Tale Spinster

EP 2: SCOLDING MY KIDNAPPER

"W–who are you?" I jumped at the sight of the foreign old man. But my knees bumped the desk hard, and I ended up hunching over, trying to soothe the pain.

The old man looked at me in puzzlement. He took a step forward, but when I took several steps backward and hit the shelf behind me; he stopped with wide eyes. The shelf vibrated viciously because of me. Deftly, I put my arms to stabilize the shelf. There was an antique vase on one of the top shelves that would have fallen to pieces l had I not stopped the shelf from shaking.

I sighed a relief because the least I wanted to do was to break something in someone else's house when I didn't even know how I got there in the first place.

"Princess? What is wrong?" the old man asked again. He was dressed like those butlers you see on television. Black suit and pants, black bow tie. His hair was white and his mustache curled at the ends.

He reminded me of Hercule Poirot from Agatha Christie's books.

But... why is he calling me a Princess?, I thought.

Wait...

I gasped as I realized something. "What time is it?" I asked. My eyes quickly traveled around the room, trying to find a clock. That was when I realize how... lavish the room was. It looked vintage, but modern and very elegant at the same time. All the furniture had red velvety fabric with golden rims. There were huge paintings on the walls and even bigger windows, along with golden curtains. And in the middle of the room hung an enormous chandelier with small bulbs of light.

"It is one past eight, Princess," the old man said after flicking on his pocket watch.

"One past eight?!" I cried out. "Oh my God, I'm late! I'm late!" I ran to the room's door and tried to yank the doorknob, but it wouldn't budge. Panic coursed through me as I kept moving the doorknob.

"You lock the door?" I raised my voice. Even putting one foot on the door to pull the door with more power. "Is this a kidnapping? Why would you kidnap me on the day of my exam?"

It was getting hard to breathe. My eyes watered. All I could think about was all the effort I have put into this one exam. The sleepless nights, days of not eating, and all the parties and fun gatherings I skipped just to study. All the time and energy I put in so I can ace this goddamn exam.

The door wouldn't budge. I let out a heavy sigh as tears fell on my cheeks. My shoulders hunched and shook vigorously.

"Princess...," the old man called from behind me, "What's the matter?"

I started banging on the door while crying. "Open the door... Please, you have to open the door. My family has nothing to offer you... And... and I'm not even the favorite child in my family."

Out of desperation, I even clawed at the door. My nails graze the sturdy wood, which, interestingly, smelled really nice and not woody. My head leaned on the door, feeling the coolness of the wood. This was one really fine wood.

"My family is not even as rich as you. Just look at this room," I said between my cries again, "This entire room is already three times more expensive than my organs would cost. And I have been eating only ramen for the past weeks, I haven't been sleeping enough, and I have mild asthma."

"What?" The old man seemed like he was playing dumb. "Princess, what are you talking about? What is... rum-men? And you always have nine hours of beauty sleep all day. You even slept during our lesson!"

I cried even more. The man must be lying. 

Nine hours of sleep a day? Tch. That is impossible! I would not get any As if I maintained nine hours of sleep every day. Who was this man kidding? Intellect is not just born, you know, we have to work hard to perform well academically too.