Chapter 6: Your Queen

“IT WAS truly a pleasure working with your brother. He will be deeply missed,” Elliot said.

Out of the hundreds of children that were brought in the Dela Torre residence, only Terrence and I were the ones allowed to inherit the surname. The first lesson that Leonel Dela Torre, the former King of the Hunters, taught us was to get rid of our human emotions. We were raised not as humans, but as robots, who could only move based on his commands.

We were the seniors’ possessions. They were our owners. The only way you could get to own yourself was to rise to the top. That was the reason why Terrence and I strived to be better than anyone else. And we achieved that. In the end, we were acknowledged as Leonel’s children and became members of the family we hated.

We were sick of the rules. And yet, we follow them because once you get inside the Hunters’ territory, there will be no way out for you.

Others who tried to seek freedom were branded as traitors. And traitors, for the seniors’ vocabulary, had no space in the world.

Terrence and I had to be strong in order to protect our friends. That little authority we gained as Dela Torre had saved them especially Lilia from being harassed by the male seniors.

But my twin and I could not simply get rid of our heart, of the only thing that reminded us that we were humans and not somebody else’s tools to acquire revenge. And so, we learned to mask our hearts instead, while planning for a way to break free.

And after seeing evidences of Terrence’s death inside the Vampire’s City, now was the time to practice what I was taught especially since there were many eyes watching my every move.

I stared at the pictures one last time. We could not even get my brother’s body. Now I understood why I had been feeling restless lately. I swallowed hard.

“It’s the Vampires. They did it again,” I heard the seniors murmuring.

No. My brother did not die from the Vampires’ hands. I was sure of that. They will not shoot him outside the castle. They will take him in first and interrogate him in front of Zachary before killing him. And no Hunter would have heard of his death. The Vampires were too furious with the Hunters that they would not think that bullets would suffice. Not to mention that they were still old souls. They would either use their swords on him or end his life with their bare hands.

This was not the Vampires’ work. It was the Hunters.

There was a traitor inside the guild. I knew all that and yet, I could not say it. For years, I had to tear up pieces of my own heart for these bastards. And now, I had to do it again.

Even if I hold the highest position in the guild, the seniors still had the power to crush me. I was not even sure anymore if I had another ally here aside from Lilia. I cleared my throat. It took all of me to stand up as if nothing happened.

I was dying inside. And yet, I smiled when all I wanted to do was just to slam the table and kill every single Hunter here except for my best friend.

“What can we do? Life goes on,” I told them as casually as possible. “Nothing has to change. We will still proceed with the plan. Prepare for war. We will strike back in two weeks.”

The seniors had victorious smiles on their faces. The sight was filling every single cell in my body with rage.

After a while, the Hunters all replied in unison, “As you command, our Queen.”

“But do you honestly think that we can pull this off? Forgive me for saying this. I know that the seniors were the ones who chose the Queen and I do respect their opinion, but can she really lead us to war this early? I mean she had not been in contact for years and had served the enemies instead,” Maximo complained.

He was six years older than me and was already in the Dela Torre residence when Terrence and I arrived. Since he was a few years ahead of us, he was already a third level Hunter and took great pride in that. I heard Leonel was supposed to choose Maximo as his successor since he was the fastest kid to reach that level, but that changed because of Terrence and I.

We had surpassed Maximo’s level after only two months of joining the guild. Together, we reached the fifth level which was almost the same as the levels of those who were decades older than us and had been battling against the Vampires. Since then, Maximo and his troop had hated us for ruining his chances of becoming the next ruler.

Maximo scoffed. “No offense meant, my Queen. I was only stating my concern about the guild. I still believe that this job is not for women. You had been so used living as a servant. I’m not even sure if you still know how to use a gun!”

His troop behind him did their best to stop laughing, but I could still see their shoulders moving. They covered their mouths but their eyes betrayed them.

I glanced at the wine glass Maximo was holding. He seemed to be in a good mood to celebrate tonight that he even brought the entire wine bottle inside the conference room while everyone just had a goblet of water in front of them.

My own glass broke which made my hand bled, but Maximo just shrugged as he continued to mock me with his eyes. Each time Maximo would hinder us, it was always Terrence who used to deal with him. It was not that I didn’t dare fight him. I just thought that I didn’t need to prove myself to him any longer since I had exceeded him already.

“Do you know why I never said a word every time you are being an asshole, Maximo? If you thought I was afraid, then you had been extremely arrogant.” I copied the same word he used on me and added, “No offense meant, but how could a level eight hunter like me fear the likes of you who are stuck in the fourth level? It was just that I thought you weren’t worthy of my time. Even looking at you is a waste of time already. And unlike you, I have so much to do. But since you are my subordinate now, whether I like it or not, I have to waste my time talking to you,” I told him before I threw the broken pieces at him and at the bastards behind him.

All four of them were hit. In an instant, Maximo coughed up blood. The shard got stuck in his tongue since I tossed it right before he sipped his wine. The rest of the guys behind him suffered worse. Their eyes bled.

“Do you see the difference now? I am not just any woman, Maximo. I am a Queen, your Queen.”