13: White Mask 1

That night, pinaiwan ni Emy sila Lia at Veronica sa kwarto niya. Hindi na rin na naman nagtanong pa sila Grace at Anika at agad ding pumunta na sa quarters nila.

Dinalhan naman siya ni Lia ang tsaa at cookies gaya ng dati.

"How are your task for today?" Tanong niya sa dalawa.

Si Lia ang unang sumagot since naiwan lang naman siya kanina sa residence at nagsanay kasama ng Army ni Francis.

"The training they have given me for the day is intense. But I managed to learn all the lessons."

"Good. I have great expectations from you. I will need you to get stronger for the future."

Hindi man gaanong maintindihan ni Lia kung bakit palaging parang may pinaghahandaan ang miss niya, hindi na lang siya nagtanong pa.

"How about you, Veronica?"

"Gaya po ng sabi niyo, I continued observing that person you asked me to follow. It is still the usual routine for the day."

Napatango lang si Emy at pinag-isipan kung sino sa kanilang dalawa ang pagbibigyan ng trabahong iniisip niya.

Maya maya lang ay nagsalita na ulit siya.

"Veronica, follow that person as usual. Report to me if there's any changes in her routine. Also, drop by at Purple's Boutique to know kung may balita na ba doon sa pinapahanap ko sa kanila."

"I understand, Miss."

"Lia, I need you to provide me a black cloth, the kind that covers everything except my eyes, poisoned blades and some types of distractors for enemies. I need you to collect it as soon as possible."

Nagkatinginan ang dalawa. Bakas ang pagkagulat sa mukha ng isa't isa. Hindi na tuloy nakapagpigil si Veronica na magtanong.

"Miss, are you going in dangerous mission?"

"Miss, let me do it instead. We can't afford it if something will happen to you." Sabi naman ni Lia.

Nginitian niya lang ang dalawa bago itinuon ang tingin niya sa chess board sa harapan niya.

"I am sorry but this one can only be done by me. In order for the game to make some progress, a queen has to move a step. You don't have to worry though. I will make sure to come back in one piece."

"Miss..." Kokontra pa sana si Lia pero inunahan na niya ito.

"You are both dismissed now. I expect news from you one of these days."

Walang nagawa ang dalawa kundi ang lumabas na ng kwarto niya. Though, it was pretty obvious from their expressions how much they don't like the idea of their Miss doing missions by herself.

***

Two days passed by quickly at pasukan na ulit ng mga estudyante ng Grey Academy.

Hanggang ngayon ay usap usapan pa rin ng ilang estudyante ang tungkol sa pag-atake ng Black Council noong nakaraang araw.

Napailing na lang si Emy.

The Black Council must be feeling very accomplished right now. After all, that was their goal by attacking. They wanted to spread scare and make sure everyone would remember their presence. The more people were frightened by them, the more they had them on their necks.

Anyway, dahil pasukan na ay hindi na nakapasok sa loob ng campus sila Grace at Anika. But it was not like mag-isa lang siya sa pagpunta niya sa klase niya. Franco insisted na ihatid siya.

"I'll pick you up at lunch."

"Franco..."

"Don't complain." Tapos ay ipinatong pa nito ang isang kamay sa ulo niya.

Sinamaan niya ito ng tingin bago inalis ang kamay niya. He just chuckled at her.

"Mahirap maligaw dito sa campus. There are quite a lot of places here that are suspiciously dangerous. So I'd rather to be sure that you are safe than sorry."

Natigilan si Samantha dahil doon. Franco was already in his fourth year in Level Three at hindi imposible na nakapaglibot libot na siya sa buong campus. But was it possible for him to encounter the HQ of the Black Council?

Nagpaalam na ang binata sa kanya at pumasok na rin siya sa classroom.

Iilan pa lang ang mga tao doon ng dumating siya. Agad siyang naupo sa may pinakalikod ng gitnang column. She liked to see everything kaya doon siya pumwesto.

Maya maya lang din ay nagsidatingan na ang iba pa. She roamed her eyes inside the classroom. Then smirked by herself when she saw her two cousins. That was a good news for her. The closer they were to her, the easier it was for her to play with them.

She continued looking around. May iilan ring members ng Black Council ang naroroon. And lastly, Fifth Prince was also there.

He met her eyes pero hindi siya nito pinansin. Good! She didn't need attention for herself at this early stage.

Nagdiretso ang binata sa pinakadulo ng unang column at doon naupo.

"Good morning..."

Bati ng unang teacher nila na pumasok sa classroom.

Agad na nagsipag-ayos ng upo ang lahat dahil kilala sa pigiging strikto ang guro nila ngayon.

In fact, iginala agad nito ang paningin niya sa classroom, checking if anyone was not being presentable. He saw few at agad silang binigyan ng warning.

Then his eyes landed on her.

"Miss Transferee, come here and introduce yourself."

Napahinga na lang ng malalim si Emy saka tumayo at dumeretso sa unahan. Everyone's eyes are on her.

"I am Emerald Hans from Royal City."

Several students gasped as they heard kung saan siya nanggaling. Saka sila nagbulungan.

"Yes, yes! Coming from Royal City is impressive, indeed. I heard everyone from that city is awfully rich." Sabi ni Cherry. She sounded excited. But Samantha knew her very well. "Your family in here must be very rich too."

That caught everyone's attention. Kahit na narinig naman nila ang pagpapakilala niya kanina ay inaasahan pa rin nilang sasabihin niya na nanggaling nga siya sa isang mayamang pamilya.

Hans residence was considered as one of the middle class family. Kahit pa sabihing General ng Royal Army si Francis ay hindi pa rin sapat ang kinikita nito upang maituring na mayaman dito sa Grey City. Pinaglalaanan din kasi nila ng malaking halaga ang kanilang army.

But not because that was the case ay hahayaan na niyang maliitin ng dalawang ito sila Francis at ang pamilya niya.

Emy acted innocently.

"I came from the humble residence of General Hans."

"Oh." The sound of disappointment in Cherry's voice was very evident. Saka siya naupo and suddenly lost interest. The others were affected by her too.

"Pfft... It is indeed humble." Kelly said sarcastically. She even laughed at it.

"Thank you for thinking the same. It isn't just humble, you know. They are also virtuous." Emy saw most of the class look at her ridiculously.

She smiled gently at them bago nagpatuloy. "Anyway, my Uncle's family is very small. They only have Franco as their child. So they don't really need a lot of money at all. Besides, why would money be an issue for me? I am not someone who is going to live off on my Uncle's reputation and riches just to be tagged as part of the upper class."

Emy said those words while looking at both Cherry and Kelly. Unti unting nagbago ang expressions ng dalawa. Ganun din ang mga classmates nila. Some of them sneered at the two of them which made them feel uncomfortable.

Alam naman ng lahat that these two were nothing kung hindi dahil sa Papa ni Samantha na Prime Minister. Their father was not even an official so how could they act like a big deal gayong umaasa lang naman sila sa Uncle nila?

But Emy was not done yet.

"If you want to visit my Uncle's humble abode, just tell me at ipagpapaalam ko kaagad. My Uncle won't surely say no sa mga pamangkin ng Prime Minister ng Grey City."

That definitely hit the two of them hard. Kung kanina ay napangisi lang ang iba, this time they laughed aloud.

***

Gaya ng sabi ni Franco, sinundo niya si Emy when lunch came. He waited outside her classroom at hindi rin naman nagtagal ay nagsipaglabasan na mula doon ang mga estudyante.

He felt a little bit weird though dahil karamihan sa mga iyon ay nginingitian siya.

"Hey..." Emy called him out nang lumabas siya ng classroom.

Agad naman niyang inakbayan ang pinsan. Others who were still going out from the classroom were stealing glances at them.

"Did you say something weird with your classmates? Why are they keep on smiling at me?"

Sandaling nag-isip si Emy.

"Uhm, I might have."

Nanlaki ang mga mata ni Franco.

"You see, my teacher was asking me for a fun facts but since I couldn't think of something fun about me, I just told everyone that your feet stink that even horses avoid you when you are bare-footed."

Mas nanlaki ang mga mata ni Franco dahil doon.

"You didn't, did you?"

Emy laughed out loud dahil doon.

"Of course, I didn't. Do you really think I am that mean?"

Pinisil ni Franco ang dalawang pisngi niya dahil doon.

"Yes, I do. I really think you are mean."

"It hurts..."

"Ehem..." Some coughed behind them. When they looked, it was the Fifth Prince.

Agad na gumilid si Emy upang makadaan ito.

"Whoa... Classmate mo din siya?"

Emy nodded.

"Your Highness..." Franco called out. Nagulat naman si Emy dahil doon.

On the other hand, Sebastian immediately stopped walking and faced the two of them.

"Your Highness, thank you for helping out my cousin last time."

Sebastian looked at Emy and raised his eyebrow at her.

Franco took it as if he couldn't remember his cousin. But Emy knew better. Gusto man yang sabihin na hindi siya ang nagkwento ng nangyari, but it would just sound as if defensive siya. So she just shut up.

Anyway, Sebastian had nothing to say to Franco. He just sneered saka nagpatuloy na sa paglalakad.

"Tch. Those Princes are obviously composed of brats."

"Say that loudly and surely I will deny that I am related to you."

Franco just laughed at inakbayan na ulit ang pinsan niya saka sabay na silang naglakad palabas ng campus.

***