The Perks of Being Ugly

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

I have always been alone.

After my mother lost interest in me, I realized that no one would bother how I lived, as long as I don't actually die. There was even a time when I suffered from a high fever, and my remaining servant begrudgingly gave me medicine simply to keep his job.

He said so himself, as he forced the bitter medicine down my throat.

That's why I decided not to bother with people anymore.

As soon as I found the magic tome in a small room beneath the staircase four years ago, I have been teaching myself spells of illusions, of hiding and of concealment. Skills I would need to move around in the darkness and defend myself from danger, for I knew that no one else would protect me but myself.

With it I was able to hide from the rest of the family as well as their servants and attendants.

I was free to roam the main house I was forbidden to enter, listen to secret conversations, and even go to town and visit the public library in the middle of the night.

Our youngest, Peter, was the only one who ever bothered to visit me.

He was born six years ago, and started following me after finding me in the library when he was four. It was the night I fell from the highest point of the library's tower and lay bleeding on the ground. If it wasn't for him, the servants never would have found me.

And of course they had to keep their sacrifice alive.

Now that I have entered the academy, I realize that being with others isn't as bad as I thought it was.

True, a lot of people are hateful like my family, but there are little Peters here as well.

People who look at me with interest and truly want to stay by my side.

It was actually fun spending time with them and learning things that I could never have learned on my own.

Sometimes, though, I still prefer silence.

Especially when I am doing magic.

I tried the spell once more, using one of Arman's compact of concealing cream.

Unfortunately, the spell didn't work. It merely turned the cream into a brown puddle of boiling oil.

I was still working on an altered spell when my three friends returned from the baths.

"How are things going?" asked Arman, smelling of his scented oils.

"Come here for a moment."

I applied a little of the concealer on his left arm. It shimmered and turned into a streak of ugly red burn marks.

"You did it!" Cat and Arman said in unison.

"Yes, but it does not last for very long..."

We counted ten minutes before the mark shimmered once more and faded away.

"I still need to adjust the potency of the spell to prolong its effectiveness."

"Okay, we'll be very quiet then," said Cat with a forefinger against his lips.

"Why don't you have some snacks while you work?" Elliot placed a dish of pastries beside me.

"Thank you," was all I could say in reply as I flipped through the pages of my tome, looking for a helpful spell to lengthen the spell's efficacy.

There was a knock on the door later on.

I slammed the almanac shot while Elliot, Arman and Cat froze in the card game they were playing.