Pretending To Be Gilead's Prince and Master Wizard

The next day came and I am still here in the infirmary. I was quite surprised to be picked up by Lancelot early in the morning so only a few people could notice. He served as my guardian for the discharge and was also the one who paid the expenses.

Alex, on the other hand, was also with him when he picked me up. He first went back to the castle to deliver the bad news about my current situation. Together, they prepared a carriage that would bring us to the castle as fast as it could. The captain served as the charioteer while Lancelot sat with me inside the carriage.

Before I knew it, we were now back at the castle.

"Let me help you climb down the carriage." Lancelot offered when we got back to the castle. Alex already climbed down the stallion by now and opened the door.

I swear, I am feeling perfectly fine by now. Yet, my two mentors are treating me as if I am some kind of a limp that could not walk on its own. As much as I would like to feel happy about this sudden special treatment, it also makes me cringe just the thought of them being nice to me.

Especially Alex…

"I'm fine Lancelot. Thanks." I gave the archbishop a reassuring smile before I went down on my own.

"Careful now." I heard Alex muttered

"I said I'm fine," I repeated, only more sternly this time.

These two then covered me up as we walk the hallways of the castle down to the prince's chamber. Since they are quite tall men that are currently towering over my one hundred fifty-four centimeter height (according to my last height check), I suppose it would really be impossible for others to notice me.

But we are just quite lucky since there are no servants spotted lurking the hallways even after I managed to go to the prince's chamber.

"Thank you, guys…" I said, sincerely thanking them for what they did for me at the moment. "I appreciate your help very much."

"You are very much welcome, Krisella." Lancelot beamed. 

"I suppose I should be preparing for school--" I uttered and was about to go after the closet to get me some fresh set of uniforms when Alex chimed in.

"And what do you think you are doing?" he asked in a tone that I could hear my father using at me when I was little whenever I am about to do something mischievous.

"Getting my uniform?" I stated the obvious.

Alex only smacked his forehead using his right palm.

"In case you forgot, you were discharged from the infirmary just now. You can't just go back to school like that."

"I know, and I am not forgetful." I rolled my eyes at him. 

"But there is this roleplay that we need to work out, and I have to be there for my classmates. Besides, I am really doing perfectly fine guys. The healing magic used in the infirmary is really helpful for me to recover so fast."

The jerk finally gave up and heaved a sigh.

"Okay, whatever you say," he said. "Just please, be careful this time."

I can't help but smile at the lad. He is really not that heartless as I thought him to be.

"Thanks for worrying, but I will do just fine." I beamed at him, which made him wrinkle his forehead.

"Who says about worrying?! Me, worried?!" he hastily went for the door after saying his last statement. "Ha! Not a chance!"

But he did say he was worried for me back in the infirmary…. or was it just my imagination? 

And the jerk totally left the room. That made the archbishop chuckle.

"Nah, don't mind him. I'm sure he is also worried for you as well," he stated in between his chuckles. 

"Anyway, I better get going too. If you're sure that you're feeling okay, then you could go back to school for your practice."

I returned his smile. "Thanks, Lancelot!"

The archbishop also started to turn his back on me and walked towards the door. But before he totally left the room, he glanced over his shoulder and spoke once again.

"Be safe."

And with that, he went out and closed the door behind him. Aww, what sweet mentors I have!

---

As I went back to school at exactly seven in the morning, it was then that I came across Dexter Woods in the hallways when I was walking towards my classroom for our rehearsals.

"Kris! Y-you're back this early!" Dexter exclaimed in surprise. I only scratched the back of my head as the growing awkwardness started to build inside me.

"Yeah… I need to do the rehearsals with my classmates for Foundation Day. We can't risk any delays since it is already around the corner."

Dexter nodded at that. "That may be true. But hey, I did check on you earlier this morning, and I was told that your guardian already picked you up back in the infirmary. I guess I was too late huh"

Oh, shoot! His words yesterday about him going to pick me up early in the morning as well almost slipped out of my mind!

"Y-yeah. I forgot to mention to you I am currently living with an elderly woman who now serves as my guardian." I responded, pertaining to Alex's grandmother in case he wanted to check where I am currently living like what my brother did last time.

To cut through the chase, I pretended to look like I was in a kind of rush before facing him once again.

"As much as I would love to chat with you, I really need to get going to my classmates. They are probably waiting for me… you know, since I am their scriptwriter." I quickly added and forced a smile.

He smiled back at me and said, "Yeah, sure. I also have to be in my class now.

"Alright! See you, when I see you!"

At last, we bid our goodbyes to each other and I was able to get out of that awkward conversation with him. I was really hoping that he did not witness Lancelot and Alex coming for me at the infirmary.

A few moments later, I finally arrived in our classroom, only to receive some surprised, weird looks from my classmates… like they did not expect me to come back this early. 

"Welcome back to me huh," I said as I entered the room. 

Then secretly, I tried to glance at each of my classmates' expressions. Surely, I have this impression that someone from them is behind my locking incident yesterday afternoon. And I need to figure out who it is.

"How are you feeling?" Of all the persons who could ask me that question today, I least expect it to be coming from our self-centered class president.

"I feel great… great enough for me to return here and do our rehearsals," I replied.

"Right! The rehearsals," he repeated and tried to focus his attention on the matter.

In the next few minutes, we did nothing but rehearsed all the scenes that we could through distributing the roles to the particular individuals whom we thought is best suited for each role. 

At first. I thought they wouldn't like this idea of us rehearsing and memorizing scripts, given the fact that they were against this idea in the first place.

But as what I am seeing at the moment, they are now learning to enjoy each of the characters assigned to them, especially that ill-mannered Jill-- who seems to be the one who really hates this concept. 

And with that, I am feeling much happy that all my efforts are never put to waste.

"I think you need to give more emphasis on the feelings as Snow White," I suggested to our lead role, who is none other than my friend Ariella. She would also be the one sponsoring our costumes, thanks to their tailor business.

And the prince actually was none other than… the class president, since no one volunteered earlier to get the role. The prince has much less dialogue compared to Snow White, that's why I was able to convince the class president to play the role-- given also the fact that he likes to be the center of attention.

Don't you ever mention I said that!

"Alright. I will." Ariella reacted positively and went back to reading her script.

At the end of the day, we packed up the rehearsals and later agreed on doing it again tomorrow, but this time it would be on stage in the school gymnasium.

Ariella, Maggie, and I walked together towards the end of the school gates like we usually do previously. On the way, we also talked about role-playing event.

"Are you sure Maggie you don't want to be cast as one of the characters?" I asked for about the second time around.

"Nope. I am pretty much happy to be the make-up artist." Maggie smiled widely at me.

"I see."

As we reached outside the school, this would be our cue to bid farewell to one another. But before that, Ariella said something to us which instantly got me into thinking for the next couple of minutes.

"About your locking incident yesterday, I think… Jill might be the culprit behind that."