Chapter 17

The guilt of what I’d done to Ms. Diane coalesced inside me like a gnawing pit of despair. The following morning, I woke up with a splitting headache and a feeling like I wanted to throw up. I couldn’t even look at myself in the mirror, as I felt only disgust. I had always thought that I was a good guy. Although I slept with my best friend and my girlfriend at the same time, this was only because I wanted both women to be happy, and I just had too much love to give. However, I never thought I’d be capable of just having my way with someone.

“No! It’s not me!” I snapped, dipping my hands into my reflection within the bowl of water at my bedside and splashing it on my face. “It’s those damned pheromones!”

I was no more guilty of sleeping with Ms. Diane than I was guilty of sleeping with my Faith. I was forced. Cheated. Controlled. It was their fault. That evil king and his evil children did this. It was also Faith’s fault. Who told her to dress so slutty and act so alluring?

I spent the better part of the morning creating small balls of cotton from the loose strings of my clothing. I rolled them up tightly and then shoved them deep into my nostrils. It was uncomfortable, and I had no choice but to breathe through my mouth, but I would never be taken for a ride again. I would be in control of my own body from now on.

After I was done washing up, I went to the mess hall, but Ms. Diane wasn’t there. I didn’t want to give the royalty any more reasons to cause trouble for me, so I went and worked my job for the rest of the day. When I got off, I went looking for Ms. Diane. I had to apologize to her. I had to make her understand that it wasn’t me in control. I spotted her walking down the hallway around the female dorms. When she saw me, though, her expression turned fearful, and she turned her heel and fled in the opposite direction.

I tried to pursue her, but I only took a few steps when. “Hey! Where do you think you’re going?”

A guard called out to me. His voice was loud enough that a few women poked their heads out of their rooms and looked in my direction.

“Ah… s-sorry, I was trying to talk to Ms. Diane.”

“You can talk to women tomorrow when she leaves the dorm!” the guard nearby barked.

The guards didn’t watch the female dorm religiously, but they did set a curfew and forbid men from entering the women’s dorm. That’s why I had to sneak in after hours. Unfortunately, it was too early for that, and there were too many people about. I ended up heading back to my room, unable to accomplish anything. I thought about coming later, but I ended up falling asleep before I could do anything.

“Are you sick, bro?”

“Why do you ask?” I blinked.

Two more days had passed, and I still hadn’t managed to reach Ms. Diane. Whenever she saw me, she left immediately. She’d use other students to hide and avoid me. I was starting to grow very depressed.

“Your voice sounds very nasally like you’re stuffed up.”

“Maybe it’s a cold.”

“You should ask Nina for help. She can heal people. John broke his hand during practice, and she fixed it up the next day.”

“Oh?” I wasn’t really paying attention.

I knew who Nina was, but I had never really cared about her. She was a pretty girl, but not as pretty as Kate, and I didn’t have any kind of former relationship with her like Willow, or Riley’s big titties. She trained with the other magicians, but since Kate had a personal tutor in Prince Cole, she didn’t even associate with the same people I associated with.

“The King considers her quite important. You might want to get her help before it’s too late.” Another guy joked.

“Don’t make jokes like that, dude. The King is married.”

“I didn’t mean it like that!” The guy protested. “I just meant they might send her out on a mission, as they did with Ms. Diane.”

I had only passively been listening to them, but as soon as I heard Ms. Diane’s name, I perked up. “What did you say?”

“Huh? They’re sending people out on missions. You know, they sent all of the best fighters like Willow to do goblin subjugation.”

“No, about Ms. Diane!”

“Oh, yeah, she’s left the castle for a while. The royal family had some secret task for her.”

“Lucky…” One of the other guys groaned. “I know this place is large, but after being stuck in here for months, I’d love a day out on the town.”

“Out… on the town,” I repeated, but my mind was already going elsewhere.

It wasn’t until I was back in the treasury, identifying the various magic items, that I truly began to think about it. A mission? Now? This all felt far too convenient. Ms. Diane being sent out just after I told her about the royal family’s true behavior? I started to feel a spike of fear. Was it possible? Did the royal family dispose of her because she found out the truth? In that case, what would they do with me?

My hands shook, and I nearly dropped the item. I wouldn’t make that same mistake again. I very carefully set it down. I was breathing hard. In fact, I felt dizzy. I couldn’t get enough air. I grabbed at my nose, but the cotton balls were shoved up there too far to pull out. As I desperately tried to get my breath, I fell back on the far wall. I had to figure out a way to escape. They were going to kill me to shut me up. No, they’d send me on some mission and then kill me off.

I leaned back hard, and that’s when I felt a stone behind me shift. A moment later, there was a groaning sound, and I couldn’t help but let out a yelp as the wall behind me fell away. My back hit the floor as a cold, musty breeze raced over me. The shock of it somehow brought my breathing back into order. I sat up, looking around. It took me a moment to realize that the wall in the back of the treasury had opened up into a crawlspace.

I looked through the crawlspace to see a dark, abandoned hallway. I scrambled away from the door, my heart hammering against my ribs. Was it a trick? Would spikes shoot up from the floor? I waited, tense and ready to run, but nothing happened. That’s when I heard some voices in the hallway. I quickly shut the door and went back to work.

Yet, now that I had seen it, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. That space looked like it hadn’t been used in countless years. It appeared forgotten. I shook my head a few times, but my eyes always went back to the door. It could be some kind of trap, some way of luring me to my untimely death. However, it could be my saving grace. I finally sighed, lighting a lantern and then opening it up one more time.

I only took a single long breath before stepping into the darkness. The air was stale and smelled of mildew and old stone. The tunnel was rough-hewn, clearly ancient and forgotten. I walked very slowly, taking my time to avoid any accidental traps. It would only be too embarrassing if I ended up dying in this darkness and no one ever even knew about it. I was beginning to think the tunnel led nowhere, but that’s when I heard voices. I froze, extinguishing my lantern and creeping forward in the dark. I realized that I recognized the voices as well.

“You really are an amazing woman, Kate. Your magic power grows stronger every day. Soon, you will be more powerful than me.” This was the voice of Prince Cole.

“How can that be possible?” Kate’s voice sounded bashful. “You’re my teacher. Everything I know, I learned from you.”

“No, I meant it. You’re not just strong, but your intuitive. Like the thing you did with that wind spell. I never would have thought temperature could be used to cause wind.”

“It’s just stuff I learned in school, simple meteorology.” She responded.

“Your world, it really is a strange one. I wish I could visit your world, just once.”

“M-my world? Perhaps, when your father sends us back, you can visit?”

“Then… ah, I suppose that is possible!” He sounded confused at first, but then let out a laugh. “So, that’s a date then?”

“Cole! I already told you… I have a boyfriend.”

“Yes… I’ve seen him. The one with the identification ability. I’ve seen him flirting with other girls, including my sister!”

“That… although Conner can be a bit… unfaithful, he really is a good and caring person.”

I couldn’t help but feel a swell of happiness when I heard her words. How did Kate always know what to say when I needed to hear it? She didn’t even know I was present, and yet she still managed to soothe me. I really did love her.

“If you say so…” Cole sounded doubtful. “So, your world accepts polygamy frequently? In my world, a man dedicates his life to a woman. If you were mine, I would care for and respect you. You’d be the only woman in my heart.”

“Ah, it’s not… like that.” Her voice sounded a bit defeated. “He loves me.”

“Does he? It seems to me he cares more about himself. He’s never around. He plays with other women. He can’t even satisfy you.”

“Y-you don’t know what you’re talking about…” Her voice was quiet, submissive.

“I know enough,” Cole said, reaching out to tilt her chin up. “You are a woman of nobility and grace. You should be with a man who can match that. Someone who can give you what you need. Who can make you feel alive?”

“…”

She didn’t respond to those words. I wanted her to refute them, but her quiet seemed to be more damning than anything. I wish I could see their faces, but all I could do was listen to the conversation through the uninsulated rock. I couldn’t see the expression on their faces or their current positions. My hand was in a fist and trembling with anger.  I wanted to burst through the wall and smash his face in, but I forced myself to stay still. I was powerless to do anything about it.

In the end, I could only continue down the path. I didn’t want to hear anymore. I gritted my teeth as I turned my head away. That’s when a light caught my eye. With the lantern off, it was easier to see. I walked a few steps away and was able to discover a small floor vent that opened into a room above. When I looked into it, though, I found it wasn’t the prince’s room, but a room stylized for a girl. This must be Princess Maria’s room. She wasn’t in it at that moment, but the elegant, clean style filled with pastels was unmistakably hers.

With the light to guide me, I noticed there was a latch that likely opened a hidden entrance like the one I had found. I bet that the prince’s room had one as well. In fact, I guessed that this entire path was some kind of emergency escape route. It connected the treasury to the royal rooms. The intention was clear. In the event of an attack, they would take their wealth and escape while the soldiers outside died in their name.

However, it wasn’t clear if the nobles even knew about this. Such castles got passed down generation after generation, or were conquered. I had no clue if the current royal family was even the same family that built this castle. We were never offered any history books. This might have been a route now only known by me. If that was the case, then maybe I really had found a means of escaping the castle undiscovered!