Rizz had barely stepped into the village when Selena came running toward her.
The moment Selena saw the water jug in Rizz's hand, her face twisted with irritation.
“Move!” Selena snapped as she kicked the jug.
The jug fell to the ground with a loud clang.
Water spilled across the dirt.
Rizz stared at the mess.
Then she slowly looked at Selena.
“What was that for?” Rizz asked, her brows knitting together.
Selena crossed her arms with a smug smile.
“You disappeared all night, and now you're acting innocent?” she sneered, looking Rizz up and down.
Rizz frowned.
“I went to get water. You know the village well was dry.”
Selena rolled her eyes.
“Get water?” she mocked as she stepped closer. “Then why were you gone all night?”
Rizz opened her mouth to answer.
Before she could say anything, Selena suddenly noticed something on her neck.
Her eyes widened.
Then a wicked grin spread across her face.
“Mama!” Selena shouted as she turned toward the house. “Come here! You have to see this!”
Rizz's expression changed.
“Selena, don't—”
Selena pointed at Rizz's neck.
“Rizz went out to get water, but she came back with a love bite!”
Rizz immediately touched her neck.
“What?”
Her fingers brushed against a faint red mark.
She had no idea where it came from.
Selena laughed loudly.
“She was dating some man in the forest!” she announced, her voice deliberately loud enough for the neighbors to hear.
Rizz's eyes widened.
“I wasn't!”
Her stepmother stormed out of the house.
“What did you say?” the woman demanded as she marched toward Rizz.
Rizz quickly shook her head.
“It's not what she thinks. I don't even know how that got there.”
Her stepmother didn't listen.
Slap!
Rizz's head snapped to the side.
The entire village went silent.
Rizz slowly touched her burning cheek.
Her eyes hardened.
“You hit me?” she asked quietly.
Her stepmother grabbed her arm.
“After disappearing all night and coming home looking like this, you still have the nerve to talk back?” the woman shouted as she dragged Rizz toward the back of the house.
“Let go of me!” Rizz protested as she struggled against her grip. “I told you nothing happened!”
Selena followed behind them, laughing.
“You're lucky Mama didn't see you with your lover,” Selena mocked as she covered her mouth.
Rizz glared at her.
“Keep talking, Selena. One day you'll regret that mouth.”
Selena's smile disappeared.
“Shut up!”
Her stepmother pulled open the gate of the pig pen.
“Get inside!” she ordered as she shoved Rizz through the entrance.
Rizz stumbled into the filthy enclosure.
The moment she landed on the ground—
The pigs went crazy.
“Oink!”
One pig suddenly screamed and ran to the opposite side.
Another slammed into the wooden fence.
Then another.
Within seconds, the entire pen erupted into chaos.
“What is wrong with them?” Selena cried as she jumped backward.
The pigs began running in every direction.
One of them charged straight toward Rizz's stepmother.
“Ah!”
The woman barely had time to react before the pig slammed into her legs.
She fell backward into the mud.
Selena screamed.
“Mama!”
Another pig charged toward her.
“Get away!”
Selena ran.
The pig chased her.
Rizz stared at the chaos for several seconds.
Then she burst out laughing.
“Hahaha!”
Her stepmother glared at her from the ground.
“Stop laughing!”
Rizz covered her mouth, but her shoulders continued shaking.
“I can't help it,” she admitted between laughs. “They really don't like you.”
“You little—!”
Her stepmother scrambled to her feet.
She pointed furiously at Rizz.
“You'll stay in there for a week!”
Rizz's smile faded.
“A week?”
“You won't get food either!” her stepmother shouted as she slammed the gate shut. “Maybe hunger will teach you some manners.”
Rizz stared at the locked gate.
Then she looked at the pigs.
The pigs stared back at her.
For some reason, they were now standing as far away from her as possible.
Rizz sighed.
“Well...” she muttered as she sat against the wooden wall. “At least I have company.”
Hours passed.
Rizz didn't cry.
She didn't beg.
Instead, she stared at the roof above her.
The pig pen had an old thatched roof.
Some parts were already falling apart.
Rizz's eyes slowly narrowed.
A smile appeared on her face.
“If they want to lock me up...” she whispered as she stood, “they should have chosen a better cage.”
She dragged an old wooden crate beneath the roof.
After climbing onto it, she grabbed the wooden beams.
“Come on...” Rizz muttered as she pulled herself upward. “Just a little more.”
Her fingers reached the thatched roof.
She grabbed a bundle of straw and pulled.
Rip!
A hole appeared.
Rizz grinned.
“Perfect.”
She squeezed through the opening.
A few minutes later, she was sitting on top of the pig pen.
From there, she could see almost the entire village.
People were walking along the dusty road.
Children were carrying bags.
Merchants were pushing carts.
Life continued as usual.
Rizz hugged her knees.
“Being locked up really makes people creative,” she muttered.
Then someone familiar caught her attention.
A boy was walking down the road with several books under his arm.
Rizz's eyes brightened.
“Hery!”
She climbed down from the roof and jumped onto the road.
“Hery, wait!”
The boy stopped.
He looked at Rizz.
Then his eyes moved to her messy clothes.
His expression immediately became uncomfortable.
“Oh. It's you,” Hery said flatly.
Rizz ignored his tone.
“What are you studying?” she asked curiously, pointing at the books in his arms.
Hery pulled the books closer to his chest.
“Nothing you would understand.”
Rizz frowned.
“Why not?”
“Because I'm going to college,” Hery replied as he looked away. “You're not.”
Rizz's expression fell.
She tried to smile anyway.
“What are you going to study?”
Hery sighed impatiently.
“Rizz, I have somewhere to be.”
Rizz glanced at the books again.
“Is that a history book?”
Hery didn't answer.
“Can I see it?”
“No.”
Rizz's brows furrowed.
“Just for a minute.”
Hery stepped away.
“I said no.”
Rizz watched him walk off.
She stood there silently for a moment.
Then she puffed out her cheeks.
“What's wrong with him?”
She kicked a small stone.
“It's just a book.”
Rizz turned toward the forest.
Her expression slowly changed.
A strange memory surfaced in her mind.
A man covered in blood.
Silver light.
Cold lips.
And those dark eyes staring at her.
Rizz touched her neck unconsciously.
She remembered the strange mark.
Then she remembered his words.
Your wish has been granted.
Rizz frowned.
“Could he really have done that?”
She glanced back at the village.
The well was still full.
People were celebrating around it.
Rizz's curiosity returned.
“I should ask him.”
She turned toward the forest.
“Maybe he knows what's going on.”
The sun was already beginning to set when Rizz reached the lake again.
She stood at the edge of the water.
“Hey!”
Her voice echoed through the trees.
“Are you there?”
Nothing.
Rizz cupped her hands around her mouth.
“Hey, mysterious guy!”
Still nothing.
She frowned.
“You're the one who said I was your—”
Rizz stopped herself.
She didn't even know why she was searching for him.
She walked closer to the water.
“Maybe he left.”
A strange sound suddenly came from behind her.
Growl.
Rizz froze.
Slowly, she turned around.
A large wild wolf stood between the trees.
Its teeth were bared.
Its eyes were fixed on her.
Rizz's face went pale.
“Oh.”
The wolf growled again.
“Okay,” Rizz whispered as she slowly stepped backward. “Let's not make any sudden moves.”
The wolf lunged.
“Ah!”
Rizz turned and ran.
She reached the nearest tree and climbed as fast as she could.
The wolf circled beneath her.
Rizz looked down.
“You can't climb, can you?”
The wolf growled.
Rizz smirked.
“That's what I thought.”
The wolf snarled louder.
Rizz laughed.
“You should go home. I'm busy.”
She shifted her position on the branch.
Then—
Crack!
The branch snapped.
Rizz's eyes widened.
“Wait—”
Splash!
She fell straight into the lake.
Water swallowed her.
Rizz resurfaced, coughing.
“You've got to be kidding me!”
She wiped the water from her face.
Then she looked toward the shore.
The wolf was standing there.
But something had changed.
It wasn't growling anymore.
It was staring behind her.
Rizz blinked.
“What?”
The wolf slowly backed away.
Then it turned around and disappeared into the forest.
Rizz stared after it.
“Ha!”
She laughed triumphantly.
“Scared of water, huh?”
She brushed wet hair away from her face.
“I knew it.”
Rizz had no idea why the wolf had fled.
She didn't notice the enormous figure standing silently behind her.
Something moved beneath the surface.
Then a tall figure emerged from the darkness.
Silver scales shimmered beneath the moonlight.
A massive serpent's body coiled through the water.
Its upper body rose above the surface.
Towering.
Powerful.
Terrifying.
The wolf had not been afraid of the water.
It had been afraid of him.
Rizz slowly turned around.
Her mouth fell open.
The enormous serpent disappeared beneath the water.
Silver light flashed.
When the light faded—
The injured man from the night before stood in front of her.
Except...
He was no longer injured.
His clothes were dry.
His skin was flawless.
His dark hair fell perfectly around his face.
His muscular body looked even more imposing than she remembered.
And his eyes...
They were still the same mysterious, dark eyes.
Rizz stared at him.
She forgot to breathe.
The man tilted his head.
“You're staring,” he said calmly.
Rizz continued staring.
“You're...”
She swallowed.
“...alive.”
A faint smirk appeared on his lips.
“You sound disappointed.”
Rizz shook her head quickly.
“No!”
She stepped closer.
“You were covered in blood!”
The man watched her approach.
“And now?”
Rizz looked him over again.
Her mouth slowly fell open.
“Now you're ridiculously handsome.”
His smirk deepened.
Rizz suddenly remembered something.
She pointed at him.
“Wait.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“Are you a god?”
The man's eyebrow lifted.
“Or a magician?” Rizz asked curiously as she studied him. “Because normal people don't heal overnight.”
The man stepped closer.
Rizz instinctively took one step back.
He lowered his face until they were only inches apart.
His voice became quieter.
“Then tell me,” he murmured as his eyes searched hers, “what do you think I am?”
Rizz stared into his eyes.
“And you're not afraid of me?” he asked, his voice almost teasing.
Rizz tilted her head.
“Why should I be afraid of you?”
The man's expression changed slightly.
Rizz pointed toward the village in the distance.
“You made the well full again.”
She shrugged.
“Even our king couldn't do that.”
The man's smirk disappeared.
For several seconds, he simply stared at her.
Then something dark and possessive flickered in his eyes.
“Interesting,” he murmured.
Rizz blinked.
“What?”
The man stepped even closer.
This time, Rizz didn't move.
His gaze fell briefly to the mark hidden beneath her clothes.
The silver serpent mark pulsed once.
His lips curved into a slow smile.
“You really don't know what you've gotten yourself into, do you?”
Rizz frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
The man's eyes darkened.
“Nothing.”
He reached out and gently touched her chin.
“But you'll learn.”
Her expression suddenly became quieter.
“Learn? I saw my friend leaving for college earlier.”
The man watched her carefully.
Rizz hugged her arms around herself.
“I've always wanted that,” she admitted softly. “In my dreams.”
She looked down at the water.
“That's what I want in my dreams.”
The man stared at her.
His voice was calm, almost amused.
“Why go to college when you can have everything?”
Rizz looked up at him.
She stared for a second.
Then a mischievous smile appeared on her face.
“Everything?”
She pointed toward herself.
“You mean I can have a broken pig pen and a family that drives me crazy?”
The man blinked.
Rizz sighed dramatically.
“At this rate, I think I'm going insane soon anyway.”
The man laughed.
A deep, genuine laugh escaped his lips.
Rizz stared at him in surprise.
He seemed surprised too.
His smile slowly faded as he touched his own lips.
He hadn't heard that sound from himself in a very long time.
Thousands of years.
He had forgotten what it felt like to laugh.
Yet somehow...
This ridiculous girl had made him laugh.
His eyes slowly returned to Rizz.
“How old are you?” He asking.
“Me? Almost 17 soon..”
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Petsa ng paglalathala:
2026-09-23 22:05:05
