--- Hastings, the year 1850 ---
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"After her!"
"Run like the coward you are! You're only delaying the inevitable!"
"You piece of trash!"
Sophie ran faster than the bullies and saw the school wall's right up ahead.
There was no way for her to turn around now and change directions. Shit!
She started speeding up and with one graceful leap, Sophie jumped and climbed the school's walls… She turned to look at her bullies running toward her with rage evident in their eyes. They waved their hands and shouted at her to come down.
Of course, she would be dumb to do so. Those people would just beat her up like before and forced her to tell the headmaster that she clumsily fell again. No, thank you.
She better run now and think about what to do tomorrow.
First thing's first. Sophie took a deep breath and jumped down from the wall to the other side.
"Whoaa!!"
She fell straight into the arms of a young man walking by and minding his own business. The man saw her at the last second and instinctively reached out his strong arms and caught her.
His brilliant amber eyes bulged as he suddenly caught Sophie's entire weight. He buckled for a moment and then looked up at her face. "Hey…"
"Oh, my bad." Sophie leaped away from his arms and dusted her uniform. She gave him a look after a moment and recognized that he wasn't from their academy. "Sorry about that. Are you hurt?"
The man shook his head absent-mindedly. Of course, he wasn't hurt. He didn't catch a woman every day like this, but he did enough workouts routinely to maintain his strong physique.
"Get back here you stupid wench!" A voice from the other side of the wall shouted as sounds of agreement of them going out and chasing after her started.
The young man frowned at the conversation happening inside of the academy. He didn't know what this girl did, but he thought she did not deserve such treatment. The words they chose and the tones they used to threaten this girl made him wince his brows.
Wasn't this the prestigious Cawden academy where only children of the wealthiest families and the upper classes of the kingdom studied? How could they have such foul mouths?
"Why are they doing this to—" He looked at Sophie curiously. Suddenly, he was astounded and then batted his eyes in awe. Yes, that was often the reaction Sophie received from people who just met her.
She was extremely beautiful and her ash-colored hair had some soft pinkish streaks which made her appearance really unique. Her big blue eyes looked intelligent and playful at the same time.
She was effortlessly charming, that even her shabby clothes and old shoes couldn't hide her beauty. He had never seen anyone like her.
"Yes?" Sophie's voice moved the man from his reverie.
Before the young man knew it, Sophie grabbed his hand and tugged him forward. A rock fell over to where he was last standing. Sophie grimaced at their actions.
"These folks really just don't know when to stop. Let's get out of here," she scoffed.
"Um, okay?" He smiled at her.
Sophie was surprised at how easily the young man agreed, but then the two of them were leaving the premises of the academy and heading into the town center.
Sophie and the young man passed through numerous stalls, shops, and other strangers going about their daily lives.
Sophie did not have any idea where they were going, as long as they were far from her bullies, but then the young man pointed towards the gates.
"How about we go out? I know a good place outside," he suggested.
Sophie really didn't think she'd trust someone she just met, and it probably showed on her face. "I don't know…"
"Hey, are you doubting me? My name's Nicholas and you just saved my life." The young man grinned as his honey-colored eyes gleamed cheekily. He combed his black hair with his fingers making him look extremely cool and pointed at the road. "Let's go somewhere where those fools won't find us."
"Don't you have any classes like me?" Sophie frowned a bit. He must have been from some other academy? But then again, there was only one academy in their town.
"Oh, I escaped my private tutors to go for a walk." Nicholas sheepishly shrugged. "I wanted to know and see what those in the academy do since it's having large groups of people around my age together… and then before I knew it, there you were in my arms."
Sophie grimaced lightly. "I see, sorry about that. I must have ruined the experience."
"Well, it's a pleasant surprise." Nicholas smiled. "What's your name?"
"Sophie."
"That's a pretty name, I have an old friend in the past who has the same name as you," Nicholas said as the two of them went outside of town.
Normally, the guards at the gate would stop people from leaving, but they managed to leave without anyone stopping them.
The two of them soon arrived at a hill, the road ahead of them was long, there were numerous carts, carriages, and other people on horseback traveling through it.
This was the main road that led to the other various towns and villages in the kingdom.
The sight of it made Sophie miss her home. Her real home in Hauntingen, not her aunt's home here in Hastings.
"How about we sit here and relax?" Nicholas patted at a spot just underneath a lone tree's shade.
Sophie raised a brow lightly at how Nicholas seemed so familiar with going out of town and this exact same spot. But then she sat down, with only a small space in between them. Sophie sighed a little and rested her head against the tree trunk.
"Are you okay?" Nicholas asked.
"Mmm… I'm not sure." Sophie admitted. "Getting chased by my stupid classmates isn't really that nice."
"Yeah. Why were they even chasing you in the first place? That's not how you treat a lady." Nicholas frowned.
"A lady?" Sophie smiled a little. "I'm far from that and I also kind of insulted them."
"Insulted them how?" Nicholas raised a brow. "How do they do things in the academy, by the way?"
"Oh… you're curious about how the academy functions because you're only tutored?"
Nicholas nodded. "Yeah."
Sophie realized that the young man must be rich to only have tutors. "Well… our academy is having an upcoming ball to teach young men and women how to function in society."
"A-ah, those balls. Dancing with men and women. Debutantes?"
"Yeah. So, there is this guy in Cow Dung—ahem... I mean, Cawden Academy, who asked me to be his date."
Nicholas chuckled when Sophie slipped and called her school ''cow dung'' which did sound a lot like Cawden. He thought she was funny.
And beautiful.
And so interesting.
Nicholas looked at her attentively and asked, "Who is this guy?"
"Well, he is someone you can call… the school prince," Sophie continued her story.
"A prince?" Nicholas's eyes narrowed and there was a playful glint in them. He initially thought it was funny. It seemed, outside of the royal palace, people just casually slammed the title 'prince' to any sons of an influential family.
"Not a real prince, okay," Sophie quickly explained. "He is the oldest son of the mayor. The Lancasters. A powerful family. So, people around here have been treating him like the prince of this town."
"Oh…"Nicholas nodded. So, he was right. He heard people call some other guys in other towns the same way. Prince? Tch.
This actually didn't bother him until today, when he heard Sophie say a so-called Prince of Hastings asked her to be his date to the ball.
He didn't know why but this suddenly made him feel irritated. It felt like the prince title was now cheapen by those fools.
"It's the same in school. Girls and boys in school revere him and did whatever to suck up to him," Sophie added.
Nicholas smiled and pointed at Sophie playfully, "But you don't suck up to him like everybody else? Did you flat out reject him?"
Sophie looked away and let out a long sigh. "Even if I wanted to say yes, I mean… it's free food, the ball, I mean, I cannot accept his offer to be his date. My cousins will make my life a living hell. Not that they haven't already, but it will only get worse."
"Your cousins?" Nicholas observed Sophie's outfit and realized she was wearing a shabby dress and worn-out shoes.
How was she able to study at Cawden Academy if she was from a poor family? Did they have sponsorship or scholarship?
"Uhm… yeah. I am staying with my aunt's family. They took me in after my parents passed away and paid for my education. My cousins, Valerie and Lucia like that guy. They threatened to kick me out of their home if I accepted him."
"Oh…." Nicholas felt sympathy for Sophie when he heard her background which she shared in an as-a-matter-of-factly tone.
So… she was an orphan and was pressured at home by her two cousins? Why was she so nonchalant about it? She didn't look sad about her situation.
"Yeah... I have plans for my future. I will graduate next year and I can get a job. So, I can be independent. I just have to bear with it for a little longer," Sophie chuckled.
She furrowed her brows. "Where was I? Oh.. that's right. The guy, Richard Lancaster asked me to be his date for the upcoming ball and I turned him down. And now, everyone in the school treats me as if I am the royal enemy."
"What did they do to you?" Nicholas asked Sophie with concern. "Did they hit you?"
He just noticed some light bruises on her right arm and realized it must be caused by blunt force trauma. Did they beat her up? Gosh… this thought made him feel so furious.
"It's fine," Sophie brushed it off. "I just have to always stay in the crowd next time. So, they couldn't target me."
"Why don't you report this to your teachers?" Nicholas asked her. "They will surely punish the bullies."
Sophie shook her head. "There is nothing they can do without evidence or witnesses and nobody would testify against the son of the mayor."
"So… he is the one who bullies you?" Nicholas felt anger slowly rise in his heart.
Sophie pursed her lips, thought about it for a moment, and then shook her head weakly. "No, actually many people wanted to bully me from the first year, but Richard warned everyone that they are not allowed to touch me. So… I was safe for two years. Now, after my rejection, he announced that I am no longer under his protection. So… yeah."
Nicholas started to understand what was going on. Richard Lancaster, the mayor's son might feel his ego bruised after being rejected by Sophie.
He thought after showing her that he could protect her for years, she would finally relent and accept his advances.
However, when that didn't happen, he decided to punish her, by showing her that her life was in danger if she was not in his good graces. Prick!
"If he is a good man, he could just not announce anything and those people wouldn't know that he was no longer protecting you," Nicholas commented. "However, he chose to openly tell everyone that you are now fair game."
Sophie bit her lip and didn't say anything. She realized that much on the first day those bullies started to pick on her. Richard only snorted from afar and pretended not to see them.
That made everyone understand that from that moment, they could do whatever they wanted to Sophie.