Nagstay pa ng ilang araw si Grace para maituro ang mga dapat niyang ituro kay Anika. Gusto niyang masigurado na sa pag-alis niya ay may gagawa pa rin sa ng mga gawain niya para kay Emy.
Mabilis namang matuto si Anika kaya kampante siya dito.
Hanggang sa dumating na ang panahon ng pag-alis niya. Ikinalungkot ito nang tatlo pero wala naman silang magagawa. They could just hope that she found new life in Royal City.
***
The next day...
Dahil wala namang pasok ay nagpaalam na si Emy na maglilibot libot sa bayan. Pinayagan naman siya ni Feng. Mabuti na lang at wala sila Franco dahil malamang ay mangungulit iyon na sumama.
Sinama niya sila Lia at Veronica dahil busy si Anika sa pag-aaral nung make-up guide na ginawa ni Grace bago umalis.
However, hindi sila magpupunta sa bayan para mamasyal. They would visit the Purple Boutique.
"Young lady!" Gulat na sabi ni Harley ng makita niya ang dalaga na pumasok sa boutique kasunod sila Lia at Veronica.
It had been a while since she saw Emy pero madalas naman niyang pinapapunta roon sila Lia at Veronica.
"I need to see Calix."
Unlike noong una ay inaya niya na agad sa loob ang dalaga. Sakto namang nandoon si Calix.
Actually, kausap nito si Sebastian. But they heard people coming their way kaya agad na nagpunta sa likuran wooden screen ang binata.
"Young lady..." Bati ni Calix sa kanya.
Napakunot ang noo ni Emy pagpasok pa lang ng tanggapan ng mga bisita ni Calix. What was that smell?
"Any problem?"
Umiling siya saka naupo doon sa bakanteng upuan. Ganun din naman ang ginawa ni Calix.
"I believe the reason you are here is because of that girl."
Emy smiled. "Yes. I heard you are able to locate her."
"Yes, young lady. She also agreed to work in here. I am just preparing her transfer, anytime now."
"Perfect. She's essential in my next plan so I need her to be in my territory as soon as possible."
"I understand. I'll have the task done immediately."
"Oh, and also, I'd like you to give me one of your men who is very skilled in martial arts and spying. I have to send away one of my maidservants and now I need someone else to replace her. I don't need a maid though."
"I will arrange for that. Probably tonight, I will make sure that he is already blended among your guards."
Emy nodded.
"Is there anything else?"
Hindi sumagot si Emy. Her brow creased again.
But suddenly she stood up. Sa pag-aakalang aalis na ang dalaga ay agad din na tumayo si Calix. But to his surprised, the lady walked towards him. Too close that he almost got disoriented for a moment.
"W-what..."
Pero bago pa man siya makapagtanong dito ay nakalayo na ito sa kanya.
"That's not you. Then could it be..." Emy looked around the room. Then her eyes landed on the wooden screen. She approached it.
"Young lady..." Nanlaki ang mga mata ni Calix but he was already late.
Emy moved the wooden screen to see behind it. She was indeed shocked when she saw Sebastian there.
"Hi..."
Sebastian could have moved and hid himself ng mapansin niya na lumalapit sa direksyon niya si Emy pero hindi niya iyon ginawa.
"You..."
Naikuyom ni Emy ang kamay niya. The Fifth Prince was here. It means, Calix had been betraying her for a long time now.
She gritted her teeth and calmed herself. As much as she wanted to punch the face of this prince in front of her, pinigilan niya ang sarili niya. She had to confirm something first.
Nilapitan niya ng husto ang lalaki at inamoy ito.
Sebastian was stunned for a moment saka tumawa.
"What, are you a dog now?"
Emy glared at him saka humakbang ng isa palayo sa binata.
"That night when I took the White Mask... It was you, right?"
Nawala ang ngiti ni Sebastian.
"How did you know that?"
Then he realized na kaya siya nito inamoy ay para dito.
"Just by smelling me, huh? You must have a very sensitive nose."
Pero tinalikuran na siya ng babae.
"Young lady..." Gusto sanang mag-explain ni Calix but he already received a punch from her.
"Ooops."
Calix and Sebastian both watched her back as she exited the room.
"What a hot headed lady..." Sabi ni Sebastian bago napatingin kay Calix. His nose was bleeding. "Minsan din kasi, kailangan mo munang pahupain ang galit ng mga babae bago ka mag-explain. Tch... Poor you. Go on and clean yourself bago tayo magpatuloy sa pag-uusap."
Napahinga na lang ng malalim si Calix. This prince was really something. That punch was supposed to be for him. Nakita na kasi niyang galit na si Emy ay mas lalo pang inasar. Siya tuloy ang napagbalingan.
***
Emy was very furious. Never in her life na nakaranas siya ng ganitong pakiramdam. Not even Diana had made her this mad.
Ramdam niya ang pamumula ng mukha niya at kanina pa rin nakakuyom ng mahigpit ang mga kamao niya. How dare that Prince?
Though hindi alam ni Emy kung anong mas nakapagpagalit sa kanya. Yun bang pag-infiltrate ni Sebastian sa Purple Boutique niya o ang katotohanang ito ang nagligtas ng buhay niya?
She hated both reasons. At mas lalo lang siyang naiinis kapag naiisip niyang nalamangan siya ng binata sa pagiging pakialamero nito.
Bukod pa doon, she couldn’t even reject the fact that he touched her body. Malamang, how could he treat her wounds kung hindi niya iyon gagawin. But still...
Tahimik namang nagtitinginan sila Lia at Veronica. Paglabas pa lang ng Miss nila doon sa pinakaloob na kwarto ay galit na ang expression nito. What could possibly happen in there? Never pa kasi nilang nakitang nagalit ng ganito ang Miss nila.
***
For the past few days, Emy's mood obviously didn't change. In fact, maging sila Feng at Francis ay nahalata din na bugnot ang dalaga nitong mga nakaraang araw. Franco, on the other hand, felt her rage through sword fighting. Halatang sa kanya ibinubunton ng dalaga ang inis nito.Iniisip tuloy niya if he had done something that caused her irritation.Days passed at nakareceive ng balita si Emy. She heard that Diana had finally found a new HQ at malamang sa malamang ay kikilos na ito as soon as possible.That improved her mood. Ibig sabihin kasi non, the game would resume in no time.As Diana prepared for her next move, she should also do the same. She had to make sure that all her pieces were in place kapag kumilos na si Diana.Luckily, Calix contacted her again. Saying that he had already moved the girl in boutique. Galit pa rin siya dito dahil sa panttraydor sa kanya and she was
When Sebastian went back to the palace, agad siyang sinabon ni Vio tungkol sa "pagkakatakas" nung nakaputing maskara. Simple siya nitong ipinihiya sa harap ng kanilang ama at mga tauhan nito.Hindi naman nakakapagtaka iyon dahil bukod sa nabulilyaso na naman ang plano nila ay nagkaharap pa silang dalawa kanina. Kaya malamang ang init ng dugo nito sa kanya."Your priority should be the command of the Emperor before your role as the President of Supreme.""My priority must be the most pressing one at the moment. And that is to suppress the Black Council members who were causing chaos around the campus."The Royal Guards have seen it too. The casualties made by the Black Council members were too much. Are you saying, Vio, that I should have turned a blind eye on them and instead pursued the White Masked person who did nothing but to defend the students against the Black Council?"Do you really think that if I do that, the parents of those injured and
Napalunok si Calix ng lumapit sa salamin si Emy.He and Sebastian had been watching them from the two way mirror ever since they entered that room.Pero nang lumapit si Emy sa salamin at tanggalin nito ang sumbrero nito, he couldn't help but to feel as if they were doing something indecent.Emy started to remove her bun and that freed her long and beautiful hair."Turn around." Sebastian told him.Nangunot ang noo niya dahil doon pero tiningnan siya ng binata."I said turn around."He obediently did as he was commanded. Though, hindi niya napigilan na makaramdam ng dismaya.However, Sebastian fixed his eyes on the woman in front of him.He watched as she moved her hands on her own hair to fix it. He watched as she looked satisfied as she placed her hat back. And how she traced her own reflection o
Nahihiwagaan na talaga si Franco sa pagbabago bago ng mood ni Emy. Parang last week lang iritado ito ng ilang araw. Pagkatapos ay bumalik na ulit siya sa dati.Tapos ngayon ay nakakunot noo na naman ito. Pero sa kanya lang. Kapag sila Feng at Franco ang kausap nito ay ang bait niya. Pagdating sa kanya ay nakabusangot ito.Napailing na lang siya sa sarili niya. He could really never understand girls.After na magdinner ay pumasok na agad si Emy sa kwarto niya.Lia just brought her tea and cookies like the usual dahil hindi niya alam kung kelan maiisipan ng dalaga ang magpuyat.After that ay dinismiss na niya ang tatlo. Ni hindi na nga rin siya nagpatulong sa pagpapalit.The reason why she was irritated was because she couldn’t find a way of ridding the Fifth Prince. He infiltrated her Purple Boutique and now, he was eavesdropping about her plans.
Emy was undeniably tired lately. She had been encountering same people in the morning and at night.Sa umaga, it was Diana. She continuously attacked the students of Black Council. Syempre, dali dali naman siyang naglalagay ng puting maskara niya and helped those students na hindi kayang idefend ang sarili nila.One time nga ay nainjured na siya but luckily, those students who could do martial arts helped her fight Diana's people.And what's more, suddenly, there were White cloaked people fighting with her. She could easily guessed that it was Prince Sebastian's people. Comparing to those members of the Black Council, kahit pa may mga tao din doon si Vio, Sebastian's people were better in terms of fighting.The thing was, it spread now around the Grey City about the existence of the White Queen and her people as defendant against the Black Council.This made Diana more frustrated and restless.Sa gabi naman ay lagi siyang pinupuntahan ni Seb
Diana was not pleased lately sa itinatakbo ng mga pangyayari between the Black Council and that White Queen.She could not take it. It was like having Samantha back. She remembered back then that it was the lady whom people called first as the White Queen.The foolish girl opposed the Black Council even during her very own regime. When Diana exposed her, akala niya ay siya agad ang papalit dito. But that Marco got in her way.She smiled bitterly as she remembered how she killed both of them. Yes. She had once killed a White Queen before. How could she not kill a second one now?But she couldn’t move freely at the moment. The people were still after them. In Grey Academy, the priority was to caught as many members of the council as they could kahit pa nga may secret decree ang Emperor to catch that White Queen.Natuto na ring lumaban ang ilang estudyante sa kanila. And as if
Gaya ng sabi sa kanya ng tauhan ni Alessandra, Lucy was spending her lunch break with Emy.Diana watched as the two of them went out of campus and rode a carriage. But it wasn't just her who was looking at then.Kelly snorted in annoyance habang si Cherry naman ay napailing na lang."You both seem annoyed at them.""Just with that Emy." Kelly said."She's unbelievable, you know. Palagi niya kaming pinapahiya sa classroom." Sabi naman ni Cherry."Really?"A sudden idea popped in Kelly's mind. "Yes. At alam mo bang ipinagmamayabang niya na natalo ka niya sa chess. The nerve of that girl!"Cherry smirked at her sister.However, Diana was not an idiot. She knew na idinagdag lang iyon ni Kelly. And she also knew that these two were probably picking Emy in their classes at dahil hindi naman mukhang tang
Bumalik sa Grey Academy na humahangos si Lucy. Pumara siya ng ibang mga carriage at mabuti na lamang dahil ang napara niya ay kakilala ng Papa niya. Nakisakay siya at saka nagpababa sa Grey Academy. Sila Veronica at Anika naman ay nagpaiwan sa bayan para maghanap. Well, actually, Veronica went first to Purple Boutique to notify Calix. Si Lucy naman ay humahangos na hinanap si Franco. Hindi naman siya nahirapan dahil agad niya itong nasalubong sa may entrance ng Academy. "F-franco!" Hinihingal niyang tawag dito. Agad namang tumigil sa paglalakad ang binata saka lumingon. Tinukso pa nga siya ng mga kaibigan niya bago siya iwan doon eh. Napailing na lang siya saka nilapitan ang dalaga. Agad naman siyang hinigit ni Lucy para makapunta sila sa may malapit sa may gate ng school. Napatingin na lang siya sa kamay nito na nakahawak s