Princess stalker and the princess's stalker

Ah so that's what it is.

About a month ago we had our first testing session. It's a week where students get tested on everything they have learnt thus far, from theory to practical examinations.

It's basically an exam week.

During those tests, I was extremely bored because it was such a low standard. But I couldn't just score full marks for everything so I decided the next best thing was to score half for everything just to kill time. I might have taken the "average" part of a normal school life way too seriously.

It was quite easy to score 50 for all theory examinations, but the practical posed quite a challenge since I didn't know how the professor would grade.

Maybe I shouldn't have done that because I didn't expect it to come and bite me in the back...

I took a deep breath and spoke.

"Is there something wrong with that?"

I said while trying to sound nervous.

"Wrong?"

Says Estelle in a stern voice. She's usually emotionless, but right now she's more fierce than anything else. I probably could have rephrased my earlier sentenced better.

"I don't know why you would want to hide yourself, son of Count Raiser."

She knows who I am? Well I guess she did approached me first.

But this girl...Does she think I'm some sort of hidden master or something? Well I guess I am, but she's reading way too much into it. How the hell did she even find out that I got half for everything anyways? Isn't stuff like that only known by professors? I mean she is a princess, and I presume she has her ways, but why the hell is she paying attention to the middle class students' scores.

I tried to retort, but before I couldn't say anything she cut me off again.

"And now I'm sure after meeting you."

"Your aura. It's different from the others."

She mumbles as looks at me with eyes filled with awe.

This girl probably has a higher sensitivity to mana, that's why she was able to sense something from me. But even then that's impossible, I've been perfectly masking my powers to prevent anyone from knowing, not even the professors have any idea, so how could someone like her know?

Don't tell me she has some sort of special constitution or eyes that can see through anything. As much as that sounds interesting, I really don't want to get involved with her. Especially since she's a royal from a foreign country.

I look directly at her, her crystal blue eyes show a hint of sadness as she looks downwards. She places her right arm on her left shoulder and starts mumbling to herself again.

"I'll be watching."

Just like that she walked off.

Huh? Don't tell me she's gonna stalk me?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She did.

From day to night, from class to class, she follows me around. Even when I head to my dorm or the bathroom she's always there, behind me. She's even resorting to cloaking spells. I did try my best to subtly avoid her, but the more I do, the more suspicious she might get. It's better if I just play along.

Is what I thought the a week ago.

This bitch...IS DRIVING ME INSANE!

It's been over a week! Just give it up already. The only time I even get to get away from her is during curfew when we all have to get into our separate rooms.

Though it doesn't really affect me, the way others stare at me has gotten in the way of my NPC like character. It's breaking my image as a normal student.

The way the onlookers gossip and whisper about our relationship is killing me. I can feel death stares just by walking down the hallway, but the ones that have been giving me the hardest time are my two idiot friends.

Especially Corn, he got so jealous he stopped talking to me for a day.

I'm pretty sure because of all this stuff there's gonna be a rumor sooner or later.

I'd rather not have all this attention on me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"That's him?"

"Yes sir. He's the one the princess met and the one the rumors have been talking about."

"He seems normal."

Leroy looks at Rolan stroll down the alley way followed by Estelle and his eyes starts to narrow, showing a hint of displeasure.

"She doesn't even give me the time of day while she takes the initiative to talk to him?"

Leroy grows more frustrated and clenches his fight tightly.

"How should we torment him sir?"

"Make him an outcast?"

The boy on Leroy's left and senior of the two lackeys couldn't help but grin when the suggestion left his mouth.

"Torment?"

Leroy turns around and glares at his follower before shortly turning back to look at Rolan.

"Get rid of him."

"What sir! But he's a count's son..."

Leroy turns around and immediately slaps the follower to his right.

"Do I look like I care?"

Leroy thinks for a bit before turning back to face his minions once again.

"We still haven't found our last sample right?"

He says while breaking a smile. You could see his underlying sinister intentions seeping through.

"I'm sure master will love this."

He says while snickering hysterically. Meanwhile, the two other boys tense up and shudder at the display their leader was showing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night, the two sneaked into Rolan's room.

They were wearing both a black mask and had brought a small cloaking device given to them by their leader. The device masked their footsteps and made it extremely easy to infiltrate the dorms.

They hurriedly entered Rolan's room while trying not to make a single sound. On the outside they seemed calm and collected, but in reality they were very much afraid. Even if this wasn't the first time they had committed such an act, it would be a first for them to do it on a noble.

The senior of the two makes a gesture to his accomplice to start the job while he's on the lookout. The younger of the two, makes a frustrated reaction as he thinks his senior wants nothing to do with the crime of kidnapping a noble.

He hesitantly takes out a black bag from his pocket and slowly approaches Rolan who he thinks was still fast asleep. He slowly and carefully approaches Rolan, like a predator ready to pounce on its prey and then...

[Swoop]

The black bag covers Rolan's face and the younger feels relived. The bag had been made out of a special material which was capable of putting people to sleep. Perfect for the kind of crime they are doing. Now that he knew that the hardest part was done, he couldn't help but let out a sigh.

But the job wasn't complete yet, based on the plan given to them by their leader, they were to report back to him latest by 3am at the garden just outside the academy.

The junior lifts Rolan's body and put him on his shoulder. In the next few minutes, they rush out of the room and make their way back to their leader's room.

When they arrived, they were met with a grunt.

"You are late."

Says Leroy, tapping his finger on his arms while having them folded. He glares at the two and they proceed to bow to apologize. On they outside they were being fully apologetic but on the inside none of them felt sorry at all. In fact, when they bowed, the both of them couldn't help but sneer at the boy standing in front of them. They knew of Leroy's temper and attitude after being his bodyguards from a young age, but they still couldn't get over how he treated them.

"Let's move."

Leroy storms out into a dark alleyway with the two boys following him.