Chapter 18: Friend or Foe?

Jealousy…Jealousy is dangerous. It can either benefit you or bring your downfall. 

Chelsea does not wait after uttering those words. Her eyes glowing with green… envious green-eyed jealousy. There is a light around her right fist, green flares start to form around her. It is as if she is consuming something, something powerful… something that can kill me…

Nope, pepper spray won't do the trick. I take out my knife. However, when it comes to knives and guns, unless you are a ninja, the gun always wins. Chelsea does not have a gun, but she has something even more powerful than a gun: magic. Everything happens in a second. 

Chelsea attacks me with her power, and huge green lights come towards me. I think my adrenaline might have worked that time because I dodged it. I slide to the other end, the place I was standing initially has burned. It is all in ashes.

"Running away will not help now," Chelsea says. 

"You see I have waited for years on end to become your friend to know your weakness. Your weakness is my strength… it is how I can take you down," she says. 

I laugh. She seems to be taken aback. 

"So you have finally lost it," she says.

"Hah… look at me. I kept snakes as my pets; how can I even complain about you? It is you who is filled with envy; the way you are carrying yourself says a lot about you and less about me," I say. I gather up the courage to face her. Though I am not the best at magic, I have physical strengths. If anything, I will make a run for it. Also, add some punches.

Her betrayal punched me in the heart.

Emotional wounds are much worse than physical wounds. 

You can apply some antidote to your physical wounds, but your emotional wounds require time and patience. Both of which are decreasing as days pass by. I am not here to provide a TED talk about how to heal yourself, but I think it is important to heal. 

"You dare harm me, you succumb-"Before she can finish her words, she falls to the ground. It was as if the wind blew her down. 

"Well, well, I wonder who it is-" I say teasingly. 

"I cannot leave you for a minute ,it seems, troublemaker," Carlen says as he appears out of thin air. 

Out of all the grief that takes place in my heart, seeing his face calms me down. It is as if all the problems of the world have disappeared. However, I cannot make it obvious. He is someone I met today, but why do I feel so comfortable around him? 

Am I missing out on something?

Chelsea stands up. 

"You got yourself a protector, it seems," she says. 

"For now, yes, I do not know anything about magic, but once I learn about it, I hope we meet as equals. Only then can it be fair. If you want to have a fair fight to death with me, we can do so by using brute physical forces with no magic. Only strength, endurance, and tactics," I say. Having Carlen around somehow makes me more confident. 

I think it is because I do not know much about magic. However, if I am the lost princess, I should have a lot of hidden magic in me waiting to be trained. Once, these things are over I request Carlen to train me. So that in the future I do not have to depend on someone to protect me. 

It is good to have a protector around you. Who would not want that? 

However, hardships teach the best lessons. I won't become so strong that unless I am near to death, no one shall protect me. They can accompany me, but I do not want anyone to forsake their lives for me. 

"You pesky little princess-" she says and goes to the terrace. She seems to be a bit aware of Carlen. 

"Hey, before you leave, are you the one who locked us up here earlier?" I say. 

"If not me, who do you think knows about your little private meeting with one of your future dukes of the empire?" She says, and leaves. 

Before I could interrogate them any further, she left the terrace, leaving Carlen and me alone. 

He is a future duke?! 

"I thought I would tell you later," he says. 

How many people are hiding things from me?

However, I cannot blame him. The friendship I valued and cherished for years betrayed me. If she can do it, anyone can. To think she would leave me with trust issues.

I do not know this man even for a day, I cannot expect him to tell me that information on our first private meeting. I do not feel that he boosts about being a duke, it is how he carries himself. He seems to be aware of his position, his power, and his wealth, but he does not have the air of arrogance around him. 

My heart is racing. I think I will tear up in front of this man for how my dear friend decided to twist the knife at the core of my heart. I am not used to this. However, I do not want to be caught vulnerable to him. 

"I see," I say with no air of emotion at all. It is all robotic. 

"How do you feel?" He says 

"Spectacular," I say without thinking. Anytime people ask me about how I feel, I manage up a smile and say either "spectacular" or "fantastic."

I mean, what is he going to do if I say," I feel like I will cry and create an ocean"?

However, he does not seem to buy that answer. 

"You do not have to act tough all the time," he says. 

"Leave," I say because I know if he stays a second longer, he will see me with sworn eyes. 

Nobody ever told me what he said just then. 

-Thanks for reading-