In All the Wrong Places (2 of 2)

Because of the prince's 'courting' my fragile peace with the other girls has broken apart. I now suffer attacks and ridicule from them. When I am walking, wind will suddenly blast up my dress exposing me in front of the boys, ice would form under my feet causing me to fall and those were the subtle ones. Others would get right in my face to call me names implying that I was loose and immoral. It was as if I was the one chasing after him. The teachers seem to be turning a blind eye to the antics, perhaps the reason was just that I was a peasant and they were nobility. I did not know.

Lilly and Bella have been trying to help. We would huddle up in one of their rooms and plan. I had tried offering my room, but they liked using theirs because their retainers would be around to bring us food and drinks. Every plan we came up with failed though. It was bittersweet. We had a great time together but watching every plan we came up with fail was annoying.

The week had passed slowly, and wherever I went, I would either have the girls stalking me or the people Gideon had following me. It was disturbing and my nerves were becoming frayed. The classrooms were my only safe haven. I had the teachers stop Gideon from making a scene in them and so far it has worked. The open stalking I suffered, was his response to that. He used his people to know my location to make a scene outside of the rooms. My charm resistance seems to be helping. When we do meet, I do not always feel the charm effect. It is my only silver lining.

I finally had to give up on stalking the prince. With all the extra attention from the female student body, I found it hard to not be noticed. My friends offered to help but Gideon was a prince. The fact that he could destroy their families did not sit well with me. He should have guards around and we were not spies. I figured they were just really good at their job and even if we did not see them, they were still there. Perhaps they even informed him when I was around so getting secret information would be impossible. The fact that every plan failed just showed how good they really were. I could not ask them to take that risk.

Instead I have been watching Stacy since they were together at the library and may be in this together. It was a long shot at best but I held onto my hope like a drowning man grabbing at a life preserver that was just out of reach. The fact was, Stacy was a boring girl. She was a lesser noble and she did not seem to have any friends as far as I could tell. Unless she was with Gideon she would just stay in her room. I had given up following her after just a few days. There was only so much time in the day and wasting mine stalking a girl that did nothing made me question my plan. Instead I have decided to go to the library religiously. I began to download new books each day and then try to hide myself away to read them. Sometimes he would find me and sometimes I would see him looking around. I would take note if he searched with others.

I had tried to figure out why he was so attached to me but honestly have no idea why he is obsessing. While I designed myself to be pretty, there were other pretty girls. Some even showed interest in him.

My research has paid off in a few ways. I have read there are two types of enchanters. The ones that have the ability to use it through their magic and those that rely on outside forces. My hunch was he was using outside forces because the last time I saw him using his magic he seemed to be an elemental summoner, a powerful one at that. And while he could be multi-talented, I did not think so. He did not seem dedicated enough. So, if could find his supplier I could get rid of the threat. Perhaps not permanently but it could buy me some time.

The other thing I found was a potion formula. It was expensive and hard to make. I had to take up a small loan to get all the ingredients but if it works the way it was described it will be worth it. The potion would help increase resistance growth. It would last 24 hours, and any magical attacks would permanently boost the resistance it targets. There are of course a few draw backs besides the expense. After taking the potion it also increases the resistance to the potion itself. After two uses the potion will no longer work on a person. It also tastes horrible and keeping it down is tricky. There was also a small chance of decreasing a person's resistance if it was made incorrectly.

If I could boost my resistance enough, he would not be as big of a threat. With that thought in mind I decided to make the potion since I was having no luck tracking down his supplier. I had wasted enough time following the people that assisted him. I have been all over the campus with this futile stalking episode and no matter which noble I followed I always came up with nothing of merit. The hardest one was scoping out the male dorms which did not do my reputation any good.

So, after I found a secure area, in the form of Lilly's room, I began to make my potion. We were going to go test it out afterwards. If it failed, I wanted some people around to stop me from doing anything foolish. Brewing it took me a lot of time. I had gotten enough materials to brew three potions and each one took at least an hour to make. I kept myself focused as if my life depended on it. After an hour, I finally finished one, placed it on the side table, and began the next one.

Putting the cork in the last flask after three hours, I felt confident this was going to work. Each potion was a light blue. Just the way it was described. Turning to collect the others I saw Lilly's retainer grabbing them up just to toss them onto the floor. With the sound of glass shattering, my confident smile crumbled apart. My hard work was destroyed and two of the flasks were ruined just like that.

"Oh, I am so clumsy. I am so sorry." Her tone was full of apology. Her face had a look of innocence and if I had not seen her do it, I would believe it was an accident. She looked at the last flask. Her eyes never left it once she saw it. "Perhaps, we should put that in a safer place, so it is secure. I can take it for you."

Was this girl an idiot? She just said she was clumsy and now wants to hold onto the glass flask. Clutching the last flask to my bosom, I answered, "No thank you I think I will hold onto it."

I figured she would come up with another plan or argue but instead I saw her face changing. Her innocent facade was replaced by rage. "You can't fight him! He is ALWAYS RIGHT!!!" her voice went up a notch and her eyes had a crazy look to them as she charged me. Screaming like a banshee I saw her rushing toward me. It was only a few feet and I had no time to dodge. I knew right then we had been looking in all the wrong places. Why use nobles when their retainers were always around? It all fell into place but sadly too late to prevent this.