-=Martina's Point of View=- I woke up the following morning feeling refreshed and energized, I didn't imagine I could wake up feeling like this. A smile appeared on my lips when I remembered the trip Annie and I had to the pond. I couldn't wait for us to return to that place, and this time, I promised myself that I would try swimming in the pond. I also remembered her stories about their community on the southern part of the island, and I promised myself that I would visit that place, with Zion's approval, of course. After a few minutes of spacing out, I suddenly remembered the western part where I was not supposed to go, the place that is dangerous according to Annie. She didn't go into detail about the danger, but it was clear how serious it was because her own group avoided that area with an unshakeable resolution, which made me wonder whether she was really telling the truth. A nagging feeling, though, persisted that there might be more to the story than what was revealed. I
-=Martina's Point of View=-"Are you alright, Martina?" I was awoken from my deep thoughts when I heard Annie's voice.We are currently on our way to the place where she was taking me. She didn't tell me where it was and just told me to follow her."Nothing," I denied, but the look that Annie gave me indicated that she didn't believe me."Were you still thinking about Master Zion?" she asked."Of course not!" I immediately denied it."Ok, well, just in case, just like his assistant told you, this happened before, so you don't have to be worried about it. Yes, he's an old man, but he's stronger than the usual older people," she said.This brings me back to the peculiar things I noticed during the reception of our wedding: his strength and even his speed, which are not normal to older people, heck even to the younger generations, but I decided to put them at the back of my mind.“Will you marry someone like Zion if he asks you to marry him?" I suddenly asked, really curious about how sh
-=Martina's Point of View=-Annie decided to leave me in this garden. She said that she needed to do something, but I think she just wanted to give me the privacy I needed, especially after what happened earlier, which I immediately agreed to and appreciated.I waited for Annie to leave, and when I was certain that it was only me in this garden, I returned my gaze to the tulips.Like what I told her, being with the Semper Augustus made me feel like my mother was with me, and even though I was alone on this island with practically strangers, I felt like I wouldn't be that lonely anymore.After learning that this tulip is my mom's favorite, it also became my favorite, but even without my mom appreciating this flower, you couldn't help but admire the beauty and sophistication of this flower.It has the appearance of red feather-like patterns, reminiscent of a phoenix emerging from a snowy terrain. It leaves anyone who sees it in awe due to its vivid crimson flares, which create a spectac
-=Martina's Point of View=-I was still feeling a little bit drowsy when I woke up, and it took me a couple of minutes to finally clear my mind. After doing so, I looked at the clock on the wall of my room and was stunned when I saw that it was already five in the afternoon, which only meant that I had slept for more or less four hours.I didn't plan to sleep that long and only wanted to take a nap since I was still planning to go back to the garden and look at those tulips again, but I guess it's already too late for me to do that considering the time.Dinner will be served at exactly six p.m. and if I still insist on going to the garden, I won't have enough time to enjoy my time in the garden, and there is also a big possibility that I might return late for dinner."Oh, well," I thought to myself, and I decided to just stay in my room until I was summoned for dinner."What to do?" I kept muttering to myself while looking at the inside of my room.Actually, there are lots of things t
-=Martina's Point of View=-The following morning, I asked Annie about the wolf I saw, and for some reason, I think I saw panic in her eyes, but that didn't last long, so I thought that maybe the light was just playing tricks on me."Yeah, there are some wolves, bears, and other dangerous animals on this island," she said calmly.The way she said those words makes it feel like she wasn't really aware of how dangerous those animals were and was talking about cute animals instead."Is that the reason why Zion didn't want me to go to the west side of the island?" I asked tentatively, and as expected, her reaction was still the same every time I mentioned that place."Ye...yes."She immediately changed the topic, which is kind of obvious.She brought me to other places on the island, and every place she brought me was amazing; it felt like there was nothing on this island that would fail to amaze me.It feels like anywhere you look, there is something interesting to look at. This island i
-=Martina's Point of View=-I hesitated whether to accept Stefanie's video chat request or not, but I eventually accepted the request, and a few seconds later, I was met with Stefanie's sneering face on my computer screen."About time! she snarled at me.I was about to speak when I noticed how big her eyes turned for some reason, and before I could say anything, I was caught off guard by her screech."Alicia, come here!" She yelled, and a few seconds later I heard Alicia's voice."Why are you screaming?" I heard Alicia say, and a few seconds later, Alicia's face can be seen on the frame of the video chat.She was wearing a thick face mask covering her entire face, and she also had rollers on her hair."Look!" Stefanie said, pointing at her computer."Oh! Isn't it our little Cinderella? Alicia said with so much sarcasm in her voice.We both know that I am no Cinderella because, compared to Cinderella, who married her prince charming, I was forced to marry a man who I didn't even know,
-=Martina's Point of View=-The following morning, I acted like nothing happened last night, and I noticed the peculiar way Zeke looked at me as if he was already expecting another outburst from me, but I didn't give him that satisfaction and acted civilized.Don't get me wrong; even though I was acting calmly, it doesn't mean that the anger in my heart has already vanished; in fact, my anger is still as intense as ever.I really wanted to believe Zion and his promise, but it was difficult for me to do so when I couldn't even talk to him to confirm whether he was telling the truth or not."I tried informing Master Zion about your request to talk to him and to see your dad, but I still haven't received any reply from him yet," he said."Ok."He looked at me with a perplexed expression on his face but decided not to say anything else and allowed me to finish my breakfast in silence.If only he knew what was running through my mind right now. Just thinking about following Annie secretly
-=Martina's Point of View=-I was so excited the following morning that I managed to wake up before the sound of my alarm, and without waiting for the alarm to turn on, I automatically turned it off."What a great day!" I murmured to myself while looking outside of my room.It was such a perfect day; the sun was high up in the sky, and there was no sign of possible rain that would ruin my day.Such a perfect day for committing a crime!Well, it's not really a crime since I was just going to break a certain rule from someone who is supposed to be the ruler of this island.Even though I was already awake, I still remained lying down, taking all the time in the world, and the excitement was making my heart beat really fast.I wasn't sure what to expect in town, but based on Annie's account, it seemed to be a tiny city with all the necessities.I probably stayed lying down in bed for twenty minutes before finally getting out of bed, and the first thing I did was take a quick shower and br