Through Hanna, a friend of Cindy, I learned that Cindy wasn’t attending the afternoon classes for two days. So after our conversation, I immediately ran towards the end of the hallway. Then, after I reached the isolated part, I called Cindy’s phone.

“Please answer,” I whispered in desperation as I waited while her phone rang. But she didn’t answer. I tried to make another one but to no avail.

“She’s not answering it?” Pixie asked in a worried face while she floated next to me.

“Yeah. I’ll message her instead,” I said, but before I entered a text, I received a message from Cindy.

CINDY: Sorry, I can’t answer phone calls right now. Is something wrong?

“She’s asking that at a time like this?” I reacted in vexation and typed my reply.

ME: Why are you skipping classes? Did somebody request you to do that?

She didn’t reply for a few minutes. I waited for her message as patient as I could and finally, a new one appeared on my phone’s screen.

CINDY: I have a reason. I don’t want to involve you in my problems anymore. I can do this on my own, so please trust me.

When I saw that, I immediately tried to call her once again.

“Aren’t we friends? Why are you talking like you’re a stranger to me.”

I listened to the sound of her ringing phone, but no matter how long I called her, she didn’t answer any of it.

“Prince...” Pixie whispered, worried.

Left with no choice, I stopped and faced Pixie.

“Can you use your magic to locate Cindy? I need to see her,” I requested in a serious expression. “Please, Pixie.”

“Don’t worry. I will. I’ll leave the rest to you, Prince,” Pixie replied with a similar look as me.

“Yeah.”

She then swung around her wand and pointed it towards the ground. After that, glitters appeared on the path that would lead to the said location of Cindy.

“Good luck, Prince,” Pixie whispered with a smile and lost her consciousness. I caught her with my hands and placed her inside my breast pocket.

“Wait for me, Cindy,” I muttered and followed the glitters.

──◈─▣─♕─▣─◈──

With the sun near the horizon, I continued my run as I followed the trail. Then, I reached the end of the glitters, only to find myself in front of the mansion where Cindy seemed to work.

“So she already went home,” I whispered in an exhausted look, with my uniform drenched in sweat. After I caught my breath, I went to the gate and rung the doorbell. Then, a middle-aged woman wearing a maid uniform appeared after opening the small gate.

“Uhmm... I’m a friend of Cindy. Can you please get her? I need to talk to her,” I explained to the kind-looking woman.

“Please wait a minute. I’ll call her,” she responded with a polite smile.

“Thank you.”

She closed the gate, and I waited for more than a minute. After a while, the maid appeared once again with a sad expression.

“I’m sorry but she’s not feeling well so she can’t see you,” she explained in a gloomy look.

“I... see...” I whispered, surprised.

So she doesn’t even want to meet me.

“Then, can you please tell her this message?” I requested with a serious face.

“What is it?”

“Please tell her this. ‘Please trust me too because I’m your friend. I’ll be waiting for your call.’ That’s all.”

When she heard those words, she smiled and replied, “I’ll deliver it.”

“Thank you very much,” I said with a bow.

After that, I went home. As I lay on my bed, thoughts formed inside my mind.

“I have a reason. I don’t want to involve you in my problems anymore. I can do this on my own so please trust me, huh,” I repeated her message in a blank look at the ceiling.

It’s not like I don’t trust her. But I can’t help but get worried that something bad will happen to her if this keeps up. I can’t wait and do nothing while she’s dealing with a problem. I need to do something or I’m a failure as a friend.

“Please call me, Cindy...” I whispered in a wish.

But I waited for the entire night and didn’t receive a single call from anyone.

──◈─▣─♕─▣─◈──

The next day, Thursday, I immediately told Pixie my plan for lunch after she woke up. She agreed to do it and wished me luck once again. With that, we went to school as usual and waited for the lunch break.

“There he is,” Pixie said to me after she spotted Rizelle’s bodyguard. Soon after, the lunch break came, so I gave Pixie a nod.

After she saw my signal, she pointed her wand towards the bodyguard and shouted, “Go!”

“Okay!” I responded and ran as fast as I could outside. As for the bodyguard, he only continued to gaze at my seat.

This is our plan. Pixie will use her illusion on Rizelle’s bodyguard to project me still sitting in my seat while I exit the room. She will do that for five minutes, letting me get away far enough so he can’t follow me. After Pixie finished buying me some time, she will go after me. Then, we will follow Cindy together and discover what is happening.

But before I arrived in front of Cindy’s classroom, I immediately saw her on the way towards the stairs.

“I won’t let you get away,” I whispered as I hid behind a pillar. Then I followed her. She walked at a regular pace with her eyes fixed ahead of her path. But when we arrived at the area near the cafeteria...

“Prince?” Hanna called, a little surprised. “What are you doing?”

Because of Hanna’s sudden appearance, I became stunned and looked at her.

“Hanna? I’m following someone.”

Then, I looked back at Cindy and saw that she was not there anymore.

“I lost her!” I shouted in panic.

“Uhmm... can you explain to me what’s happening here?” Hanna asked after she went before me.

“I’m following Cindy. I need to know where she’s going,” I explained in haste.

“Really? Then, did I screw up your plan?” Hanna asked, astounded.

“It’s no longer important. I have to follow her,” I said and looked around to see if I can still find Cindy.

“I’ll help you in searching,” Hanna suggested with a determined look. “Can you give me your contact information? I’ll inform you if I found her.”

“Okay,” I replied, and we exchanged numbers. After that, I ran forward while I searched everywhere with the hope to find Cindy.

“Prince!” Pixie called after she zipped next to me. “Did you find Cindy?”

“Not yet,” I replied as I sprinted. “Can you use your magic to locate her again?”

“I still can’t use any magic except illusion ones until the exact time that I used it yesterday, remember?”

“I forgot. Let’s search for her using our eyes then,” I replied, and both of us searched the surroundings together. We went from building to building, but we weren’t able to locate her. Then, after an hour of search, I received a message from Hanna.

HANNA: I found Cindy! She’s in the farthest room on the first floor of the abandoned school building.

“Pixie, let’s go!” I immediately shouted and ran to the mentioned destination. Pixie followed my lead through her flight.

──◈─▣─♕─▣─◈──

As I ran towards the old school building, I bumped into someone. The collision made that person bounced away up and down. Compared to her, I only almost lost my balance but maintained my footing right after.

“S-sorry about that!” I apologized in a surprised face. After that, I ran towards the sitting girl that I hit. She was a short and fat girl in school uniform. I offered a hand, and she looked at me with anger.

“How dare you attack me like that, you commoner!” she shouted in a foul mood.

“I’m sorry for not looking. Can you get up?”

“Wait... you’re...” she whispered with a slightly astonished face and made an evil smile after. “To think I’ll meet you here...”

“You know me?” I asked in a clueless face.

She grabbed my hand and stood up with a smile.

“My name is Anna, nice to meet you, prince,” she introduced with a curtsy.

“Wait, you know my name?”

“I know it because I’m your destined soul mate,” Anna answered with a proud smile.

“Uhmm... what nonsense are you talking about?” I asked with my eyes squinted.

“It’s not nonsense!” Anna retorted furiously. Then, her proud smile returned and followed, “Be honored because ‘I’ of all people fell in love with you.”

“Huh?” I reacted in irritation. “Sorry, but I’ve got no time for this.”

I then readied to run away, but she grabbed my arm with two hands.

“How dare you run away from me without giving me a proper reply!” Anna shouted as she pulled me while I resisted.

“I’m in a hurry here! You want a reply, right? Sorry, but I have someone I like already so go find yourself another soul mate!” I responded and finally pulled my arm away.

“Huh? What do you find unsatisfactory to a beauty like me?”

“Beauty?” I repeated in agitation and looked at her from head to toe. “I’m not into chubby types, that’s all there is to it.”

“You must be an idiot. This body type is the very definition of beauty,” Anna said and laughed out loud.

“Right. You can look for someone who’ll appreciate you. Adios!” I said and ran forward, but she grabbed my arm once again, making me stop.

“I said don’t run away from me!” Anna yelled in anger.

“What’s your problem? I said I need to get going!” I complained at the end of my patience.

“Then, how about this? I want you as my escort in the Yearly Ball this coming Saturday. Would you accept that honor?” Anna asked with a wink.

“I refuse so hurry and let go of me!” I answered and tried to pull away once again.

“You selfish prince! What do I need to do so you would become my escort?” she asked in desperation.

If this keeps up, I will only lose more time. I’ve got no choice but to bluff this one out.

“Then, if you became skinny before the ball, I’ll think about it!” I said and she let go of my arm. After that, I sprinted away as fast as I could.

“I see. Then meet me in the library’s rooftop tomorrow. Look forward to my transformation!” she announced in confidence and laughed out loud.

“That girl is crazy. I hope we won’t cross paths ever again in the future,” I whispered with squinted eyes as I ran.

“Hey, Prince,” Pixie called as she flew next to me.

“What is it?”

“That Anna girl from earlier...” she continued with a somewhat anxious expression.

“What about her?”

“She has the same aura as Rizelle.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.

“I can’t explain it. But... I’ve got a bad feeling about them,” Pixie followed, still anxious.

“Well, I think it’s because Rizelle and Anna are very weird compared to Arian and Cindy. You’re only not used to girls like that because you first met Arian and Cindy before them.”

“I hope you’re right,” she responded, still somehow unconvinced.

“Anyway, let’s go to the old school building now,” I said and ran faster with Pixie behind me.