-=Martina's Point of View=- We finally left the castle around four in the afternoon, and I couldn't help but get excited after finally getting out of that place. Like I've said, I felt like that castle was more of a prison than a home, and now that I finally had the chance to step outside and explore the island—well, at least the pond that Annie told me about—I felt a sense of freedom somehow. "You seem more relaxed." I was awakened when I heard Annie's comment, and when I looked at her, the smile on my face widened, and I looked at her appreciatively. "What made you say that?" I asked tentatively, still unsure if I could be honest with her since she's hired by Zion, meaning her loyalty would be with Zion. "I don't know; you appeared uptight when we were at the castle, but now you look calm and relaxed," she explained. I didn't know how to respond to her observation, so I decided to just keep my mouth shut, and after a few minutes had passed without me responding, she decided to
-=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=-The beating of my heart began to beat faster as I could finally see the island from afar."Wait for me, Zion," I silently said, feeling the sorrow and longing of a woman who was away with the man she loved.Ever since I left Nancy's province and experienced that bizarre and mysterious event, bits and pieces of my previous life memory came back to me, but not enough for me to know everything, but enough for me to know that I was Esmeralda and Zion is the man I loved during that life.I remembered telling him from my previous life that I would remember him whatever happened, but I betrayed him since I didn't even recognize him and worse I thought of leaving him.I felt so ashamed to see him again, but my desire to be with him won me over, and I promised myself that I would never leave Zion again.While looking at the island, it felt like some invisible hand was pulling me closer to the island as if the island recognized me, and I recognized it as my home, Zio
-=Martina's Point of View=-I kept feeling this ache ever since my visit to that place, and as I awaited our arrival back at my dad's place, this ache was getting more intense."Can you tell me what's really going on, Martina?" I heard Nancy ask."Nothing; I just needed to go home," I answered.Before, when I thought about home, I always referred to my dad's house, which had been my home ever since, or at least before Fionna and her daughters arrived, but now, when I thought about home, I couldn't help but think about the island and Zion's mansion.The pain I felt intensified when I thought about Zion. I couldn't help but feel guilty knowing that he wasn't feeling well when I left him after I found out the truth.I felt ashamed of what I did; yes, it was shocking to learn the truth, but I promised Zion, or rather Zion, that I would love him forever, and yet, in the first instance of the test of our love and my faith in him, I disappointed him.I could still feel Nancy's gaze on me fro
-=Martina's Point of View=-It has been ten minutes, but still, nothing happened. I was really expecting something to happen considering that I came to this place without my full consciousness.I stood up from the big rock where I was sitting, waiting for something to happen, but it didn't."Esmeralda..."I tried calling her name; maybe there was something that she wanted to tell me, but even after uttering her name in the air, still nothing happened."Esmeralda!"This time, I yelled louder, but after holding my breath and waiting, nothing peculiar ever happened.A bitter smile appeared on my lips when I realized how much of a weirdo I may be if someone found me there.Imagine a guest wandering in this part at this hour. People may think that I actually lost it, and they would probably send me straight to the asylum if I told them how exactly I came here."Anything?" I thought to myself when another ten minutes had passed, and when still nothing happened, I took a deep breath and fina
-=Martina's Point of View=-I awoke to the crowing of roosters, and as I looked out the window, I observed it was still dark. When I looked at the clock, I saw that it was only five o'clock in the morning, still early for me to wake up, however when I was about to go back to sleep, I was disturbed by Nancy who was already wide awake.I didn't even notice her waking up and leaving the bed."Good morning!" She said in a loud voice making me grimace."Could you keep it down, it's still early and I still wanted to sleep," I murmured."No, Martina, five a.m. is already considered late in the province because almost everyone wakes up around four and Mom told me to wake you up for breakfast," she added, and she didn't leave me an opportunity to go back to sleep as she pulled the sheets over my eyes."You're really ruthless," I said, which she just laughed at.I had no choice but to force myself out of bed, and before leaving the room, I decided to do some stretching first, to remove the slee
-=Martina's Point of View=-I awoke early the next morning, surprised that I hadn't dreamed of Esmeralda and Kian again. I hoped I wouldn't dream about them any longer.Who wants to dream about anything irrelevant to them, even if the woman in the dream happened to look like you and the man you love is always with her?I probably stayed in bed for a few more minutes before deciding to get out, and the first thing I did was double-check that I had everything I needed. Last night, I organized my belongings for my trip with Nancy, going to their province and going to that place.It probably took me about ten minutes to finish inspecting my bags, and then I started getting ready.I took a quick shower which probably lasted for fifteen minutes, and after drying myself with the towel in my bathroom, I walked naked back to my room and wore the clothes I had chosen earlier which was a pair of blue shirt and faded jeans with my favorite sneakers.I was putting on my shoes when I heard a knock
-=Martina's Point of View=-"What do you mean it's not real? Are you saying that my wedding ring is a fake?" I asked in disbelief."Unfortunately, that is right, miss. It may look real, but upon closer inspection, I confirmed that this isn't made of real gold and diamonds," he said.He continued his explanation, but to be honest, the details slipped my mind as my focus wandered. However, a feeling of suspicion washed over me as I spotted them exchanging secretive glances."Could it be?" I thought to myself."Well, there you have it; you heard it from the expert; your ring was indeed fake, and just as we agreed on, you would go out with...""Actually, I wanted to have a second opinion," I suddenly said, cutting him off."Come on, don't be a sour loser," Benz said."Perhaps I am, or perhaps the test results were incorrect," I said nonchalantly."Are you telling me that I tested your ring wrong?" The employee of the shop said indignation was written on his face."Yes, but was it wrong to
-=Martina's Point of View=-The following day, Dad decided to return to work, but before leaving, he made sure to share breakfast with me first."What do you plan on doing later?" he asked."Nothing much; I was planning to just stay at home, or maybe I could just go out and buy something," I said."Okay, if you wanted to leave, you could use the car instead of commuting; it's much more convenient that way.""Okay," I said.I planned to ask Nancy to drive me just in case I decided to go out; we could also buy the things we might need once we leave tomorrow. Speaking of Nancy, she continued addressing me as her mistress, and I didn't stop her anymore, since, in a way, I kind of missed hearing that. When I heard her calling me that, it made me feel like I was still in the castle.I walked with Dad and watched him leave, and when I could no longer see his car, I decided to look for Nancy so we could talk about our plans for tomorrow.I found Nancy in the kitchen; she was busy cleaning the
-=Martina's Point of View=-While gazing at Mommy's grave, I couldn't help but reminisce about the joyful memories we shared, but it didn't take long for the pain of her loss to resurface once again.I yearned to take advantage of this time to release all of my bottled-up emotions and let my tears run freely, but the fact that Dad was behind me kept me from doing so. I didn't want him to see my tears again, knowing that it would only add to the burden of grief he was already carrying after losing Mom and having been in an accident."Sorry, Mom, if I only got to visit now. I miss you, and Dad misses you so much," I said in a gentle voice.I felt my dad putting his arm on my shoulder as if he were giving me the comfort I needed because I really do miss Mom.After that, there was quiet between us; there were moments when words were unnecessary to express our emotions, and this is one of those instances.I was talking to Mom in my head, and when I caught a glimpse of Dad, I knew he was do
-=Martina's Point of View=-I didn't know how long I was asleep, and I didn't plan on waking up yet; however, I was woken from my sleep by a continuous knock on the door."Next would be Annie's voice," I thought to myself, but I was confused when I didn't hear Annie's voice but instead someone else's."Martina, are you awake? Your dad is waiting for you," I heard Nancy say, so I immediately opened my eyes.I awoke in the familiar surroundings of my room back in our old house, rather than the castle room I had become accustomed to. It occurred to me that I had left Zion's castle after discovering the truth."Martina?" I heard Nancy calling my name again."Yeah, I'm awake; just give me five minutes," I answered, and after that, I heard her footsteps.I took a deep breath and tried to remember everything that happened. I couldn't believe that it had only been more than twenty-four hours since I left the castle, and I couldn't ignore the sadness in my chest.I genuinely missed everyone on