King

CHAPTER XIX

I went to the garden to cool myself down. I looked up at the stars to try and calm myself when I heard someone approaching. I turned around and saw Al walking towards me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked when he was already standing beside me.

“I followed you when I saw you storming out of the lab,” He answered and looked at me.

He held my face and wiped his thumb on my face. “What was that for?” I asked and he smiled at me.

“You’re crying,” He pointed out which made me hold my cheek.

He was right, I am crying, “I can’t believe this,” I said and wiped the tears that were continually streaming down my face.

“Why are you crying?” He asked and handed me his handkerchief.

“I don’t know,” I answered and wiped my tears away.

“You were hurt weren’t you?” He asked and I shook my head.

“I’m not,” I answered even though I know deep inside that I was hurt by Zynrick’s words, “I’m crying because I’m so mad right now.”

“You can deny it all you want but I’m sure that Zynrick’s words hurt you,” He said and I chose not to answer.

I heard him release a sigh so I looked up at him. “I believe you,” He said and looked down at me.

“You do?” I asked because he didn’t seem like he did when we were in the dining table.

“Yeah, I had my suspicions when she first entered the MPC but I couldn’t kick her out because she was able to make Zynrick smile during Zyn’s dark hours,” He explained which made my chest tighten.

“Why are you telling me this?” I asked and he clicked his tongue.

“I just wanted you to know why he’s defending Erin,” He answered but I still didn’t see the value of what he was saying.

“I don’t care about the reason why he’s defending Erin.” I answered out of anger but to be honest what Al said pissed me off.

“I just wanted to tell you,” He said and I scoffed. “I want you to understand that Erin is just important to Zyn that’s why he’s defending her.”

“He’s being too subjective,” I said with bitterness. “An enemy is an enemy,”

“I know but I just can’t take away the person who can make Zynrick smile,” Al said which made my chest tighten even more.

I didn’t like what I was feeling so I decided to just close the topic and leave.

“I don’t want to talk about this. If he wants to defend Erin that’s fine and if you want to keep her here then that’s fine but if she does anything to harm the MPC then I wouldn’t do anything,” I said and walked away.

I locked myself in my room and looked up at the ceiling. I didn’t like the feeling in my chest. I was distracting myself when I suddenly remembered something.

“I want to go home,” I said and thought of my home kingdom.

I focused on thinking about my home kingdom when I drifted to sleep.

I woke up when I felt the sun shining towards me. I sat up and thought of what happened last night. I assumed that if I slept, what I felt yesterday would vanish.

“Elle,” I heard Al call out after knocking on the door.

I stood up and opened the door for him. “I want to go to Maharlika,” I said upon seeing his face.

He blinked twice and looked at me as if asking me if I was sure. “Are you sure?” He asked after a minute of staring at me.

“Yes, I want to unwind,” I said and he nodded.

“Look, Elle, about what I said last night, I shouldn’t have said any of those. I should’ve let Zynrick explain himself to you,” He said but I just wanted to forget what happened last night because to be honest, what I felt last night scared me.

“I don’t care about that anymore. I just want to go to Maharlika,” I said and he nodded.

“Okay, let me handle things,” He said and I nodded.

I thought he was going to leave after that but he looked like he was contemplating about asking me something so I just asked him, “Do you have something you want to ask?”

“You look really drained right now but I just want to know what parts of your memories were unsealed,” He said.

“It was my memories from when I was born up until the part where the great war was declared,” I answered and he nodded.

“So, you don’t know what happened during and after the war?” He asked and I nodded as an answer.

“Okay, I know you’re not okay with Zyn but you still need to train him. Do you remember anything that you can teach Zyn?” He asked and I nodded.

I didn’t want to see Zyn today but there was no choice. “I can teach him a few spells and skills I remember,” I answered and he smiled at me.

“I’ll update you soon,” He said and left me.

I prepared myself and went to the field. I saw Zynrick training on his own, I took a deep breath and walked up towards him. He looks like he’s fine.

“Good morning,” He greeted awkwardly when he saw me approaching him.

I just nodded and walked past by him, “Let’s start. I’m going to teach you new spells and skills I remembered,” I said and stretched.

“Look, Elle,” He said while looking at me with an apologetic expression. “About last night,” He started. I know what he was going to do but I just wasn’t ready to accept his apology right now.

Hearing him say that he’s disappointed in me affected me so much. As much as I wanted to forget about it I just can’t. It just keeps on lingering in my head.

“I’ll teach you how you can use teleportation,” I said and ignored what he said.

He looked at me and bit his bottom lip but I just ignored it. “First, you have to think of where you are going,” I instructed. I looked at him and he didn’t seem like he was doing what I was saying but I don’t care.

“Second, you have to focus all of your energy in spreading your mana evenly in your body.” I instructed but he was just looking at me.

“Now, focus on arriving in that place,” I said and attempted to teleport but he was quick enough to grab my wrist.

“If I can do this on my first try are you going to listen to me?” He asked and I took a deep breath and looked at him in the eyes.

“Can we just forget about what happened last night?” I asked but he just shook his head. I scoffed and clicked my tongue before saying, “You can’t expect me to listen to you when you shut me down without even listening to me,”

“I’m sorry about that. I was being too emotional that night.” He explained. “It’s just that Erin is really important to me so when you were hinting that he’s a traitor or she’s working for Tyrone I lost it.”

I didn’t expect my chest to hurt so bad when I heard Zynrick tell me that Erin is important to her. I bit my bottom lip because I felt like I was about to cry. I took a deep breath and said, “I know that I’m not important to you but you could’ve at least hear me out,” I said and attempted to walk away but he grabbed my arms and made me face him.

I was hurting inside for some unknown reason and seeing his face is annoying me so when he grabbed me I released my powers which pushed him back. “Don’t come near me,” I said and turned around to run into the lab but he teleported in front of me.

“Look, what’s making you act this way?” He asked in frustration.

I can’t believe that he’s the one who’s feeling frustrated. “It hurts when you tell me that Erin is important to you!” I yelled because I was so full.

This feeling is so new to me that I didn’t know how to relieve it. I saw Zyn’s jaw drop when he heard what I said. He opened his mouth to say something but I immediately teleported to my room.

I locked it and laid on my bed. My chest was so tight that I wanted to cry. “Stop this,” I whispered as I curled into a ball.

I was trying my best to keep calm when I heard someone knock on my door. I thought it was Zyn so I didn’t open it but when Al spoke I opened the door.

“Did something happen?” He asked while looking at me.

“No, nothing happened,” I answered but he didn’t seem to believe me.

“We can go after two days but if you want to go ahead then you can go. I think you need it,” He said which made me smile.

I couldn’t help but feel thankful that Al was here. It feels like he knows me so well. “Thanks for understanding, Al,” I whispered after hugging him.

I was surprised by the way I acted and so was he but he wrapped his arms around me as well. “You’re welcome,” He said and kissed the top of my head.

“So, are you gonna go ahead?” He asked after we separated.

I nodded my head as an answer. “I’m scared to go alone but it’s my home town so what could go wrong?” I said and he nodded.

“Do you want me to bring Zyn with me?” He asked and I wasn’t able to answer immediately.

“I don’t know,” I said honestly and he just nodded.

“Okay,” He said and didn’t ask anymore question which was something that I appreciated. “Just text me or call me once you made your choice,” he said and I nodded.

“Okay,” I said and smiled at him.

“Be safe,” He said and I nodded. “You too,”

I prepared myself after Al left. I was so nervous about going home but I feel like it will help me. I could still remember the awful things my country did to me but I feel like being there would relax my mind.

“It’s fine, Elle,” I whispered to myself and took a deep breath.

I tried to remember the best memory I have of the place and teleported there. I opened my eyes and I was surprised by the change that I saw. The once peaceful kingdom is now a kingdom of heartless looking people.

The purified feeling of the air was now gone. The air felt s heavy and I didn’t like it one bit.

I was walking around and saw people who were fighting. There were also people with such a poor living condition that I was surprised. The kingdom wasn’t like this when I was still here.

“Excuse me, may I ask where the castle is?” I asked a stranger.

She looked at me and raised her eyebrow at me. “Why are you looking for the castle?” She asked in a rude manner. She was even looking at me with a judgmental expression which was annoying me but I reminded myself that I shouldn’t be making a fuss here.

“I just wanted to talk to the Queen. You see I’m a foreigner.” I said. She squinted her eyes at me and looked at me with suspicion.

“You don’t look like one though,” She said and looked at me even more.

Now that I can remember my childhood I couldn’t help but feel nervous that she might recognize me.

“Why are you staring so much?” I asked even though I know why.

“You look like the late Queen Maria’s daughter, Ellesmeire,” She answered and I gulped.

“Why? Who is she?” I asked hoping that she’ll tell me how people see me and my mother in our own kingdom.

“She’s the only hope of this kingdom,” She answered and sighed.

“Why?” I asked because the last time I remembered we were hated by our own kingdom.

“The new queen is a tyrant. She’s the reason why our kingdom experienced colonization. She’s also the reason why the purity of our kingdom is dead.” She said with pure bitterness.

I couldn’t help but get pissed with what I heard. Even though I was banished by my own people I can’t help but feel mad with what I heard.

“Could you tell me where the castle is?” I asked and she gave me a map to follow.

“Thank you,” I thanked and she just nodded.

Be ready because I’m coming for you. I thought as I headed towards the castle.

As I walked towards the castle, I could see the terrible state of the people. Most of the people were living in poverty and I didn’t like seeing it. I quickly walked to the castle because there was no means of transportation.

I arrived in front of a gigantic gate. The guards looked at me before looking at each other.

“Hold it right there,” One of the guards said and stopped me from approaching the gate.

I did as I was told and looked at the guards before asking, “Is there something wrong?”

“Where is your invitation?” He asked and I furrowed my eyebrows.

“Why would I need an invitation to enter?” I asked.

“You are not allowed to enter the city of Kapuruan without any invitation from the queen,” He answered.

I pretended to think of the invitation and said, “That’s right. How silly of me,” I said and the guard raised his eyebrow at me. “So, where is it?” He asked and held out his hand.

“Could you kindly show me what it looks like so I can check if I have one,” I requested and the guard sighed.

“You foreigners are such a pain,” He said which annoyed me but I kept my mum when he showed me a copy of the invitation.

I pretended to look inside my bag but the truth was, I was creating a replica. One of the best spells I remembered was the recreation of objects I’ve seen. As long as I can perfectly picture it in my head then I can turn the object into a reality.

“Here you go, sir,” I said and handed him the invitation.

He read what the content was and looked at me. He then looked at his partner and motioned for him to walk towards the guard I was speaking with earlier. He whispered something and they both looked at me.

“You are under arrest,” They suddenly said in unison which surprised me.

“What? Why?” I asked as they seized me.

At first, I thought of breaking free and sprinting into the castle but then I chose to let them seize me. If they did, then I can see what’s happening inside these gates before entering the castle without trespassing.

“For providing a false invitation by the queen,” One of them answered before we enter inside.

They walked straight ahead and the gates immediately opened.

As we walked towards the castle, I could see the different between the people outside of the city and the people who were living inside.

The people I saw were all wearing expensive clothing. I could tell just by looking at them that they were merchants, businessmen, doctors and others. In general, the city is made for the people who have a high status in the society while the poor lives outside of the capitol.

“Why are there only people with high status in this capitol?” I asked while looking around.

The guards didn’t answered so I looked at them. They were just being quiet.

As I look around, I noticed that most of the people weren’t even Maharlikans. They looked like foreigners.

“Hey! You stupid Maharlikan guard!” I heard someone call out.

“What?” One of the guards said and looked at the rude businessman who yelled.

“Clean this s**t up,” He ordered and pointed at the puke that was scattered on the ground.

“We’re busy,” One of the guards said and pointed at me.

“That can wait,” The businessman said and pointed at the puke. “This comes first or the queen will find out what’s happening here. I know you have a family to feed.” The businessman said and laughed.

The way he acted pissed me off. I thought the guard would seize the businessman but I was surprised when the guard walked towards the businessman.

“You should clean it by licking it,” The businessman said and shoved the guard on the ground.

The guard looked like he was ready to obey the businessman’s orders but I freed myself and walked towards them.

“What is a fugitive doing here? You have no right to meddle in this situation here,” He said while looking down at me.

“Stand up,” I said and looked at the guard but he shook his head.

He brought out his tongue and attempted to lick the vomit but I pulled him. I forced him to stand before pushing him away from us.

“You have no right to step on a Maharlikan in its own country,” I said while glaring at him.

The businessman laughed at my statement which annoyed me. “Are you out of your mind?” The businessman said after laughing.

“No,” I answered but he just grabbed my shoulder and looked me straight in the eyes.

“This country is owned by us, the Spanitas,” He said and grabbed a fist full of my hair.

“In your f*****g dreams,” I said and punched him.

The guards immediately seized me. I was about to protest when I saw evident fear in their eyes so I decided to stay still.

“You stupid Maharlikans can’t even restrain a female fugitive. How useless,” He said and I wanted to punch him so f*****g hard.

“We’re sorry,” They apologize and knelt in front of the Spanita.

I wanted to pull them up and raise their heads.

“You should be. You’re lucky that I am a kind hearted person. I won’t report this to the queen but you must serve me for a week as an apology,” He said and the guards thanked him for it.

“We are grateful that we have encountered such a kind hearted man,” They said.

I looked away because I couldn’t bear the sight of seeing them like this.

I know that Maharlika is a pacifistic country but I didn’t expect them to be so weak against the foreign people in their own land.

The businessman told the guards to leave and we did.

On our way to the castle I asked them, “Since when did Maharlika become this low?”

A full minute had passed and they didn’t answer me so I assumed that they wouldn’t say anything but I was surprised when they actually thanked me.

“Why are you thanking me?” I asked because I don’t remember doing anything good for them.

“Thank you for defending us earlier,” One of the guards said. It was the one who was about to lick vomit from the ground.

“That was nothing. I know that Maharlika is a country that values peace more than anything but you shouldn’t let foreigners step on you in your own country.” I said but they just gave me a small smile.

“There’s nothing we can do about it, really,” The other guard said.

“What do you mean? This is your country, you should be about these foreigners.” I said but they shook their head.

“This country is no longer the Maharlika that it was a thousand years ago.” One of them said.

“What do you mean?” I asked. They looked at each other as if asking who would tell me but the vomit guard spoke.

“Ever since Queen Maria was banished along with her daughter Ellesmiere, her sister became the queen. During the first decade of the reign of Queen Juliana everything was fine. Not until she made the biggest mistake that brought Maharlika to its current state.” He explained.

“Queen Jualiana was a great ruler but she was too trusting and that’s what brought the kingdom’s downfall. She agreed to a treaty that was offered by the King of Spanita. At first, she thought that the treaty was for the exchange of goods and spices but it was actually a contract that was handing over the sovereignty of the kingdom to the King of Spanita.” The other guard continued.

I furrowed my eyebrows and asked, “Didn’t she read the contract?”

“She never even saw it. The king guilt tripped her into signing the contract. That’s why we’re in this situation. It was all because she trusted the warong person.” The vomit guard said.

“Ever since then the people became aggressive. The country was deceived by so many countries that the people slowly became heartless because of the abuse they were experiencing. That’s why Maharlika is one of the most changed kingdoms in the world.” The other guard said.

I wanted to ask more questions but I noticed that we were finally inside the castle.