attempting to convince them to join the army.
Was it always going to be this busy?
Mia, on the other hand, had been doing her own thing at my request, because there were far too many people involving themselves with me.
But she was too loyal to my household that not only she did the chores dutifully — making sure our dorm was always clean and tidy, and stocked with food and necessities — she spent her free time exploring the academy, memorizing all passageways and buildings, and hanging out with other maids to gossip.
“That’s how I get all the latest news and information,” she told me.
When we returned to the dorm after dinner, I began asking Mia my questions.
“What’s a Hero of the Kingdom mean?” I said as she combed my hair while we waited for the tub to fill.
“Claude Wescott, right?” Mia mused, tugging on a tangle. “I realize you have a fuzzy memory, my lady, but perchance do you remember the Priestesses of the Oracle?”
I gaped at her through the mirror. “The what?”
“That’s a no, then,” she sighed, continuing to comb.
“While the Kingdom doesn’t force religion onto its people, a huge number of citizens are believers of the Oracles, including the royal family themselves.
A year or two ago, the Priestesses of the Oracle prophesied that a man would arrive at the Kingdom that would finally turn the tides of war to our favor. ”
Oh, shit. I could see where this was going, but I urged Mia to continue.
“The man with golden hair and ocean-blue eyes would possess the power of unlimited potential. He will be the key to the Kingdom’s peace as we finally defeat the Demon Lord.”
Holy fuck, it really went there. Claude Wescott was the classic hero of the story! The main protagonist! The chosen one!
And he was one crazy stalker!
“There’re also some visions of him forming a large party to raid the Demon Lord’s castle to face him, but the details were vague.
He brings along eleven, so they form the Twelve Champions.
” Mia finished with my hair. “Ah, that’s also the reason the Prince didn’t want to marry.
Of all the eleven champions, his visage is the clearest, or so the Priestesses say. ”
“So the Crown Prince is part of Claude’s party?” I would have thought it was the other way around — that it was the Prince who would lead them with the Hero as his right-hand man.
“Yes. And the Prince argued that dealing with politics, like marriage, would interfere with the prophecy. It’s also why he’s focusing on the magic academy and training future soldiers.”
My eyes widened as I faced Mia. “They’re looking for the other Champions.”
Oh, my god. This was the main plot of this story! The quest to find the Champions to defeat the Demon Lord. In the meantime, they would train here in Aerahelm until such time that they were needed and called to fulfill their destiny.
The main plot that had nothing to do with me. YES!
I would be free to do my own thing and research how to bring myself out of this place. Again, another reminder to myself, lest I lose what made me, me.
With that resolved, I asked Mia my other question. “What happened at my debutante ball that made it so infamous?”
It wasn’t a big deal.
I lounged in the tub, letting my body soak in the heated water.
It shouldn’t have been a big deal, but I could easily imagine how horrifying it must have been for thirteen-year-old me.
Mia described what everybody had seen on that miserable day: I disappeared from the party for a short while, and when I reappeared, I was distraught and disheveled; my clothes were burned and ripped in embarrassing places, and I was soaking wet.
I didn’t intend to return to the party in that way, but it was as if I was running away from something, and that might have caused my confusion.
I realized too late that everyone already had seen me.
My parents immediately asked if I was attacked, and I vehemently denied anything or anyone attacking me.
Instead, I told a story about playing with a stove, getting my dress burned, and jumping into a fountain to stop the fire.
It didn’t explain the rips, but everyone heard and accepted my explanation.
The adults declared it an accident, but noble children understood it differently.
They began to look down on me. Too much of a weirdo, immature idiot, or various other adjectives that could be summarized in one word: an embarrassment.
Not just to my family or to the entire noble society, but to the Kingdom itself. My reputation plummeted in an instant.
Something didn’t feel right with that story. There was an incident involving Elias during my debutante ball, too. Was it related to this story? I should ask Eli about it since he already knew about my memory issue.
Anyway, now that I was older and had new perspectives in life, the entire event should not have been a major problem.
I should have picked myself back up, continued life as normal, and didn’t suffer as a recluse.
But that was the folly of being a young teenager; everything seemed so much worse, escalating into a downward spiral.
Personally, I didn’t care much for the opinions of others.
What mattered to me most was my perspective of myself — everything was fair as long as I didn’t hurt anyone by my actions.
But I knew, deep, deep inside of me, that OG Bea cared, or else I wouldn’t have been resolute in being a recluse in the first place.
Now was my chance to take that back; to repair my reputation and improve my family’s standing in the noble social circles.
While also trying to form a tangible escape plan.
Totally doable.
I finished my bath and wrapped a towel around myself before I exited the bathroom.
In the evenings, I was left pretty much alone in my room, but at least one of my knights would be standing outside my door if it wasn’t time to sleep.
No one should be able to get in or out of my bedroom without their knowledge.
So why was it that when I stepped into my room from the bathroom, I felt an ominous presence with me?
It was the same feeling that night when I heard someone whisper my name. I thought it was my imagination, or maybe the remnants of a dream, but now I doubted myself.
This was the problem with keeping the room dark when not in use — a habit I carried over from when I was living by myself in an apartment where I strived to keep my bills low. Should I start keeping the lights on at all times?
I reached for the nearest wall lamp — only the main living room had an overhead light — and felt the tiny trickle of mana pulled out from my fingers, powering the lamp and lighting it up.
Again, there was nobody else here.
I stepped to the bed where Mia had prepared my sleeping clothes for the night. The ominous feeling had gone as soon as I turned on the light. Was it my paranoia from the darkness?
Letting the towel fall on the floor, I picked up the panties first, stepping into it and fitting it around my hips when I felt a gush of air brush my nape.
I turned around in an instant. The windows and doors were closed. I was alone.
As I wore my nightdress, one thought ran incessantly in my mind: that gush of air felt like someone breathing down my neck.
But I should be safe here, in my own dormitory. The admin staff informed me this entire area was spelled, so only trusted people by me were allowed to come in.
Unless someone was powerful enough to disregard Aerahelm’s protection spells?
Thinking like this could go to shit very fast. Aerahelm was the best magical fort in the Kingdom, and if someone could do something like that —
Focus on the facts and reality, ignore distractions and thoughts not even worth thinking about, and don’t mess things up. Easy, right?