The Alchemists

"Mel... get up ... You are innocent. They are only bullies who use their parents' power to oppress others. You cannot let them bully you..."

Aleksis hurriedly knelt to get Mel on her feet, but Anjali immediately slapped her cheek very hard. Aleksis who did not expect the assault did not manage to defend herself on time. Her body stumbled to the side.

She almost hit the hard table when in a split second someone jumped out and caught her body.

Aleksis did not get slammed on the table but on a rather broad chest of a tall young man dressed in a gray shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The young man quickly protected her. Because he was hugging Aleksis' it was his back that received the impact.

"Ugh ..." The young man grunted. He quickly balanced himself and made sure the girl was unharmed. "Are you okay?"

He released Aleksis from his arms and touched her cheeks which had turned red from Anjali's slap.

Aleksis stared at Nicolae. His face was only inches from hers so she found herself unable to say anything.

The cafeteria immediately exploded into turmoil.

"Hey ... Nicolae ... why are you protecting her ?!" Anjali protested with a very angry face. "She deliberately challenged me and looked for trouble even though I was more of a senior than her. I was simply giving her lessons to respect the seniors. She is just a sophomore, but her attitude towards seniors had been very rude."

Nicolae didn't care about Anjali at all. He repeated his question to Aleksis.

"Are you alright? Does your face hurt?"

Aleksis shook her head slowly. "Th... thank you ..."

She broke away from Nicolae who was still touching her cheek attentively.

They had only met four times, but Nicolae's attitude toward her was too caring. Aleksis felt uncomfortable, especially after considering that this young man was one of the IDEAL HUSBAND CANDIDATES of the girls on the campus.  He was the reason why she got bullied this morning in a public lecture class. Ugh ...

Aleksis intended to tease the girls by sticking herself to Terry and make them jealous, but that was because Terry was her own brother. She did not want to get involved with Nicolae and add more to her problems.

"If you want to have lunch, there is a better table ..." Nicolae said, smiling broadly. He took Aleksis' food tray from Anjali's table and pulled Aleksis' hand before leading her to a spot in the corner. "I eat here. You can use my table anytime..."

What is wrong with this Nicolae? wondered Aleksis, confused. Since class this morning Nicolae had been too friendly to her, as if they knew each other.

However, they were NEVER formally acquainted. The first time they met was when he teased her about how her yawning would get her to eat flies. The second time was when Aleksis mistakenly hugged him from behind thinking he was Prince Siegfried.

The third was when they encountered each other within the Continental Building elevator. The last was their meeting as teacher-student in the public lecture class this morning.

They were not even friends. Why did he so kindly allow Aleksis to eat at his dining spot?

"Yours? Aren't all the tables on this campus owned by the university? Why do you people claim all the tables? Did you buy it yourself and bring it here?" Aleksis asked curtly. "If so, tomorrow I will also bring my own table."

Nicolae laughed at Aleksis' words. "We did not bring our own table here, but if you become one of the campus' seniors, there are some advantages you can get and privileges that go with that status. This includes your favorite table that will not be disturbed by others. Over the past years, no one has used this table because they respect me. That's all."

Aleksis was about to argue, but when she turned to Anjali and saw the girl and her four cronies look very furious yet could not utter a thing, she felt relieved. Mel was also gone as soon as she saw Nicolae came to help Aleksis, so she won't have to face Anjali's fury for standing up for Aleksis.

Hmm ... they are angry but cannot touch me since Nicolae is around, she hypothesized.

Aleksis finally sat down on a chair in front of him and continued gorging on her meal. Nicolae watched her for a few moments then smiled broadly and joined her for lunch.

Anjali and her friends could only look at them from afar with annoyed faces. People in the cafeteria also began talking about the incident. The discussion about it immediately became a hot topic on St. Mary's Splitz social media group.

After eating, Aleksis raised her face and looked at Nicolae. This young man made her curious.

He was very handsome so it was only natural for him to have a lot of fans. But Aleksis did not expect him to be so smart that he could become a teacher assistant this semester.

Just now as well, he showed how good his heart was when he helped her from Anjali and her friends. This was despite Aleksis still hiding her true appearance. This proved that Nicolae did not judge people by their outward appearances. 

"Why did you help me earlier?" Aleksis asked, probing.

"Hmm ..." Nicolae stopped his meal and took a sip of water. After that, his attentive eyes stared back at the girl. "I don't know. For some reason, it feels like we're always bumping into each other. I think you're an interesting person. I'm just curious ..."

"Curious?"

"You deliberately covered up your beauty and made yourself look unattractive by wearing a stupid and old-fashioned outfit... I wonder why people like you want to appear ugly in public. All the women I know want to look beautiful, but you're the opposite. This has piqued my interest since last Friday. If I'm curious I will think about it nonstop until I lose sleep." Nicolae confessed.

"Jeez ... just out of curiosity?" Aleksis shook her head then fixated her gaze at Nicolae. At first glance, this young man looked like Alaric. Even the hair looked similar.

Ah, if she could see Alaric's face, surely she would be able to compare them better.

"Yes, just out of curiosity. Can you tell me what your goal is? Why did you get into this campus only to disguise yourself in such a way?" Nicolae questioned her bluntly.

"Uhm ..." Aleksis did not prepare an excuse. It was never in her expectations that somebody would suspect her disguise on her first day in college. She could only massage her own forehead.

"Yes?" Nicolae was still waiting for Aleksis' reply.

"Alright..." Aleksis felt that an honest answer was her best choice at the moment. "I don't have friends since I have always been studying with a private teacher. I came here because I wanted to make female friends ... but I didn't expect the girls on campus to be corny."

"Why do you have to look ugly?" Nicolae asked, not understanding.

Aleksis took a deep breath. "I have a really bad sense of fashion. Are you happy?"

Nicolae narrowed his eyes and studied Aleksis' face, "I think you are keeping a secret. I'm sure behind your disguise, you are actually very beautiful."

Hearing such frank words from a very handsome young man who praised her beauty even though she totally looked unbearable inevitably made Aleksis' heart quiver. For a while, she could not find her voice.

Both stared and assessed each other without speaking.

Suddenly Aleksis and Nicolae's attention were pulled away. They heard a scream from the table where Anjali and her friends were sitting. Presumably, Anjali was about to walk toward the counter when she suddenly slipped and fell hard on the floor. Her clothes were torn and she was screaming for help from her ladies-in-waiting.

A lot of excitement ensued as everyone tried to help her stand up and cover up her torn clothes.

[Sorry, miss, this place is too crowded. Let's meet at the dorm later this afternoon. I already avenged the girl for you. Sorry, we were not fast enough to help you earlier.]

Not long after, she got a text message from Takeshi. Aleksis then realized that whatever happened to Anjeli was the deeds of her new bodyguard.

Ha! Take that, evil girl! she thought exasperatedly.

[Alright, see you later.]

Aleksis glanced around trying to find Takeshi or Mischa but did not manage to see anyone looking like the people she was searching for.

She understood that they saw what happened earlier and had also intended to help her. Nicolae just happened to be faster than them due to proximity.

Hmm ... Aleksis just realized, maybe they would report this to Alaric? If so, they would then mention to him that she was saved by a very handsome young man and that they were now having lunch together?

She wanted to know how Alaric would respond once he heard about it ...

Would Alaric be jealous?