an illusion of mind

"I've been meaning to ask you something..." the prince said his back turned to Regina.

"what is it?" she asked whistling a tune, carefree.

"he's actually going to do it...." Bella mumbled, peaking from behind a tree.

"I've been meaning to ask you something..." he said.

Bella's face turned red and she turned around and started running away back to camp, 'I don't want to see it! it's too embarrassing.!' she yelled inwardly and in seconds she reached camp panting heavily.

"Bella? are you okay?" a voice asked in front of her, she looks up to see Arron looking down at her in concern, she quickly wipes her sweat and stands up.

"i-it's nothing... let's spar." she said turning serious.

"s-so suddenly?" Arron said but before he knew it he had a wooden stick in his hands and across from him was Bella, also wielding a wooden stick.

Bella and Arron got to know each other, because they were one of the first to wake up early in the morning and exercise, they had gotten familiar with each other these past few days.

Arron gulped and readied himself, he knew he was going to lose, because Bella was a monster in battle, like a machine that loses it's emotions once the fight starts.

"ready? go." she said as she vanished from his vision and lunged at him with immense speeds, he blocked barely though but she was relentless, he jumped back and landed on his feet creating distance between them.

he knew he was in for a world of pain.

"you're not truly a close range fighter are you? you're just adept at it." the prince said turning to her, Regina froze when she heard this.

"what you truly are, is a mage, one that specializes in illusions no?" he said fully turning to her.

"...so?" she said tilting her head to the side, "that isn't exactly secret information, I just hadn't told anybody or shown my skills." she said calmly.

"that's still hiding it. and that's not all I know..." he trailed off glaring at her, "Varcan." he spat almost in disgust.

"... how'd you know~" she said her smile widening putting a finger on her chin tilting her head in amusement and curiosity.

"I have my ways, plus, those red eyes aren't exactly hard to miss." he said half glaring at her eyes.

"you're right, 67% of Varcans have a hue of red in their eyes." she said explaining.

"and also all Varcans, weather it be citizens or soldiers or nobles, all of them, are forbidden from entering the territory of any kingdom or empire associated with the stellar empire..." he trailed off glaring at her fully now in both suspicion and curiosity, "so how'd you manage?"

"I also have my ways. what are you even planning on doing with this information?" Regina asked her smile never leaving her face.

"the penalty for a Varcan being found in the empire, is death at worst, and life in prison at least." he said.

"and?" she said her smile never leaving her face, she was growing increasingly amused.

"so I have a proposal, since you managed to squeeze yourself into prism academy somehow, I think you're pretty skilled." he said taking a step towards her extending a hand, "so what do you think about working for me. and in exchange I won't report you to school faculty." he finished.

"..." Regina looked down at his hand her amusement reaching it's peak and the dam broke, she started laughing loudly.

the prince just looked at her disappointed, he expected a reaction like that, "what did I expect of a Varcan..." he said shaking his head.

once Regina was done laughing she looked back up at Evan, "Evan, you want me to spy on your sister don't you?" she said dropping all honorifics, her voice shaking as she held in more laughter.

"exactly, and you will have to do it, otherwise I would report you as a Varcan in the empire." he said glaring at her.

Regina chuckled some more and looked back at him, "you missed one small thing prince Evan~"

"what did I miss?" the prince tilted his head to the side curiously, he was sure. he was sure his plan was perfect, so what did he miss?

"this is prism academy! it is a force of it's own, even the empire can't meddle with it's affairs~" she laughed some more, "and the one rule here in prism academy that can't be overwritten! is that everyone is welcome! as long as they have talent!" she said loudly.

"even a gods damn goblin is welcome as long as it has talent!" she said chuckling.

"so, as long as I am in prism and continue showing promise! nothing would happen to me~" she said finally finishing.

"..." the prince was stunned, he had made another mistake, he completely overlooked these rules and how prism operated.

"but don't worry prince Evan, I don't want to be annoyed by the empire's idiots after I graduate, so I'll fulfil that request of yours." she said calming down and smiling.

"... you would?" he said slightly taken aback by her statement.

"I will, I just wanted to let you know that I will not be a servant for you to order around, this is simply a cooperative relationship, so you better fulfil your part of the deal." she said wagging her finger in front of him as if she's warning him.

'this should shut him up...' Regina thought, both of us don't need each other, and can discard one another any time, however both of us want the convenient way so we have to cooperate or we'll make things harder for each other.

the prince could tell on me, but I'm good for the next 5 years until I graduate which is all I need, and he can appoint other people to spy on his sister, but no one is as good as me an illusionist at this, especially if he got someone from the outside, he would be in huge trouble for appointing a spy on his sister, which is his rival to the throne.

the king had made it clear that any attempts to sabotage one another while in the academy will immediately prohibit the right to the throne of the side that initiated the sabotage.

"..." he narrowed his eyes at her.

"I'll see you later dear prince, and don't forget our deal." she said before walking back towards the camp.

"...this Varcan..." he gritted his teeth before letting out a sigh, the mere thought that an agent from the Varcan empire had made it so deep into prism sent shivers down his spine, 'is she the only one... or are there more?', he almost didn't want to know, "I'll humour you for now..." he said before he walked after her.

back at camp, the prince and Regina returned after a while and the prince was visibly upset at something, this didn't escape Bella's eyes and she sighed, 'he must have gotten rejected...' she thought before looking back down at Arron.

"get up." she said.

"I can't..." he said, his body was riddled with bruises and dirt, he was beaten up by her, meanwhile she had a simple scratch on her shoulder and that's it.

"... let's take a break." she said.

"..." he just stared up at her from the ground, he had a face of exhaustion.

"what? you don't want a break?" she asked confused.

"n-no! i do" he stammered to correct himself.

he got up off the ground and sat down next to her.

after a moment of silence he spoke up, "what do you think Regina and the prince were talking about they took a while... and the prince doesn't seem pleased." he said turning to Bella.

at this, Bella froze her cheeks turned slightly pinkish, "o-oh... it's probably nothing important..." she said he smile faltering.

'...that Regina to even reject a prince...' she thought inwardly.

"hey guys, what are you doing?" a voice said from behind, they both turned to see David with a bottle of purified sea water, David was a warrior too, he utilized a battle axe to fight.

"just... sparring..." Bella said turning away from him and looking at the night sky, the sea sparkled reflecting the stars of the night.

it was a beautiful sight, and Bella just wanted to take a moment to enjoy it, she hugged her knees to her chest and just watched, David and Arron were chatting about something idiotic as usual.

'this... I could get used to this...' Bella thought to herself, despite being a noble, she wasn't as sheltered as the others, she had earned her place at the royal class, not to say the others didn't as well, but some might have done a little more than just earn their spots.

she looked back at the camp which was lit up by several torches and campfires, the sound of people chatting reverberated in the night, it was lively, and Bella liked it.

being surrounded by her friends, laughing and chatting and also not slacking off on her training, it was lovely, she wished she could stay like this for longer but the test would be finished in two days.

"Bella, so if you swing the sword like this, how should I parry it or counter it if possible." Arron asked her swinging his sword.

Bella smiled and got up and started showing him the right way to counter.