"Samantha..."
I looked at Marco as he called me. We were at the Palace Garden where different species of flowers started to bloom. It was amazing.
Hindi ako mahilig sa mga bulaklak but watching them alive like this was just wonderful...
"Samantha..." He called me again.
I rolled my eyes. Nangungulit lang na naman ang isang ito. And as proof of that, I saw him smiling when I looked at him.
"Stop calling me, Your Highness..."
Nangunot ang noo niya. He hated it. The people closest to him were forced by him to call him Marco instead of 'Your Highness'. And I think that made him unique.
"Don't call me that, Sammy."
"And don't call me that too."
I stood up at nagsalin ng tsaa sa mga tasa namin. I gave him the other one.
"Say, Samantha..."
"Uhm?"
"What do
The Hans family had to spend a night at the campsite dahil medyo malayo pa ang Ming Province at delikado na rin na basta basta bumyahe kapag ganito kadilim ang paligid at maraming bagahe. Kaya naman, they set up tents and campfire para sa lahat.Luckily, they had a peaceful night except for Emy na dinadaluhong ng mga alaala ang isipan sa kanyang paniginip.***"Miss, you look awful." Sabi ni Anika pagkakita sa kanya."I had dreams... a lot of it." Then Emy shivered.Agad namang nilapitan siya ni Anika at kinipa ang kanyang leeg at noo para malaman kung may sakit ba siya."Your sweats are cold. Ikukuha kita ng makapal na isusuot."News of her not feeling well immediately reached her family. Ayaw niya sanang magpabigat kaya hindi na niya sinabi pero nalaman ni Feng na ikinuha siya ng makapal na damit ni Anika kaya naman pinuntahan agad siya
The next day, maayos na ang pakiramdam ni Emy. They told her that the rest of their travel ay natulog lang siya habang pinagpapawisan ng marami and muttering incoherently. And when they arrived at night, hindi siya magising kaya naman they decided to just bring her in the room. Feng almost put an all-nighter though. She was extremely worried about her at kung hindi pa umayos ang lagay niya around midnight ay baka nagpatawag na ito ng manggagamot. Emy was grateful. Anyway, she also found out na ang bahay na tinutuluyan nila ngayon ay ang ancestray residence nila Lie Feng. Malaki ito at malawak pero sa normal na araw ay tanging si General Lie Zhang, papa ni Lie Feng, at ang isa pang apo nito na si Lie Chen lamang ang naroroon. Kaya madalas ay mas pinipili na lamang nila na sa barracks tumuloy. Gaya na lang ngayon. "We have to visit the house of the Chief bilang pagbigay galang. Kaya mo bang makasama, Emy?" Tanong ni Francis. "Yes, Uncle.
After lunch, pinayagan na sila na maglakad lakad sa kung saan nila gustuhin.Dahil malapit lang naman ang market doon, Shantal, Sabrina and Sammy, along with Franco and friends, decided to go there.Pinaiwanan naman ni Feng si Emy dahil baka mapagod ito ng husto at sumama na naman ang pakiramdam. Hindi na naman siya nagreklamo at doon na lang sa training ground naglakad lakad.Walang masyadong tao pero yung mangilan ngilan na naroroon ay kanya kanyang pagsasanay ang ginagawa.The training ground was too big that they divided it into three. At the left most part of it was for those who were practicing archery. The one in the middle were for those into martial arts. And the last side was for sword fighters."Do you mind if I accompany you?" Someone asked her suddenly. She was busy looking at the archers na hindi na niya namalayan na may nakalapit na pala sa kanya.
"Yah, Emerald Hans... I can't believe na nakalimutan mo na agad na may pinsan ka at tinanggap mo ang offer ni Haow na magturo sayo ng archery at horseback riding." Puno ng pagtatampo na sabi ni Franco when they arrived at sabihin sa kanya ni Francis ang nangyari.Sa dinami rami ng ama sa kanya ay iyon lamang ang tumatak sa isipan niya."He offered first." Emy said nonchalantly."Of course, siya lang ang nandito eh. You should have think about me first bago ka sumagot."Hindi naman mapakali si Haow ng makita niyang nagkakatampuhan ang magpinsan dahil sa pag-offer niya ng tulong kay Emy. He was bound between taking back his offer and keeping them. In actuality, he really wanted to teach Emy for his own personal reason."Para kang bata, Franco." Sabi ni Lie Chen. Sinamaan siya agad ng tingin ni Franco. Then nilapitan niya si Haow at pinaningkitan ng mga mata. Singkit na nga siya ay
The next days had been very busy for Emy and the rest of the Hans. They roamed around the Ming Province na nagawa agad nila sa loob ng isang araw dahil maliit lang naman ang lugar na ito.They had visited the plaza kung saan ginaganap lahat ng competition na maiisipan ng mga tagaMing na ipaganap. Nagpunta rin sila sa Barracks at sa Ming Academy kung saan sila magpapatuloy ng pag-aaral nila ni Franco ngayong pasukan.Malaki ang kaibahan ng curriculum ng Ming at Grey. Kung sa Grey ay required ang mga estudyante na umattend araw araw ng mga klase nila, sa Ming ay hindi. As long as makikita sila ng propesor nila sa Training Ground o sa iba pang departamento na nagsasanay kapag biglaan itong nag-inspeksyon ay ayos lang na hindi sila umattend ng klase nila.Kaya karamihan ay nasa mga kani-kanilang departamento na pinagkakadalubhasaan kapag may klase kesa sa loob ng classroom.Isa pang kailangan sa Ming Aca
Days passed quickly. Shin's family officially ended their winter vacation at bumalik na sila sa Royal City para sa pasukan nila Shantal.Bukod pa doon, Emy had been busy doing various things.Una, most of her time were occupied sa training nila ni Franco ng archery. Like when she was learning the swordfighting, she dedicated a lot of time sa pag-aaral ng archery at paggamit noon sa practice nila. She was still about to master it but her progress was already quite impressive.Sa gabi naman na hindi siya nagpapractice, inilalaan niya ang oras niya para sa pag-alala sa mga alaala ni Emy at sinusubukan niyang isulat ang lahat ng iyon sa mga notebooks niya. Most of tgise things she could remember were under chemistry, ang pinakapaborito ni Emy. But her entries under the other topics were not that bad too.And to see how effective they were, she started deploying Lia and Veronica to do tasks for her.
This was the first time na aakyat si Emy ng bundok. Hindi naman kataasan iyon so they might not take a while before they reached that area where Liu Fu and Choi Kang found that water they used for their magic trick.Anyway, along the way, she could tell na dahil hindi pa naeexplore ng husto ang bundok na iyon. She could already imagine lots of wonders hiding there. And just a mere thought of it was enough to make her eyes shine.She wanted to discover them all. But for now, her focus was that water.Hindi naman siya nagmamadali. She had more than a year to discover most of it if not all. And with that, her lips hooked up like an excited child.Liu Fu and Choi Kang were telling her about the important things about that mountain. Gaya na lang nang madadaanan nila ang isang area na may entrance ng cave. They also told her na may waterfall din na itinatago ang bundok at sa likuran ng waterfall na iyon ay nagtatago ang isang underground cav
One month later...Emy and Franco continued their Level Three in Ming Academy. Tatlong linggo na rin magmula ng magresume ulit ang klase and they only had two more months para sa pinakahuling pagsusulit ng taon.Most of the students were busy now sa pag-aaral. Emy, on the other hand, met with Liu Fu and Choi Kang to plan their next mountain trip.Sa totoo lang, ayaw ng sumama ni Choi Kang. But Emy tempted him with an offer na hindi niya kayang tanggihan. She gave Liu Fu and him free armors and promised to give the rest of it once they finished doing what she wanted them to do.It was really not a bad offer. In fact, nasubukan na nila Liu Fu at Choi Kang ang tibay ng armor ni Emy. It was high class and one of a kind.They didn’t know where she got them but surely, because of it, they were willing to do any favor from her."Let's go over the mountain next