Page 21 of Is It Wrong to Escape My Fate? (Dealing With Fate #1)
Saturday breakfast was … interesting. Add that word to my growing list of common vernacular here.
Like I suspected, it didn’t take long before the events of yesterday spread throughout the academy. The Hero of the Kingdom kneeling for someone like me? How preposterous! Surely it must be for a good reason?
And the “good” reason that perpetuated through the masses? The most important detail why Claude and Prince Winston decided that I should belong to the Champions?
They needed a maid. Someone who would follow orders without question and attend to their needs, whatever those needs might be. The implications weren’t lost on me.
That was the cause of the rumors and the gossip surrounding me as we waited in line at the dining hall for my pancakes and bacon.
My twin knights seethed in anger, but thankfully I had talked with my three companions before we left the dorm. My life experiences had predicted this kind of scenario would happen. Things would be more interesting that way, right?
Mia was the counterbalance to my bodyguards’ ire. She maintained her cheerful persona, shielding me from the rest of the world. “Nothing wrong with being a maid,” she assured me.
“Of course not,” I agreed. “It’s the way these rumors portray it. In any case, we know what the truth really is.” And that was how Claude begged for understanding as he knelt on the ground, claiming himself as mine , not the other way around.
Heavens, it still felt good just thinking about it.
Then the Crown Prince had to ruin it, resulting in this mess. The rumors didn’t even use the word he picked: caregiver . I took my chances defying the Hero, but if I tried to defy the Prince too and deny my association to their prophetical group, my fears of execution might just come true.
“You should be grateful the Prince even took notice of you.” Lady Cecilia appeared, dressed in her usual flouncy dress, followed by Lady Mera and Lady Kathel.
“You have the honor of serving as their maid. Congratulations.” She said the last part loud enough for a few giggles and laughs to sound around us.
I stopped myself from rolling my eyes and instead smiled as sweetly as I could. “Thank you for the greetings, Lady Cecilia. I’m sure if the Crown Prince extended the same invitation to you, you’d also happily accept it.”
My snarky response took everyone around me by surprise, including my knights and Mia. Cecilia looked ready to bite me when Mera scoffed, “How dare you imply the Crown Prince will offer the same to Lady Cecilia?”
I batted my eyes. “Oh, but I thought it’s an honorable service to the royal crown? Why would it be offensive?”
Unbeknownst to them, this sort of thing was child’s play to me. I grew up in an environment where both physical and verbal fighting were expected. At some point, you learn to be numb to it all and understand that it wasn’t personal to you. It was them who had a huge problem.
“Plebs really deserve to stay as plebs,” Kathel exclaimed, earning a few glares, but mostly amused looks. “Unlike you, proper nobles understand their rightful places, and yours is a maid for the Champions. That is the best you can be.”
It only dawned on me why they were being hostile despite staying quiet the past week — it was the fault of the same damn event yesterday.
Cecilia, who was the ringleader of their group, must still be bitter from the Crown Prince rejecting their engagement.
Of course she’d take it out on me, the Prince’s new object of attention, or at least what I seemed to be.
I knew I was anything but. He was only humoring his friend, or whatever his relationship with Claude was. It was Claude who was getting a little too unhealthily obsessed with me, for one reason or another in his insane mind.
Nobody stepped in to help me. Not that anyone could.
My twins certainly wanted to, but I already had them promise me they wouldn’t cause any trouble involving nobles.
Mia obviously couldn’t. Dahlia stayed in her room during breakfast, and I had no clue what she planned to do on the weekends.
My brother was buried in his project, and I didn’t want to disturb him.
There was no one else familiar to me around.
And even if there were, Cecilia outranked everyone here.
She was almost a princess; no one would dare.
Except someone who had more power than her.
“I see we’re starting the morning in a negative light,” Lord Grimwald approached us, dressed in casual, light clothing, unlike the military uniforms or the training gear I had seen him in the past week. “I had hoped the weekends are better.”
“Lord Grimwald,” Mera and Kathel both twitted, curtseying before him, while Cecilia curtseyed too in a more ladylike fashion. He turned to me, but I only glared back. The memory of yesterday flashed in my mind.
He was the lead professor for our Physical and Combat Training.
Somehow, Strom and Derrick staying out of the altercation made sense to me, but Grimwald standing away, observing, made my blood heat.
He didn’t do anything to stop or interrupt what happened.
It was only after the Prince made that egregious announcement that he stepped in to refocus the class.
So yes, I didn’t feel like being nice. Although in hindsight, this was the sort of thing that would make me stand out even more.
Stupid, stupid Bea. Too late to withdraw now.
He smirked. “Feisty as usual, aster.”
“Rude,” one girl muttered.
Oh, so now he couldn’t even be bothered to remember my name and resorted to calling me by my insignia. Great. I glared harder, ignoring the comments.
“Forgive me, my ladies, but you are all equally rude here,” he chuckled, earning appalled looks from these three. “Don’t think I wasn’t watching the entire time,” he tutted. “Frankly, it seems unfair; three to one, really?”
Mera sputtered and Kathel gasped, while Cecilia schooled her face back to a calm and proper lady. Impressive.
“My apologies that you had to witness that, my lord,” Cecilia gently responded. “I’m embarrassed to admit I lost my temper for a moment. I assure you it's only when there’s something very untoward in the room.”
Wow, I had to admit, I admired the audacity of this bitch. If it were anybody else, maybe it would’ve worked.
If it were me before …
But things had changed, and I had no interest in wasting my time anymore. It had been my turn in the buffet line, and the dining hall workers, while entertained, were waiting for my food choices. Ignoring the annoying lot, I beckoned my companions and tendered to our food.
Cecilia glared at me one more time before she walked away, followed by her cohorts of noble ladies and personal maids. They were all the same; they got bored when they didn’t get the reaction they wanted.
On the other hand, Grimwald stepped closer, and I was about to defend my knights from his poaching attempts when he asked, “Why do you let these people walk all over you?”
Was he concerned about me? My answer was cut off when he added, “But you don’t do the same with me? You resist me every single time.”
Ah. So he was actually jealous that I didn’t let him get away with shit, like most people who fucked me over did.
This was my honest answer. “Those people are only picking on me. I can take it. It’s not the same thing the moment you start picking on my friends. You know, like how you keep trying to steal my knights.”
Reuben and Robin both groaned. “Bea …”
Grimwald’s eyebrows both shot up, his lips in a thin line. “So, you hate me for doing my job.”
I shrugged. “Yes. Although I won’t use the word ‘hate’. Maybe ‘annoyed’. My knights are off-limits to you.” To emphasize, I placed myself between him and my bodyguards.
“Unbelievable,” he scoffed with a laugh, shaking his head. “Any other noble will be honored to have their men personally chosen by the Captain of the Army, sanctioned by the Crown Prince himself.”
I huffed, tossing my hair. “Well, I’m not most nobles.” And wasn’t that the truth, with my otherworldliness and different life experiences.
Grimwald swiped a hand over his jaw. “That you’re not,” he mumbled, crimson eyes assessing me. “I can see why it’s easy for the Prince to claim you into his inner circle.”
What inner circle? Publicly announced as the Caregiver, without me knowing what that entailed? I decided to voice this train of thought aloud. “Do you mean the Champions?”
He smirked. “What else can it be? I suppose I’ll be seeing you around even more.”
What did that mean? As soon as he walked away, Mia, who had been dutifully standing by my side and observing, got my attention.
“The Priestesses had a new prophecy last night — they Saw a man with black hair, dressed in a military uniform and leading an army before the ultimate battle in the Demon Lord’s castle. His red eyes stood out in their Vision. The Hero immediately identified him as the Captain.”
Samuel Grimwald was the third member of the Twelve Champions.
I stared at his retreating, smug back, and it only reinforced that my research needed my focus.
The library was a quiet respite in all the bullshit happening to me lately.
Mia read along with me, but instead of teleportation books, she was reading a romance fiction.
I envied her a little. My knights were outside on the yard, right where I could see them through a nearby window; they exercised their morning routines as usual.