The Crown Prince Thinks I'm a Guy

Second Head Professor

Professor Whitaker was calling me to his office more and more frequently over the months. Now, barely two weeks before the the Test of Waning, he had called me again.

I've come to like him, actually, despite my still ongoing distrust. Honestly, though, I didn't have much trust to give. I just barely gave my trust to Albert and Joren, although I knew I couldn't tell them of any of my secrets and woes. After all, they were children. Regina and Farseer I could trust with my life, but they were so wholly different from me and from regular people that I could hardly confide in them. Janmira... Well, she was Janmira. Of course, Zepherin was as secretive as she was once talkative, and I hardly knew her in the most blunt of truths. My brothers were royalty. Prince Charles was even a worse kind of royalty, so...

I sighed, and knocked at the door evenly.

"Come in." The professor's voice sounded muffled, but to my trained ears, it was clear as day. I quickly turned the knob and came in.

He looked up at me through his reading glasses. "Do you always just barge in after knocking, boy?"

I furrowed my brows at him. "You just told me to come in."

His eyes widened for a miniscule second before turning back to his strict face. "Apologies, I did. Come, sit here."

Like always, his room was in its same pristine condition. Already feeling at ease, I sat down comfortably on the chair and picked up a roll of parchment out from the table. I admired the clean work, thinking about whether the royal documents used in the Kingdom had paper as well-made as these.

"... I see you are as curious as ever, but of the most mundane of things," the gray eyed man observed.

Looking up, I asked, "What do you mean?"

"You rubbed and tinkered at the material of the parchment, but never glanced at the written contents," he explained.

I shrugged. "I didn't receive your permission to read it, so of course I wouldn't read it. I was simply admiring the quality of the paper. The Academy definitely has a lot of funds if she can afford to give such quality products to her staff members."

The man chuckled. "Dear boy, if all the members of the staff were to be given even a single roll of Punowan parchment, then the Academy would be bankrupt twice over."

I blinked up at him. "Is the Academy short of funds, sir?"

He unexpectedly snorted. "On the contrary, she is filled to the brim with treasure and gold."

"Then..." My hands started to shake as I stared down at the paper on my hands. It really was so smooth and clean and white... "Is this really so expensive?!"

Scared to even touch it anymore, I began to roll it back into it place, careful in all my handling. The man laughed at my predicament. "It was only a fib, my dear boy."

I was pushing it back to its place when my mind quickly registered his words. I inched up to look at him. "... You lied? But now I'm actually curious about what's written there..."

He smiled at me evenly, and carefully removed the paper from below my outstretched hands before I could try to sneak a peak at its words. He too stroked at the pristine material as he said, "Though not completely a lie, of course. This is indeed Punowan parchment, and only very few could gain access to its secretive traders and actually afford to pay, but the Academy won't ever be bankrupt from buying whole boxes of these papers. As I've told you, I only lied a little bit."

My left eye twitched, but decided to let my annoyance disperse into the wind. "I've only come to realize it, but you really do seem to have a childish side to you, Professor Whitaker."