THE young boy’s eyes widened in awe when a younger boy was presented before him, a few days after he had a one on one conversation with Simuno Apollo.“Young Prince, this is Liwanag. He is new here and from today onwards, he will be your personal servant,” Miss Ilang introduced, and she slightly pushed a ragged looking boy forward, for Prince Sari to have a better look at him.The boy was obviously younger than the Prince himself. Like everyone else that didn’t belong to the Royal Family, the boy had a tanned skin and thick, messy black hair that he didn’t bother to comb. He wore a dirty white and tattered clothes, and it had several holes in it. Prince Sari couldn’t say anything at the moment, so he plainly stared at the boy cowering before him, looking like he was about to cry soon.“My Prince, are you not satisfied with this new boy?” Amarang asked in a worried tone upon noticing that the Young Prince didn’t say a word.Prince Sari flinched and quickly shook his head several times
“MY Prince, please wake up,” Amarang, who was now a lot older than he was back then, gently spoke. He was standing just beside the Prince’s bed. His worried expression clearly meant that today was another day that the Prince was expected to look forward to, but he obviously forgot and overslept.Still half asleep and groggy, Prince Sari forced himself to get out of bed. The young man didn’t mind being disheveled in front of his butler. For sure, Amarang respected him a lot but that didn’t mean that he would allow Prince Sari to keep acting like a child, not even wary of his surroundings when he was this vulnerable and exposed.“Price, please put on your clothes properly,” the old man pleaded as he assisted the timid Prince in fixing his clothes.“Thank you, Amarang,” Prince Sari said, followed with a playful chuckle. “You’re as caring, as always. you’re going to spoil me,” he commented.“I already am,” Amarang responded with a sigh.Amarang was quite young when he started working in t
“I DIDN’T expect to see you today… Sinag,” Prince Sari said the very moment he headed outside the royal garden to practice his sword fighting techniques. The man before him appeared more mature than he was last seen. And today, he was wearing his Mandirigma armor.“Pleasure to see you, Prince Sari,” Sinag greeted in high regard, and slightly bowed his head before the addressed Prince. “You used to be amazed whenever we had practice duels. Ha ha,” he joked with a little bit of sarcasm.Prince Sari chuckled at Sinag’s statement. He was right. But aside from his duty as the next King, the Prince couldn’t seem to improve his swordsmanship skills no matter how hard he trained with Sinag from time to time.“What brings you here?” Prince Sari changed the topic.Sinag suddenly changed his presence from being relaxed to being serious, “I wanted to inform you that I got promoted as a Mandirigma, my Prince,” he announced.“That’s great!” In an instant, the Prince’s fac
FROM a distance, small birds of different kinds harmoniously chirped, waking Prince Sari up. He lazily rubbed his eyes as he pulled his back away from the hard wooden bed that made him uncomfortable throughout the night. He softly groaned, feeling an unfamiliar ache running down to his spine. He never felt this tired his entire life. The feeling was overwhelming. “How can someone endure sleeping on a bed like this, Sinag?” the Prince complained with a sour expression. Sinag chuckled at the Prince’s reaction before responding, “For someone who grew up in a palace and had always slept in a nice bed, this is the closest descent bed for mediocres, my Prince,” he explained. “Ugh…” Prince Sari couldn’t argue. It was finally proven that he was showered with nothing but luxury. “I’m sorry for what I said,” he apologized, and Sinag chuckled. “It’s fine. I am just glad that we managed to exit the Royal Palace without getting caught, my Princ
“LEAVING ALREADY?” approached an old man when Sinag and Prince Sari went downstairs to see the owner of the mentioned inn.“Hello, Mister. Are you perhaps the owner of this inn?” Prince Sari immediately asked.The old man was surprised at the sudden question, but he managed to smile and confirmed it, “Yes, I am. Did you enjoy your stay, my Prince?”“Of course!” Prince Sari exclaimed, then held both of the old man’s hands and gently squeezed them. “Mister, I will be honest. I had a tough time sleeping last night and everything here is very unusual for me. I mean, I have no idea how normal people lived their lives. I never knew something like this existed.”“Thank you, my Prince,” the old man responded. “But this place is falling apart. I don’t even have the money to repair some of the damaged parts. Lately, I am not receiving any customers due to the ongoing rumors,” he told the Young Prince with a sad expression.Prince Sari’s heart melte
“JUST what are you doing in here, Liwanag?!” Liwanag got up and dusted his clothes. “I overheard your conversation with Sinag, my Prince,” he confessed. “So that’s why you followed us here?” Prince Sari intervened with crossed arms. “How did you end up beneath the carriage, anyway? What if you fell? That was reckless of you, Liwanag,” he scolded, but with worry.Liwanag’s face turned apologetic after hearing all of those from the Prince. “I’m sorry. I just couldn’t stay still after knowing that you were plotting to throw yourself right into danger,” he reasoned out.Prince Sari sighed. “Liwanag, I’m not mad. Okay? I just don’t want you to get yourself hurt,” he defended.“I know!” Liwanag agreed. “And that’s why I’m here! I will protect you, Prince Sari!” Both Sinag and Prince Sari’s eyes widened.Then Sinag joined in their conversation, “Sorry for being rude but, the Prince deeply thought of the consequences of his actio
AS LIGHTNING struck followed by the loud roaring of thunder, a man was brought to his knees as blood gushed out from his back after being stabbed with an *itak which caused him instant death. The culprit was also a man who secretly snuck behind him when he was not looking. To their left, several men were also fighting to their death. The color of crimson was everywhere. Pained screaming of innocent civilians caught in between the war echoed. The rain finally poured, washing away the blood of all the wasted lives but not the sorrow of those who lost their loved ones. “We’re all gonna die.” One wounded man who lost both of his lower limbs said to himself while crying in despair. Hope was no longer present in his eyes. He was done for. Keeping himself alive would only burden the people who would tend to him. So, with a pained expression, he slowly picked up his itak drenched in blood and pointed it towards himself. He was trembling while doing so. “Please, forgive me. This
「Part 1 continuation」“Tch! The man with his ridiculous suggestions dare to speak!” The man who strongly disagrees to everything they have talked so far talked back while crossing his arms. Even though his face was hidden under his hood, his gesture clearly showed his repulsion towards the man who spoke his mind just now.“What can you say about this, Simuno Apollo?” The woman asked yet another man that sat on a chair that had a different pattern. He was the only one who did not bother hiding his face. He looked like he was already in his fifties with his short silvery white hair and beared that covered his chin. “Should we tell the people of this tragic incident or should we take desperate measures in order to protect Kabinihan from being tainted?” All the attention was now focused on the man they called Simuno Apollo.“This is indeed a shocking event,” Simuno Apollo started, making most of the people in the meeting nod in agreement. “And this is a gr