ANGUS
It was the first weekend of the new year and all of us were back in Wisteria. After our brutal failure to unveil the murderer of Sir Malcolm, I was not in high spirits anymore. Nor were the other boys.
But Benjamin was.
Benjamin had decided that he would go through the library to find any leads to what reasons might be behind disappearance of magic.
I was down for illegally sneaking into the staff building but flipping through books for leads was not my cup of tea.
It was true that more and more magical creatures were disappearing from the grounds of Wisteria. We can hardly spot any unicorns lurking around on the grounds which used to be a frequent sight before.
Benjamin was determined to unravel the mystery.
It had driven him to the library. I had made up my mind not to join Benjamin here but Kristian begged me to tag along so that Benjamin feels better.
Ultimately, all four of us were here.
I was seated at a table, staring at a book Benjamin gave me to read so as to find leads but I could not focus at all. I would flip a page occasionally if I spot Benjamin anywhere near me. He was pacing around the library to find such books with Kristian right by him.
Princess Patricia must be resentful that Benjamin has engaged Kristian in this.
I wonder if Princess Patricia knows about this, if Kristian had enclosed this to her.
I momentarily stared out of the window. There was a light drizzle in the air along with some fog and mild winds. There was no sign of the sun. The atmosphere was gloomy. The drop in the temperature suggested that it was going to rain soon.
Augustine was yawning at a book across me on the table.
On the other hand, low obscure mutterings continued from beside me. "Can you keep it down?" I snapped at Pauline who had the book of Enchanted Languages being opened in front of her.
"You are not studying anyway." She curtly said before continuing her muttering.
She was probably memorizing the answers.
"And why are you studying now? Exams are in June. It is January." I responded. She finally ceased her mutterings and turned to me with an anxious face.
'Please don't remind me how close the exams are!" She was breathless.
"Close?" I said, amused at her choice of word. "It is still five months away."
"Just five months away!!" She cried and turned back to her book. "Will I have even finished my 6th revision by then?!"
I let out an annoyed groan. I never had anything against bookworms but Pauline is the leader of bookworms. "Be careful, you might fail if you do not conclude the 6th revision." I sarcastically said.
Perhaps sarcasm was unfamiliar to her.
She let out a gasp. "Oh my God!" And proceeded to ran her eyes through the book again.
"Romeo and Juliet?" Suddenly, Pauline's book was snatched by someone and was being held in the air by one of its corners. It was Princess Irene. Irene was grimacing at the book. Pristine and Samirah were right behind her.
"Give that back…" Pauline hesitantly reached out for the book but Irene pulled it away.
"Ah…. This ruddy old cringeworthy love story." Irene rolled her eyes.
"Its not cringe, Irene…" Pauline muttered. "Two teenagers perform self-annihilation because of a fling? Oh, right sure!" Irene rolled her eyes and leaned with her back on the edge of the table beside Pauline.
"It was not a fling! They were in love!" Pauline protested.
"Oh, so according to you, self-immolation for love is fine?" Irene raised a brow. "It just shows how just how much in love they were!" Pauline opposed. "It just portrays the depth of their love."
"Indeed. There is nothing wrong with dying for love." Aprialla emerged out of nowhere and took a seat beside Augustine who scooted away as she sat down. "I myself would elope for love!" Aprialla added.
"And Cedric would consent?" I sceptically raised a brow. Cedric was always a lad with tenets.
"I have my ways." Aprialla winked.
"Dying for love sounds pathetic." Irene scowled. "It sounds romantic…" Pauline murmured. "It is of no use to talk about the supreme power of love in front of a heartless human, Pauline. It would require her a heart to understand love." Kristian seized the book from Irene's grasp and gently placed it in front of Pauline with a charming smile.
Irene rolled her eyes. Samirah pushed Pristine away to scoot closer to Kristian.
"Killing for love sounds better." I sided with Irene.
"Indeed. I would burn a kingdom for love. But dying? Oh, hell no!" Irene shuddered at the thought. "Just give her a chance to be violent." Kristian commented.
"Oh, here comes Cupid! Is there anymore lesson on love you would like to share, Professor?" Irene sarcastically provoked Kristian.
We were blessed that Kristian decided to ignore her comment instead of fuelling the fire any further.
We were not much fond of witnessing an ex-lovers' quarrel.
Slowly, the misty droplets descended from the sky and a gentle shower commenced. Several heads turned to the window. This was an appropriate weather to sleep in, not scrounge around the library.
Aprialla suddenly jumped to her feet, grinning widely.
"Continue studying. I bid adieu." Saying that, she hastened away.
"The downpour must have tempted her to shove more food down her throat. As if her belly is not resembling a circular boulder already." Said Irene with a scowl.
"Have you found anything yet?" Approached a wearied voice.
Benjamin slammed a large pile of books on the table and collapsed on the chair beside me. Augustine was suddenly flipping more pages than he did during the whole hour here.
I shook my head.
Benjamin let out an exhausted groan.
"What were you trying to find in that page?" Pauline curiously asked. "Page?" Benjamin sat up on his seat. I would've interpreted that Pauline was snitching to Benjamin if I had not known her for ages.
But she was just a dimwit who did not know how to read the room.
"I asked you to go through the book! What does she mean by 'page'?!" Benjamin accused me.
I never had to resist an urge to hit a woman but sometimes Pauline just changes that principle of mine.
"Err-" While my brain attempted to concoct an excuse, Pristine's voice spoke, "Look at this!"
She was standing by the window and was staring out of it, towards the grounds below. Seizing the opportunity, I escaped my seat and joined Pristine there as if I was curious about what she had to show.
"What is it, Pristine?" I feigned innocence as I approached the window.
The others were curiously heading there as well.
As I looked over Pristine's head, out of the window towards the grounds, I caught the sight of Aprialla and Cedric. They were down on the grounds, out in the falling shower.
Their silhouettes were twirling unrhythmically under the rain. But they did not care. Their laughter was echoing faintly while the raindrops glistened on their smiling faces.
"They are dancing in the rain…" said Pauline, softly.
"They are quite thrilled to get drenched, saturated and utterly miserable as the rain seeps into every pore and chills them to the bone." Irene scowled.
"It looks so romantic!" Samirah squealed excitedly.
"You think it is romantic?" Kristian leaned against the wall beside the window and questioned Samirah. "Indeed! It is something I aspire to experience at least once in my lifetime!" Samirah tucked a hair behind her ear.
"It indeed is romantic." Benjamin stared down at Samirah who was shyly peering Kristian.
It is no secret.
Benjamin fancies Samirah.
All of us has noticed this but decided not to confront him about it. He will eventually spill the beans anyway.
"It is just a means of exposing yourself to catch a cold." Kristian commented. I would have agreed but I was trying not to catch Benjamin's attention as it might bring back the topic of me not going through the book as he requested me to.
"O-oh, indeed. It just leads to dreadful cold." Samirah changed her statement in the speed of light leaving behind a dumbfounded Benjamin.
"Gather here, folks!" An enthusiastic voice bellowed from behind that made us all turn around.
Shanon.
She was carrying a huge container. He cautiously placed it on the table. "What is it, Shanon?" Pauline asked as all of us gathered around, encircling Shanon.
"Mother baked the Cloud Cakes!" She opened the lid of the container, revealing pastel-coloured pieces of cakes. Yrlonia was notable for these cakes. Shanon always brings us these whenever she can.
We get to savour them at least once every term.
"I anticipate that you realise how privileged you are to get the chance to eat the cakes especially baked by the queen herself!" She handed a piece to everyone around. "Not everyone is prosperous enough to receive them."
"I missed them!" I said while receiving a piece from Shanon.
I immediately shoved it into my mouth.
She had given everyone a piece until it was just Benjamin who remained. When she reached him, she stared at him for a few moments before slamming the lid shut grudgingly and stomped off to Prince Perseus who was reading on a table a little far.
Probably to hand him a piece as well.
Guiltily, all of us turned to Benjamin.
"Had not expected cakes from the rival kingdom anyway." He shrugged nonchalantly. The rivalry between Versona and Yrlonia is notorious.
Kristian yet had offered to share his piece of cake but Benjamin responded saying, "I would rather gulp down poison deliberately than eat something belonging to Yrlonia."
"April!" Pauline called out.
Heads shot towards the back door of the library. We were on the ground floor of the library and it had a back door that guided one to the Enchanted Garden.
Aprialla while holding an umbrella had walked into the library through that door and was about to stride past us when Pauline spotted her.
"Oh… greetings." Aprialla approached us.
"Shanon is handing out Yrlonia's Cloud Cakes. They are extremely delectable. You should go get one as well." Kristian gestured at Shanon who was talking to Perseus at a few desks away while chewing his own cake.
Aprialla glanced once at Shanon sceptically before turning back to us. "I certainly will. Thank you, Prince Kristian." Aprialla slowly lurked away to Shanon.
"Wait up!" I caught up with Aprialla. "I might as well help myself with a second serving, if I am lucky." I muttered as both of us approached Shanon.
"Hey Shanon, Aprialla here-" I had started but then noticed that Perseus was coughing incessantly while Shanon was looking down at him with empathic eyes.
"What happened?" I enquired.
"He gulped down the cake too hastily and it resulted in him chocking on the cake and being impelled to spit it out." She gestured at the soggy half-chewed piece of cake that rested on a tissue paper on the table.
'Oh." I watched Perseus gulp down some water.
"I w-was on *cough* a hurry s-so I-" Perseus attempted to put forward an explanation but the attempt fell flat owing to his interruptive coughs.
"It is fine, mate. Just take it easy." I assured him awkwardly.
Suddenly, a figure flew to us and grabbed the soggy piece of spitted cake. "Heartfelt appreciation for the second serving, Shanon." It was Prince Greander. He threw the piece of cake into his mouth and jubilantly skipped away.
All of us stood there, flabbergasted.
Did he just-
"Greander!" Perseus was the first one among us to regain his voice. With a mischievous grin, Greander turned around. "Yes?"
"I…had spitted it out." Perseus stiffly said.
"W-what?" Greander was gobsmacked.
"Indeed. Perseus had spitted it out as he had chocked on it." Shanon awkwardly said. Greander was flabbergasted. He was rendered speechless. "You are jesting!" He cried out, petrified.
"She is not. It indeed is true." I confirmed.
Greander looked like land suddenly vanished from under his feet. He retched loudly and I could spot his eyes getting misty. He hastened out of the library.
All of us were silent for a few seconds.
The situation was awkward but also bemusing at the same time. I could not suppress a laughter anymore. "He was horrified!" I exclaimed.
Perseus soon joined in my laughter.
Shanon sniggered as well. "Greed has finally gotten into his head. I hope it teaches him a lesson."
I withdrew a piece of cake from the container that Shanon was holding. "Hey! One serving per person!" She shrieked. I shrugged. I had already snatched the piece.
"Aprialla has not received one." I told Shanon and approached the others.
"What happened to Greander? He was acting weird." Pauline questioned the moment I had reached them. I slid into the seat beside her. Another cackle escaped my mouth as I bit the cake.
"He swallowed Perseus' spitted cake." I managed to say between the cackle.
"What?!" Several voices chorused.
I explained the situation to them. By the end of my elucidation of the situation, the table burst into laughter. Or at least most of the people present there did.
"Oh Lord! This is amusing! I shall go and check up on him." Irene sneered and left the library, tailed behind by Pristine and Samirah. Samirah did not forget to brush her chest against Kristian's arm while on her way out.
Irene has gone to taunt him undoubtedly.
"I feel sorry for him…" Pauline sighed.
"You feeling sorry is not going to turn back the events." I threw the last bit of the cake into my mouth.
"Even so..." Pauline timidly said.