Days have passed and they went by pretty fast. Uriel have been frequently meeting with either one of the three men or all of them. If the four of them are together, it often ends up in an argument between the three. Whenever that happens, Uriel can't help but see each of them as a man child. Arguing as if they are fighting over a piece of candy. Uriel found relief that every time she thinks of "bad" things about them, very different and horribly affectionate and gentle words come out of her mouth. Staying in the academy for more than 2 weeks and the harassment have made her realise her own place. These men made her life in this school a fountain of events that was the source of every possible gossip.
Some say that her soul ability is enchanting men of power, looks, and personality. Some would say she is actually a saint to everyone and that it was only natural for top-notched people to be attracted to her. Some would say she is pitiful to have received the wrath of the fiancée of the prince, Leonard.
Uriel's sense of time hasn't been worse than it is now. Some days that seems to have already passed were days that she felt as if she was in a trance. Everything she did felt automatic, the only difference is that whenever it happens, her consciousness seems to separate from her but in a way that her body is another person's body while her mind is the only thing that's her own. With different rumors about her going around, doing her duty as the hope of her family is just as hard as breaking free from a quicksand. Every time she gains control of her body, she would still have to deal with the aftermath of the events that happened because of the men who always show up out of nowhere. In each of those times that she has to deal with those who "speak" with her, Uriel would think that had those men just clarify that they are not courting her, this wouldn't happen. Having been taught that people are naturally good, Uriel never thought of them as malicious, "They surely have a reason" , she thought. Having been poor ever since she was a child, she never saw them as people who bore jealousy towards her, "what could they possibly be envious of from someone like me?", was what she thought. Wealth doesn't always correlate to misery like those in the novels about a miserable young lady or young master, so there's no way that the bliss of her content and loving family would make them feel as though she has what they don't have.
In every way she could, she tried to justify the acts of those around her. Like an understanding person she is. But the world is rarely good and often cruel to such people. After all, gold goes through fire and must be melted then pound and melted again while diamonds don't have to and cannot be scratched.
*****
Ever since the day she visited the library, Uriel frequented it more and more, to the point that it has become something like an oasis in the middle of a dessert that is the groups of ladies who confront her.
' How many days has it been since the rumors started? Day by day, it is getting more and more exhausting, how I wish I could just stay here and enjoy what little peace I have ', she kept thinking while resting the back of her head on the top resting rail of the chair.
' I wonder how my family is doing .... the skips have been making it impossible for me to truly spend time with them. It's like the weekends don't even come ' she though with a sigh while looking at the beautifully carved ceiling.
' If the whole rumor things were to affect my marks, it will be over for me. What if it eventually does? It's not like I wanted this to happen ' Uriel closed her eyes with her eyebrows almost meeting at the middle of her temple.
As a commoner scholarship student, her only way of becoming a professor anywhere is for her to receive a recognition and the top mark from the school. The simple thought of having this fiasco affect her chances of reaching her dreams made her furrow her eyebrows more out of worry until she felt a finger that touch the middle of these eyebrows. She opened her eyes at the sight of a head with curly ash-like colored hair, this young man is named Terrence. His purple eyes that bent in a smile met Uriel's dark onyx eyes. As if he looked at something he shouldn't have, Terrence bounced back, flustered from Uriel opening her eyes while she just looked at him in a wondering manner. Believing he was hurt by something, she was about to comfort him then the bell immediately rang signaling the continuation of class.
After making her farewell to Terrence, Uriel made her way to the classroom and it was then when Leo suddenly appeared catching up to her. He then talked to her asking if she had eaten with someone, and other sorts of excuses as to why he wasn't able to show up and help her had there been any harassment to which Uriel said that it's fine. In a hurry, they reached the classroom only for Uriel to see that there are trash on her desk, except that upon longer look, those aren't trash but are her textbooks. Uriel rushed toward it only to see that they are tattered, torn and crumpled into pieces. It wasn't just the textbooks, her stationeries are also ruined. Bits by bits, torn into pieces. As if there was a huge lump of thorn in her neck, Uriel couldn't open her mouth and her eyes were starting to burn. These were the things that her parents had to work for a long time in order to buy. The textbooks haven't been completely paid yet. The meals they probably held back from just to thrift for these school supplies. These people never knew how they had just crushed her parents' work and a fragment of her hope. She still remember the first day she was so excited to finally be able to use such precious things.
" SPILL WHO DID THIS! " Leo's voice echoed the classroom.