"Who are you?!"
Bang!
"Childe, please pick up! Please save me! C'mon, pick up the goddamn phone—!"
Bang!
"Help! Somebody help me! Please help me!"
A gasp escaped from Cecilia's mouth the moment she opened her eyes. She hastily sat up and her hand flew to her chest as she could feel her shaky breath—panting, catching her breath.
Was it all just a dream?
She twitched and hissed the moment she felt a stinging and aching sensation on her body. Trying to figure out what exactly happened to her, she immediately removed the thick, warm blanket wrapping her. She subtly gasp the moment she saw scratches and wounds from her feet, legs, and knees. She could even see some scratches and wounds from her palms and left elbow. What caught her attention was how her wounds and scratches got cleaned up and the bandages were neatly wrapped and patched up. Not just that, she's even wearing a clean set of pajamas.
Oh, so it wasn't a dream after all.
She looked around and realized that she's in an unfamiliar room to which she jolted and felt a subtle panic inside.
"Where am I?"
Cecilia gasped in utter shock when she saw someone barging inside the room. She hastily pulled the thick blanket the cover herself, as if protecting herself from the possible intruder.
"Ah, you're finally awake." Her eyes settled on the stranger who just entered the room. He has a slightly messy brown hair and even though he has a strong Western-ish look, he has hooded eyes yet it compliments his face a lot. He's tall and good looking.
Cecilia kept observing him and she even met his gaze the moment he took off his suit jacket. She even saw other men behind him. "How's your sleep, dear?"
"U-uh . . ." Cecilia looked around her once again. "What-what are you doing here? What am I doing here? Where-where am I?"
"Before answering all your inquiries, let me ask you first," the man spoke and stared at her. "What did you see in that alley last night?"
"I think you should ask her name first and you should ask if she's okay. It's a bit rude to interrogate her, don't you think?" she heard the other guy who's just standing behind him ask.
"Grabe ka naman, you can't even check on our only witness's situation," added the other.
"I won't beat around the bush, Bruno. Shut up," the man opposed, making the other men to subtly make a face and went silent. She then saw how the man turned his head to her once again. "I'll ask you again. What did you saw in that alley last night?"
"The alley . . . last night?" Cecilia repeated as if she forgot what happened last night.
If only she could. But she knew she couldn't knowing how the memories that happened last night rushed in her mind like a river's strong current.
She remembered everything. Every. Single. Detail. Of. It.
She remembered what happened to that man last night, how the killer chased her and almost killed her in the process if she didn't manage to ask for help that night.
"I-I didn't see it clearly because the lights were just dim but I saw two guys. The one was held like a hostage and the one was aiming a gun at him. Then, the next thing I knew, the latter shot him," she responded and she could feel herself shaking, recalling what happened that night.
Even though she didn't want to go back to Eshasea, she didn't want to go back as a cold corpse. It'll be His Majesty's heartbreak just for sure.
"Are you sure you're not one of the accomplices?"
Cecilia's eyes widened the very moment she heard those words from the man. She didn't expect that even though she already told him the truth and what she saw that night, the man even had the guts to accuse her as an accomplice of that killer.
What the actual fuck. The audacity!
"I was just passing by when I witnessed it! I got lost on my way back to my hotel, then I passed by that freaking alley, and I saw someone killing another person! I told you what I just witnessed and you're accusing me of being a murderer's accomplice?! Are you freaking serious?!"
The man shrugged, didn't even break his stare at her. "Who knows? Maybe you're just saying all of these, so we could spare you by deceiving us as a witness. And when you managed to convince us with that façade of yours, you think we'll even set you free? That's not how it works, dear."
Cecilia could definitely feel how she felt so offended and annoyed about the man's response.
The freaking audacity of this guy accusing an innocent person like me as a criminal's accomplice! The freaking audacity of this guy accusing the Crown Princess Her Highness of such a hideous crime!
Ugh, fuck, Cecilia. You didn't mind your business after all. Because of your curiosity, you ended up witnessing a crime scene and ended up in this situation!
"I told you I didn't know anything! I am just a tourist who happens to witness a freaking murder! It's not my intention to even see it!" she exclaimed. She's the victim of this situation and yet she got accused of something she's not entirely involved. "Stop accusing me of something I didn't do just because I was there, you imbecile!"
"Listen here, woman—" she gasped as the man, without hesitation, pointed a gun on her. At that very moment, she felt herself tremble and petrified right on her spot, her eyes widened as if her life flashed before her eyes.
"Stop that, Khalil." Everyone's attention went to another man who just came inside the room. Accompanied by another man, his gaze went from Cecilia to the man who's now pointing a gun at her. To some reason, the man seemed familiar to her.
"I just went out for a minute and you cannot behave yourself," the newcomer said as he glared at the man who's still pointing a gun on Cecilia. "The witness just woke up and recovering and here you are bombarding her with questions. Aren't you a bit disrespectful, huh, Khalil? You even aimed your gun. Put that down."
"I don't want to waste time, brother. I just want to know everything about the case because you got so worked up about it. So, as your brother and your underboss, I wanted to help."
"But that does not help at all, Khalil. You're pressuring the witness. You even accused her as an accomplice just because she's in that incident. We want to know everything as soon as possible, especially since this happened in our territory, but it's not right to do anything on your own accord." The newcomer tilted his head. "Now, stop acting so rashly. Step out of this room and calm down."
She could hear the guy who's name she discovered was Khalil clicking his tongue in disappointment. She even made a face when she saw how the guy even had the audacity to glare at her. The nerve.
"Okay, fine. I'll see myself out, Boss," answered Khalil as he returned his gun back to his gun holder. Before he could get out the room, he glared at Cecilia and finally went out with his men.
"You can leave us too, Ryan."
"Yes, Boss."
Cecilia finally managed to take a breath from what happened to her. That was a shocker that she almost forgot how to even breathe. "Gosh, what was that?"
"So, you're finally awake. You've been sleeping for twelve hours, just so you know. How are you feeling, Ceci?"
Cecilia's brows creased in confusion the moment she heard those words from him… especially her nickname.
Ceci? How did he know my name?
Wait . . . She looked at the stranger who's now sitting on her bed, facing her. Compared to her, the man looked calm and collected.
He looked so familiar. Where did I see him—?
"Thank you, Ceci."
"Ah!" She immediately pointed the man. "You're that guy! You're that guy who I asked a favor to take my pictures!"
"You have a sharp memory, indeed." Subtly amused, the man nodded. "But as much as I want you to tell me exactly what happened, I need you to rest and recover first. I need to keep you under my wing and stay here in my penthouse."
"Your . . . penthouse?" she asked, frowning as she finally figured what the man in front of her was talking about. "Wait, what? You'll keep me in this penthouse? Uh, I'm sorry to burst your bubble here. Despite the fact that I'll cooperate because I am a witness, I don't think I could stay here. I came here to have my freedom and have the vacation of my life, not to be a witness of someone's mere murder case and get under the custody of someone that I don't even know. I need to go home."
"This is not just a mere murder case that we could just let you wander around Tagaytay or even in Manila, Kingdom of Eshasea's Crown Princess Cecilia De Saint-Germain Aldrich. This is a very complicated murder case that even your life as the witness is in danger as well."
Cecilia suddenly stopped. She didn't expect what she just heard from the man in front of her right now. She knew everything about her—from her name, her status, her identity—every single information about her were well-hidden before she came to the Philippines. She even used her mother's maiden middle name in her passport so people wouldn't recognize her.
Cecilia Pelaez.
"How . . . how did you know my real name?"
"There's nothing I couldn't do, Your Highness," he answered. "I have my access and ways of information. Of course, I need to know every single information of the witness that I need to protect."
What the heck, they're really creeping me out right now
"Why… Why can't you just go to the police and report the incident? I could testify what happened that night. It's no problem for me," she told him.
The man shook his head. "Police forces couldn't do anything about this case. Heck, not even the government can do something about this. This is between me, my territory, and the other mafia's business because the person who got killed that night that you witnessed is none other than the Montemayor Syndicate's boss, Ellias Montemayor."
"What? Ma-mafia?"
"As the boss of this territory's mafia, I need to protect you from the other mafia. Now that their boss died inside my territory, the truce of peace between the two has already fallen apart and they're now suspecting us that we killed their boss. Now, anytime soon, they're going to declare war against us, and they're also after your head."
It felt like Cecilia's head is going to explode from everything she just heard—from being a witness to the murder of a mafia boss that she didn't even know that, that man was a mafia boss, it seemed like she'll get involved in a conflict of interest between these groups of syndicates. What's worst is that, one of them is even have the plot to kill her.
"I need . . . I need to process this all . . ." she muttered weakly.
She just came here in the Philippines to have her freedom before marrying someone that she don't freaking know.
And now, she got involved in two freaking mafias' war just because she just witnessed a freaking murder?!
This is insane!
Slowly looking back at the man, she asked. "Who-who are you?"
"I'm Yelisei Ackerman," the man responded. "The boss of the Ackerman Mafia. And you are now under my wing, Your Highness."