In the year 1880, Ghoran..
"You are a coward, so run! All you're doing is postponing the inevitable.
Eleanor noticed the school wall just in front of her as she outran the bullies.
She could not turn around and go in a different direction now. What a waste!
Eleanor began to accelerate, and she leaped and mounted the school's walls with a single, elegant leap. With anger visible in their eyes, she turned to face her bullies as they ran toward her. They yelled for her to come down while waving their hands.
She would be foolish to do so, of course. As before, those individuals would simply beat her up and make her tell the headmaster that she had fallen again. No, I'm grateful.
She had better go now and think about what to do tomorrow.
First thing's first. Eleanor took a deep breath and jumped down from the wall to the other side.
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 Eleanor's entire weight. He buckled for a moment and then looked up at her face. "Hey…"
"Oh, my bad." Eleanor 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 Eleanor curiously. Suddenly, he was astounded and then batted his eyes in awe. Yes, that was often the reaction Eleanor 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 so charming that even her shabby clothes and old shoes couldn't hide her beauty. He had never seen anyone like her.
"Yes?" Eleanor's voice moved the man from his reverie.
Before the young man knew it, Eleanor grabbed his hand and tugged him forward. A rock fell over to where he was last standing. Eleanor 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.
Eleanor 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.
Eleanor and the young man passed through numerous stalls, shops, and other strangers going about their daily lives.
Eleanor 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.
Eleanor 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 Adrian 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?" Eleanor 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." Adrian 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."
Eleanor grimaced lightly. "I see, sorry about that. I must have ruined the experience."
"Well, it's a pleasant surprise." Adrian smiled. "What's your name?"
"That's a pretty name, I have an old friend in the past who has the same name as you," Adrian 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 Eleanor miss her home. Her real home is in Haunting, not her aunt's home here in Ghoran.
"How about we sit here and relax?" Adrian patted at a spot just underneath a lone tree's shade.
Eleanor raised a brow lightly at how Adrian 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. Eleanor sighed a little and rested her head against the tree trunk.
"Are you okay?" Adrian asked.
"Mmm… I'm not sure." Eleanor 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." Adrian frowned.
"A lady?" Eleanor smiled a little. "I'm far from that and I also kind of insulted them."
"Insulted them how?" Adrian 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?"
Eleanor 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."
Adrian chuckled when Eleanor slipped and called her school ''cow dung'' which did sound a lot like Cawden. He thought she was funny.
Adrian looked at her attentively and asked, "Who is this guy?"
"Well, he is someone you can call… the school prince," Eleanor continued her story.
"A prince?" Adrian'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," Eleanor quickly explained. "He is the oldest son of the mayor. The Winthrops. A powerful family. So, people around here have been treating him like the prince of this town."
"Oh…"Adrian 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 Eleanor say a so-called Prince of Ghoran 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 cheaper by those fools.
"It's the same in school. Girls and boys in school revere him and do whatever to suck up to him," Eleanor added.
Adrian smiled and pointed at Eleanor playfully, "But you don't suck up to him like everybody else? Did you flat out reject him?"
Eleanor 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?" Adrian observed Eleanor's outfit and realized she was wearing a shabby dress and worn-out shoes.
How was she able to study at Camden 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…." Adrian felt sympathy for Eleanor 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," Eleanor chuckled.
She furrowed her brows. "Where was I? Oh.. that's right. The guy, Charles Winthrop, 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?" Adrian asked Eleanor 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," Eleanor 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?" Adrian asked her. "They will surely punish the bullies."
Eleanor 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?" Adrian felt anger slowly rise in his heart.
Eleanor 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 Charles 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."
Adrian started to understand what was going on. Charles Winthrop, the mayor's son, might feel his ego bruised after being rejected by Eleanor.
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," Adrian ed. "However, he chose to openly tell everyone that you are now fair game."
Eleanor bit her lip and didn't say anything. She realized that on the first day those bullies started to pick on her. Charles 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 Eleanor.