CHAPTER 24.1
A Conversation before the War“ANO PO ANG pag-uusapan natin, Mahal na Hari?” kabadong tanong niya.Pagkatapos siyang lapitan kanina ni Haring Alexander, tinanong nito kung pupwede ba silang mag-usap na dalawa na siyang pinaunlakan niya. Isa sa mga bilin nito e ang iwanan silang dalawa ni Selene ngunit ang mga guwardiya nila, nakasunod pa rin sa likuran. Sadyang malayo lamang ang distansya ng mga ito, sapat para mabantayan silang dalawa.“Ah. Let’s beat off the bush for a bit.” Mahinang tumawa ang Hari at iminuwestra sa kanya ang kagandahan ng hardin dito sa palasyo. Selene regarded the flowers too. “Maganda ang sibol ng mga bulaklak sa ganitong panahon, Prinsesa Selene. Lalo na ng mga rosas.”Tumango siya. “Opo. Kaya po kami nandito kanina ni Miss Sephare e dahil nagandahan po ako sa hardin.”“Masaya akong malaman na nagustuhanCHAPTER 24.2 Dreadful Battlefield MAAGA pa lamang nang umalis sina Selene sa kaharian ng Vintress. Hindi pa sumisikat ang araw at nasa itaas pa ng kalangitan ang buwan. Tahimik ang buong paligid maging ang pagkilos nila. Tanging huni lamang ng mga ciccada, halinghing ng mga kabayo, at mahinang pag-ugong ng makina ang naririnig nila. Selene, despite being surrounded by guards and Lucas, remained vigilant of her surroundings. Nasabihan kasi sila kanina na posibleng kahit wala pa sila sa pangyayarihan ng giyera, gagawa ng maagang pag-atake ang kaharian ng Izquierdo. Baka raw ma-ambush sila. “Are you worried?” Natigilan si Selene nang marinig ang boses ni Lucas. Nasa loob naman sila noon ng sasakyan at hangga’t maaari, kung gagamitan man sila ng baril, siniguro ni Haring Alexander na bulletproof ang kanila. Isa pa, mayroong ipinatong na protective barrier si Merlin sa buong grupo nila
CHAPTER 24.3 Loyalty Versus Rotten Mindset SELENE noticed that she’s being excluded by the group. Of course, not by Lucas and the people she spent her time with, rather; by the knights who only knew her when they set out on a journey to prepare for war and defend Vintress Kingdom. And of course, to take back Izquierdo Kingdom from the hands of the notorious Demelza family. “But why are they acting so hostile towards me? It’s not like the Demelza family can be trusted either,” she mutters to herself, ranting about the treatment she’s been receiving from strangers. Normally, she would ignore how these knights would roll their eyes or snort whenever she’s around. But recently, they resorted to nudging her or pushing her out of their ways even though she wasn’t exactly standing idle on paths that they’re supposed to take. They probably just... wanted to taunt her. &ld
CHAPTER 24.4 Ambushed IT WASN’T long when the war ensued. Hindi na nagawang tapusin nina Lucas, Selene, Chief Knight Fernandez, at Sir Fernandez ang pag-uusap nang mayroon silang marinig na komosyon mula sa mga kasama nila kasabay ng malakas na pagsabog. Hindi pa lumilipas ang ilang minuto pero marami na kaagad ang namatay at sugatan sa mga kawal nila, lalo na sa mga ordinaryong tao lamang. Noong sumabog ang tila ba bomba na pasikretong itinanim ng mga Demelza’t Heredia sa camp nila, niyakap siya ni Lucas para siguruhin na walang mangyayari sa kanya. And Selene was scared. Things unfolded too quickly, it took them aback. And the fact that she saw how some corpses flew on the air and blood scattered across their camp was a sight she needn’t to see, but she had to. “Maghanda kayo sa giyera!” sigaw ni Chief Knight Lyte. Maging sina Chief Knight Fernandez, mabilis na kumilo
CHAPTER 25.1 Deafening Silence BLOODSHED is everywhere and in spite of her stomach churning, Selene had to accept that the scenario in front of her is what she should normally see during a war. Everyone were battling for their lives, defending their camp from the infiltrators, while some are also bringing the injured and the dead to safe places. It’s just the first day but the casualties are huge. The war hasn’t even formally started but it began without a warning. Should she have expected this to happen, she would be more prepared to accept that every steps they take and seconds they wasted inside the tent, lives were trampled during the infiltration. She won’t be merciful when they found out who are the traitors. As much as it hurts that she tried to put herself in their shoes, it seems like her effort was in vain for they let their closed minds get the good of them. They let the
CHAPTER 25.2 Planning MATAPOS nilang imbestigahan ang mga trayidor, ‘tsaka pa lamang narinig ni Selene ang balita na matapos silang ma-ambush, ang kampo naman ng mga Demelza ang na-ambush nila. Doon niya lang naalala na mayroon nga pala silang mga tao na minamanmanan ang kilos ng mga Demelza at sa kasagsagan na tila ba masaya ang mga ito’t nagpa-party dahil sa ginawa ng mga itong ambush sa kanila, ‘tsaka sunud-sunod na namatay ang mga kawal ng kabilang kampo. So then it turns out that their people planted people to infiltrate them and poison them. Unfortunately for them, none of these people were found and they immediately retreated right before they could be found. Selene heard that Lucas’ men made it seem like the Izquierdo and Westmount Kingdoms’ knights were too stupid to mistake poison from an ordinary drink. “But it’s not like hindi sila makakatunog?” she pointed out
CHAPTER 25.3 Cornered BLOODSHED is all over the place again. Even before the sun began to rise, they were awaken by several warcries and when she checked, there was already an ongoing battle against their side and the enemies. They were all surprised and taken aback, they barely had enough time to rest but since this is war, Selene could really do a reality check. No, she can’t rest like how she used to back when she’s still in the palace of Vintress Kingdom. She can’t take her leisure since she’s in the middle of a crisis and if she’s careless, she could be surprised by a sudden attack and her head could be rolling on the ground if that happens. Selene can’t eat her breakfast in peace because the first thing that she’ll ever see during this war is death and destruction. But it’s... stupid. “For the Kingdom of Izquierdo!” the soldiers shouted as the
CHAPTER 25.4 Rescue LUCAS began to blow several huge attacks in order to knock out and decrease the number of soldiers that has been surrounding them. Nevertheless, their amount seemed not to lessen, instead; they only grow in number. Nasisiphayong pinagmasdan ni Selene ang nangyayari dahil kahit siyang tumutulong na sugatan at dalhin isa-isa sa karatayan ang mga kalaban nila, hindi man lang nababawasan ang mga ito! Ilang sigaw na ng pighati’t sakit ang narinig niya ngunit tila ba walang epekto lahat ng paghihirap nilang dalawa ni Lucas. It’s just so hard to escape even though they discussed their plan thoroughly. Inilibot ni Selene ang mga mata sa kapaligiran habang patuloy na nakikipaglaban at ina-assist si Lucas. Kaya pa naman nilang sundan ang plano nito pero napipigilan sila sa dami ng taong nakapaligid sa kanilang dalawa. Gusto ring iwasan ni Selene na mapagod kaagad si Lucas dahil sa oras
CHAPTER 25.5 Worried WHEN Merlin came back, he was finally with Lucas. However, Selene was mortified to find out that Lucas was injured. Noong dumating si Merlin, doon unti-unting nanghina si Lucas kaya dalawang beses daw itong nasaksak. Though, Merlin already did the first aid and made sure that the soldiers' weapons didn't contain any poison that could be harmful against vampires, their weapons were made of silver, which would slower Lucas' recovery. "Mabuti na lang at dumating ako sa oras. Mabuti rin at 'di naman sa vital organs tinamaan si Prinsipe Lucas." Bumuga nang marahas na hangin si Merlin at napailing. "'Wag kang mag-alala, Mahal na Prinsesa. Nasa mabuting kamay ang Prinsipe. Ang mga manggagamot na ang bahala rito." Alam niya iyon pero hindi niya maiwasang mag-alala. Namumutla na nga rin siya't halos hindi niya maiwanan kanina si Lucas kung hindi lamang nagtanong ang manggagamot kung pupwede bang iwanan muna