Once A Princess, Now A Slave

53

Kelsie’s POV

“Good luck on your test, Princess,” Connor planted a soft kiss on the side of my head. I just finished preparing for the 2nd day of exam. “Take care,” he added.

I nod at him while looking intently at my reflection on the mirror. Connor snaked his arms around y waist like he always do. He then rested his chin on my shoulder while staring at my reflection on the full-length mirror in front of us.

“Are you still upset about what happened yesterday?” he asked.

“Yes,” I coldly answered.

I failed the test! I mean, I almost failed the test. That isn’t justifiable given the fact that it is possible that someone might sabotaged my work. Why the hell would I put chili extract on a gel? I’m not that dumb!

“You have two more remaining tests for this quarter. Focus on them,” Connor suggested. His arms tightening around me.

“I will,” I answered.

“What’s your plan?” he asked after a long silence. I already told him yesterday that I won’t back down. I never will. This is injustice and it would be unfair for me if I won’t pull out its root cause.

“I’m planning to investigate,” I said.

His arms loosened. He then made me face him. Behind his stoic and usual mocking expression to me, he looked worried.

“I can do the investigation so you can focus on your tests,” he offered.

I shake my head. “No, I will do it.” If I will let Connor investigate this, it will only bring more eyes to it. I am planning to do this secretly and let the perpetrator think that they already won.

He sighs. “Are you sure?” he asked.

“Sure as hell.”

The sides of his lips slowly stretch up. He then lick his lower lip while his eyes smiles at me. “That’s my princess.” His thumb and forefinger cupped my chin. He then leveled our faces, tilt his head and let our lips collide.

I equaled the intensity of his kisses. My hands instinctively hooked on his neck as we his tongue dived down and explored every corner of my mouth.

I am in the middle of ecstasy when suddenly, he pulled away, leaving my lips slightly parted.

“You should go now,” he said.

I shake my head. “It’s still early,” I reasoned out. A mocking smile is fighting its way onto his lips as he tries to stop them by pushing his tongue on the one side of his cheek.

I blushed. My words just sink into me.

“Princess, if you won’t go now, you won’t be able to take the test because I will f*cking make you tired.”

I pouted. ‘But I don’t get tired easily. I have a strong endurance,’ I said in my mind.

Connor’s laughter echoed in my room. His head fall back while he chuckles. His hands slide down and rested on the sides of my waist.

“Really, Kelsie? Because the last time I checked, you were on a tight sleep after a single round.”

I hit his broad chest. He jumps a little and acted as if he was hurt. “Stop,” I pouted.

“Go now before I manipulate your test result to make you stay.”

I glare. “Don’t you dare.”

“I won’t.” He flashed a smile at me before giving me a kiss on the forehead. “I’ll walk you—”

“After what happened earlier? Today isn’t the right time,” I shake my head.

He sigh. I can sense that he want to say something but he chose to nod and give me a final kiss on the cheek.

“See you later, then,” he says.

I answered him with a quick kiss on the lips before waving my hand to bid my goodbye.

Today, is the second day of the test and I am going to investigate about the incident yesterday. Personally speaking, I don’t believe it was an accident at all. I am confident that all I put in there is an aloe vera gel. The fact that there was a chili extract means someone put it in there.

This wouldn’t be hard for me. I know a lot of people are mad at me but I know a certain person who has the courage to pull this up. All I need is to prove that they did it.

I am already nearing the Salutary quarter when I saw Eva. I look behind her. She cam from the direction on where the Sentinels quarter is located. She stopped mid-step when she noticed me. Our eyes met but she quickly avoided her gaze. She was about to continue walking when I stopped her.

“Eva, wait!” I called. I jog our distance to catch up to her.

I reach for her wrist to stop her. She faced me with a confused expression on her face. Her eyes dropped on my hands. I immediately let go of her.

I fix my stance and cleared my throat.

“I just want to apologize about what happened,” I genuinely said.

She then shakes her head. “You don’t have to. I know it was an accident,” she answered and avoided her gaze at me. I notice her eyes blink uncontrollably while trying not to meet my eyes.

“Is it really an accident?” I replied.

She lifts her head. Our gazes locked. I can sense that she wants to say something.

I advances towards her. I saw her moving a small step backward. “Tell me, Eva. Is it really an accident?”

My eyes narrowed at her and dropped on her knees that is currently covered with a band aid.

“Did you plan this?” I asked. Her eyes widen. “I can’t believe someone can put their life in danger just to pull prank on me.”

I know I exaggerate things. It’s not that she will die on what happened, but it was surely a dangerous thing to do.

“N-No, Kelsie. I d-din’t.”

“Then what?” I replied immediately, not wanting to give her time to think of a lie.

She sigh. I can see the worried expression on her face.

“Look, I am not sure about this but… I think it was your sister.”

I raise a brow. I kind of know that Kristine is part of this since she’s the only one who can pull this kind of trick to me.

“How can you say so?”

She started playing with her fingers. “W-Well, she ordered me to sabotage the tea that you made. I said, yes…” My brows arch to what she confessed. “But I change my mind. She got mad and told me I’ll regret it.”

I scoffed. That b*tch!

***

54

Kelsie’s POV

I closed my eyes tightly while absorbing what Eva said. When I opened my eyes, Eva looked anxious. I know telling me everything about the evil plans of my sister isn’t that easy, given that Kristine already harmed her.

I am aware of how my sister pull prank just to bring me down, but I did not foreseen her hurting others just to get me. The fact that she can go this deep means I should not tolerate it. I should have stopped her since she started doing this. I just realized that day by day that her acts are getting worst.

“Don’t worry. I got this,” I said.

“I swear, I refused what she asked—”

“I know. I know you did,” I said and nod my head to convince her. “You may go,” I added. I step aside to let her pass. Her eyes are bloodshot due to the tears she’s trying to keep at bay. I watch her back as she walks towards the door of the Salutary quarters.

I shake my head to the thought of my sister. I know I can point out who the suspect was, and I kind of expect that it was my sister. I was just surprised that she can do it to others too.

I continue walking. Since I already knew what happened and I know who the suspect is, I’ll focus on my test first and I’ll deal with them later.

I was about to follow Eva inside when I felt someone’s presence from behind.

“Hey…” a soft voice called.

I turn to face her. Chinkee is standing in front of me. She’s hugging a thick book of cook book that covers almost her entire upper body. She fix her eye glass by pushing it up on the bridge of her nose.

“Hey there. What’s up?” I greeted back.

She reach for the back of her neck and scratch them. The way she uncontrollably blink her eyes says that she want to say something to me.

“Spill it,” I say.

She take a deep breath. Her chest rises as she inhale. She then blew out a harsh sigh to exhale the air she saved.

“I’m sorry about yesterday.”

My brows furrowed. “About what?” I confusingly asked.

She shut her eyes tightly and she bite her bottom lips. “I did not think of it as something harmful. I thought they just want me to distract you so you can’t finish your test—”

“Wait, what?” I asked in a low tone. My heart skipped and I felt a hollow feeling growing in my stomach.

“Your sister asked me yesterday to talk to you… to distract you. I was scared to refuse them. I did not know they would do something like that to Eva.”

I scoff. I can’t believe this. When we talked yesterday, even in just a moment, I felt belong. I thought that maybe after years of living with them, someone in the crowd realized that I am not as bad as what they thought of me.

“I overheard them talking to Eva first to sabotage your tea. Eva disagreed for the reason that she doesn’t want to get in trouble and take the risk of getting caught. I know Eva. She wants to switch from Sentinels into the Salutary.”

I gritted my teeth. To be honest, I do not know what to think. Should I get mad because she made me feel like I had a friend? Or should I sympathize with her because at the back of my mind, I know that she was only scared of my sister.

I sigh. But the fact that she only talked to me because she’s scared of my sister made me look like an i***t. To be honest, I kind of like her. She’s quiet and timid. That is someone that I want to be around with.

“I heard them threatening Eva and gave her a warning. They next went to me and I got scared so I agreed. They said I just need to talk to you. That’s all. I… I d-didn’t know t-they will do s-such thing. I am not even aware that Kristine is capable of that.”

“Nothing is impossible on desperate people,” I replied coldly.

Eva lifts her chin and looked at me. Her pair of eyes glistered as she keeps her tears at bay.

“I’m sorry, Kelsie…”

I don’t know how to respond. I know her apology is genuine. It sounds genuine.

***

But no matter how pure her words are, I will always doubt it. I believe that trust is the easiest thing to break in the world. Once you f*cked it up, it will never be the same.

“We should go. The test will start soon,” I say.

I walk past her with my chin held up high. My heart started pounding loud and hard. I can feel my hands quivering. I clench my fist to calm myself.

I am not angry at anyone. Even to my own sister. But I felt numb and cold.

I went inside and saw Eva with her friends. I travel my eyes around, searching for my witch sister.

‘She’s not here yet.’

I can sense the eyes of the crowd on me. They probably thought I won’t attend todays test because of what happened yesterday.

Well, frankly speaking, if Mrs. Gen checked my product first, it won’t harm Eva. But of course, I do not want to put all the blame to her. She is not the root cause of all of these. If my sister did not pull such prank, none of these will happen.

Yesterday, there is only 5 long tables, but now, there are already chairs for us. In front, there is a long horizontal table. On top of it are variety of green vegetables and herbs. Just by looking at it, I do not think Veya and Mrs. Gen have to discuss what will be our test today.

It’s obvious that we will cook. This is one of my weaknesses. I do not know how to cook!

After a few seconds, the door opened and Mrs. Gen entered. Behind her is Veya and Kristne who are both whispering and giggling with each other.

“Attention everyone, listen up!” Mrs. Gen announced. She roamed her eyes around and formally stand in front of us. We all lend our eyes and ears as we attentively listen to her.

Kristine went to her friends while Veya stand beside Mrs. Gen.

“I do not think I have to explain this further. Given the ingredients in front of you, it is obvious what this test is all about,” she started. “Today, you will cook food for someone who is sick. There are no limitation on this. As long as all the ingredients you use are herbs and vegetable, you’re good. You can cook outside. We already provided the fire that are enough for all of you.” She eyed us. “Share the fire to everyone,” she added.

I guess she already heard about Connor being with me.

The test starts. Almost all of them once again hoard the table. First, I calmly fall in line while listing the ingredients in my head. I decided to make a soup. If you're sick, you can never go wrong with soup. Aside from it is easy to eat, it soothes your throat and eating it feels warm.

I am already nearing the table when I notice the table is almost empty. I shake my head.

"Yep. Just like what I thought," I whisper to myself.

There's nothing here on the table aside from a bowl of salt and pepper and fallen leaves from the vegetable stems.

I sigh. I pick up what was left and went back to my table. I roam my eyes around, they are all starting.

I focus myself. I need his help.

'Connor?' I called.

Seconds after, he replied. 'Yes, Princess?'

'I need your help to get the ingredients. There's not enough ingredients in here.' I pouted, even I know he won’t see me.

'List down all you need. I'll get them for you.'

My brows furrowed. 'No. I'll be the one to get them. I just need you to tell me where I can get them.'

I can imagine him letting out a sigh.

'You can get all you need here in the house. What do you need? I'll pack them for you so you can just pick it up,' he replied.

A smile crawl on my face. 'Alright, babe.'

If I were to let him bring the things I need here, it will be another issue that I have to deal with. Also, I am not sure if it is okay to get ingredients on our house. But if I won’t, then what kind of food will I make with these left over?

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Unedited. English is not my first language. My apologies for the grammar, sentence construction, and wrong spelling.

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Once A Princess, Now A Slave

By: Joanne Cristel

©2023