What the hell is this situation?!
What happens to avoiding and not meeting the main characters? Napalingon-lingon ako sa paligid baka mamaya nandito rin si Daryl? Napahawak ako sa leeg ko. My head is still intact.
Napabuntong hininga nalang ako. There's no reason for an assassin to be in the academy in the first place. Tsaka base sa novel hindi pa lalabas dito si Daryl. Nai-stress na ako sa mga kaganapan.
"Lady Alexandria, what are you doing here? Are you following me again?", hindi makapaniwalang tiningnan ko si Chadwick.
"Ang kapal naman ng mukha nito".
"What?".
"No, my Lord. Why would I follow you? Is there even a reason for me to follow you? Psh", Chadwick glared at me so I glared at him too.
"Well, isn't this interesting. Duke Chadwick and his fiancee, Lady Alexandria Eveque glaring at each other", oh right. We are in the presence of the crown prince. Inayos ko ang sarili ko. Where's your pride and honor, Alex?
"How impudent of us, Your Highness. To see such a situation like this", ani ni Chadwick sabay tingin saakin. Aba't ako pa sinisi nito! Wait, kasalanan ko nga pala. Kasalanan ko ba?
Tumingin ako sa gawi ng crown prince and examined his features. Napatakip nalang ako ng bunganga ko.
Ashton Allelio Heroux, the crown prince of this country.
He's too dazzling! His blonde hair is blinding!
"It's fine. No harm has been done. Besides, it was partly my fault since I startled Lady Alexandria, who is lying on the ground watching you two". What the f! Kailangan ba talaga detalyado?
Kunot-noo naman akong tiningnan ni Chadwick dahil sa sinabi ni Prince Ash na hanggang ngayon sayang-saya sa mga nangyayare habang si Charlotte naman ay parang naguguluhan sa nangyayari.
"Well, I wasn't purposely watched you two. I incidentally saw you when I was looking for my missing pet", I explained.
"You're lying. You don't have a pet", is Duke Chadwick looking for a fight?
"Why would I even lie having a pet?", hindi ko napigilan taasan ang boses ko due to my frustration with Chadwick.
Narinig ko naman ang pagpipigil ng tawa ni Prince Ash.
"So Lady Alexandria, what is your pet? Maybe we can help you find it", ani ni Charlotte.
I looked at Charlotte, girl, I pity you. You are surrounded by crazy people.
"That's so kind of you, but I can find him myself", and I need to get out of this situation as soon as possible.
"As expected of you", sinamaan ko nalang ng tingin si Chadwick. Papansin din eh.
"Anyway, you three can continue talking without me. I'll be on my-- Stop right there, Zaggy", paalis na sana ako ng namataan ko si Zaggy. Tumingin naman yung tatlo kung saan ako nakatingin. Mukhang narinig naman niya ako and started moving on my way.
"Wait, isn't that--", hindi ko na narinig ang ibang sinabi ni Chadwick nang nilapitan ko si Zaggy na agad umakyat sa katawan ko at pumulupot sa leeg ko.
"Where the hell did you go?".
"Just around", just around? Yan lang sasabihin mo matapos kong libutin ang buong academy kakahanap sa iyo?
"Well I was bored and besides I didn't kill anyone... yet". Proud ka pa talaga ha.
Aalis na sana ako ng mapansin kong parang mga ewan na nakatingin saakin yung tatlo. Naghihintay ata na mag-explain ako. I looked at Chadwick and smirked.
"Who's lying now?", tsaka hinimas himas ang ulo ni Zaggy.
"Lady Alexandria, isn't that dangerous?", unang nagsalita si Charlotte.
"Huh?"
"Why would you take a red-bellied snake as a pet? Don't you know that they are venomous? What's wrong with you?", kanina pa ako binubwisit nitong Chadwick na ito.
"There's nothing wrong with me".
"You have a unique taste, Lady Alexandria", komento ni Prince Ash.
"Thank you, Your Highness".
"That wasn't a compliment. He's saying you are weird", Chadwick.
"Minsan, papansin ka rin noh?", sinamaan ko nga ng tingin kahit na hindi niya ako naintindihan.
"What are you talking about?".
"I didn't know that Lady Alexandria is the studious type. You know how to speak a foreign language. May I know from which country are you speaking of?", ayan na nga ba sinasabi ko eh.
Ano isasagot ko kay Prince Ash. The Filipino language doesn't exist in this world. Hindi ko naman pwede sabihin na language ito sa ibang mundo. Mapapagkamalan akong baliw dito eh.
"I-it's a language used from the southeastern part. I heard it was used in the ancient times..". Teka, ano ba itong pinagsasabi ko.
"Oh, that makes sense since you are in the Literature class and I also heard you are taking the Archaeology class, Lady Eveque", ani naman ni Charlotte na nagniningning ang mga mata. "You are so talented, Lady Eveque".
"Hehehehe", hindi ako sanay na kino-compliment ako.
"That's interesting", said Prince Ash while nodding his head. I looked at Chadwick, he's looking at me suspiciously. Tsaka sila nagkwentuhan tungkol sa mga subjects na kinuha ko.
"You're anxious, Master. Should I kill them all?", ani ni Zaggy na kunyaring natutulog habang nakapatong ang ulo niya sa balikat ko.
"Shut up. Do you want me to get killed? If you did that, the whole country will flip and I will be sentenced with death. The thing I am avoiding the most".
"Then let's just destroy the whole country".
"Why don't you just sleep, okay?".
"Tsk".
"Since I already found my pet, I'll be on my way now and it looks like I may have disturbed your private talks. I'll be excusing myself, Your Highness, Lady Charlotte and.. my lord", pagka-bow ko at agad akong nagpower walk makaalis lang doon.
====================
"Hoo!"
Ibinagsak ko ang sarili ko sa higaan ko nang makarating ako sa dorm room. I've never been so tired like this.
"Why were you so anxious earlier?", ani ni Zaggy na kumakain ng raw meat na inihanda ni Letty.
"Zaggy, the first chapter from the novel has changed. Though I intend to change it to survive but what happened earlier was not supposed to happen. I ended up talking with them.. and even with the crown prince. He was not supposed to appear there", that's what makes me anxious more. Why is the crown prince there?!
"You're panicking over nothing. You're too focusing on the story. The moment your soul transported here, everything's already changed. If you are worried about your survival, how about we destroy the world and start anew", tiningnan ko si Zaggy na papalapit sa akin.
"You and your world destruction. Are you even capable of doing that?".
"Ha! Are you belittling me? Are you questioning the power of your spirit guardian, Zagan, one of the demon spirit king?".
"Yes", binuhat ko si Zaggy tsaka sinimulang punasan ang katawan niya. Ang dumi kasi tapos hihiga higa dito sa higaan ko. "Actually, I wanna know what's the perks of having a demon spirit guardian. I don't even know your powers aside from you turning yourself into a snake".
"Hehehehe... soon you'll know".
"Damot mo".
"Whatever".
"By the way, where did you even go?", akala mo nakalimutan ko ang pagkawala mo. Because of you, I was in that situation earlier.
"Actually, there was an odd energy lurking around the academy that is why I looked for it", huh?
"Odd? It is dangerous?", tanong ko habang nilalagyan ko ng rose oil ang katawan niya para mabango.
"How should I know? I was about to find out when you called on me".
"Oh? My bad".
"I also felt the magic of that stupid-looking king spirit, Ezili", napatigil ako sa paglalagay ng oil kay Zaggy.
"The water spirit king?".
"Who else?".
As far as I remember, the novel didn't mention any character who was able to form a contract with the elemental spirit kings. The main characters were able to summon first-class spirits, but who on the earth was able to summon a spirit king?
"Told you, the novel has changed. By the way, I'm thirsty".
"I'll ask Letty to get you a glass of water", tatawagin ko na sana si Letty.
"I don't drink water, I'm a demon".
"Then, what does a demon drink?"
"Blood".
"Like a vampire?".
"Don't you dare compare me to those mosquitos", okay fine.
"Then do you expect me to give you my blood? Does it needs to be fresh or is it okay if it is from animal blood?", seriously? It seems like the nearest death flag is this demon here on my bed.
"Surprisingly, we demons cannot take the blood of our master. See, we should not harm our master in any way, so I cannot drink your blood. I can drink animal blood but it's disgusting so I prefer human blood, befitting for a king. It can be stored blood but, the fresher the blood the tastier".
"You know that I can't just kill anyone, right? Is there a chance that there is something else you drink aside from blood?".
"Poison", napapakamot nalang ako sa mga sinasabi ni Zaggy. The more I get to know Zaggy, the more ridiculous things I think about him becoming my spirit guardian.
The villainess of the novel has a demon spirit guardian.
==================================
A week has passed since those encounters with the main characters. Tapos na ang mga klase for the day at ngayon ay pupunta ako sa room ng book club. At ngayon palang ako aattend doon kahit na may confirmation na akong natanggap from them.
Pagkapasok ko sa clubroom, may mga mangilan-ngilan na nagbabasa, nagkwe-kwentuhan, some of them are having a snack. Napatigil sila sakanilang ginagawa nang mapansin nila ako. Umupo ako sa sofa at binuksan ang librong dala ko.
Now, what exactly they do in this club? Do they just read books and discussed them? Napansin kong medyo lumayo sila akin at naririnig ko ang mga bulungan nila.
"What's wrong with them?".
Nakalimutan kong nasa leeg ko pala si Zaggy. On my way here, nasalubong ko siya.
"They're wary of you".
Itinuon ko nalang ang pansin ko sa librong binabasa ko. It's an old book about herbals. I saw this in the library and borrowed it. It's so old that the book cover's title has been erased.
The reason why I'm reading this is because of Zaggy. I'm going to try to make a poison myself. I'm looking for a list of poisonous plants and where to acquire them.
Honestly, pwede naman ako bumili pero kasi hindi pa ako pwede lumabas. Once a month lang kami pwede lumabas ng academy. Hindi ko naman pwede utusan si Letty, everyone will be suspicious of me. Plus, for sure irereport niya ito sa magulang ko. So for now I'll try concocting my own poison that is made of plants.
I am too immersed in reading my book that I didn't notice that club's president is here. I closed my book and greeted him.
"Good day. My name is Ale-- huh?", napatigil ako sa pagsasalita dahil nasa harapan ko si Prince Ash na nakangiti nanaman.
"Lady Alexandria Eveque. It's good to see you here".
"Please forgive my tardiness as I only attended the club today, Your Highness. I was awfully been busy these past few days", what the heck? The crown prince is the president of this club? I didn't know this. This was not mentioned in the novel.
"Don't trust the novel so much, Master".
"It's all right, my lady", umupo ako ulit at tinuloy ang binabasa ko. Okay lang naman daw eh. Napatingin ako sakaniya ng umupo siya sa tapat ko.
Weird.
Nakaupo lang siya sa tapat ko habang umiinom ng tea niya. Nakakainis lang dahil pinapanood niya akong magbasa habang nakangiti. That fricking smile! Nako-conscious ako. Lalo na't pati yung ibang tao dito ay nakatingin na saakin na akala mo ay inaabangan lahat ng kilos ko.
"I think we should go now, Zaggy".
"Yes, we should go and by the way, the book you are reading is useless".
======================
Watching the back of the leaving lady, a smile was drawn on the prince's lips.
"Your Highness, we will also be leaving", the rest of the club's members also left the room. And by that, the prince was left alone still wearing his smile.
"Alexandria Eveque, huh?", he muttered.
He had always heard rumors about her in the high society as she was famous for her wickedness and obsession with the young lord, Chadwick Vaillant. He didn't care about those things so he much didn't pay any attention or take an interest in her.
Not until he saw an application paper with her name on it to join the club he created. That was unusual for the hated lady to join a book club. He was aware that the lady was one of the students who didn't take the academy's exam so he assumed that the lady wasn't good with studying nor fond of reading books.
This piqued his curiosity. He wants to meet the lady. He was walking in the hallway when he saw the lady. She looks like she was looking for something. He wanted to approach her but decided to follow her instead. They met on several occasions in the past but they never talk to each other.
She followed the lady and watched her. In all honesty, he finds her strange but funny to watch. With a frown on her forehead, she was also murmuring and cursing.
This was the first time he heard a noble lady cursed since ladies of the Kershian Kingdom are expected to be decorous and sophisticated all the time.
He followed the lady until he saw her hide while watching the duke talking to another lady. He knows that the duke and the lady lying on the ground were engaged. It was entertaining for him to watch them.
It was hard for him to contain his laughter watching the two bickers. It's like they hated each other.
What surprised him more was the pet snake the lady was looking for. It was not expected for a lady to pet a poisonous snake.
The famous Alexandria Eveque was quite different from what he heard from the rumors.
"You have an interesting fiancee, Duke Chadwick".
"I wouldn't say that Your Highness. I think weird is more appropriate".