I woke up feeling an overwhelming pain all over my body. I felt like I was beaten so badly.
A groan escaped my lips when I tried to get out of the bed.
"You're awake." I turned my head towards the door of my room and saw that Blaze just entered the room.
At first, I was a little lost at what happened but then flashes of memories flooded my mind and I remembered him giving orders for the guards to take Cool.
"What are you doing here?" I asked coldly.
"I came to check on you –"
"Stay. Away." I said firmly making sure he would understand it clearly.
"Princess—" he called out and took a step closer. I immediately set a blazing boundary between us.
"Get out!"
"Princess—"
"Get out! That is an order!" I shouted with authority. He stared at me for a while before he helplessly bowed down and took his leave.
I immediately massage my temples when I felt my head throbbing once again.
I relaxed myself and put out the fire barrier I set near the door.
Good thing that things around here are not too vulnerable to fire.
"Ignis?" I called out. She immediately entered the room and asked me if I needed anything.
I asked her to close the door first.
"Where's Cool?" I asked as soon as she had closed the door behind her.
"Princess—"
"Fhyra. It's Fhyra, remember?" I corrected, she gave me a weak smile before she nodded.
"Where is he?" I asked once again.
"I'm not sure about it. After you passed out, Count Blaze took you from him and ordered the guardias to take him. But I heard that they sent him back to the Glaciers." Ignis reported.
"He was in the Glaciers? He left?" I asked not believing what she said.
He told me, he won't leave.
"That's what I heard from the guardias. I'm really not sure about its credibility." She honestly confessed.
I nodded my head and thanked her before asking her to help me meet the Queen.
"Where's Cool?" I asked Queen Feu as soon as I entered her quarters.
I am still feeling very weak so I had Ignis support me while I stand in front of the Queen.
"How do you feel?" She asked instead.
My jaw tightened at the way she changes the subject.
"Where is he?" I asked once again but in a low voice.
"Do you want me to call a baylan to check on you?" she insisted.
I didn't give her an answer and just stared at her face for a long while. I long figured out why mom never told me stories about her.
She's a great queen. But not a good mother. And definitely not an ideal grandmother at that.
A long silence filled the place. Neither of us is willing to back down from the staring contest that I started.
"He left you." She said while staring at me straight in the eye.
"We ask him to stay and just undergo the proper investigation since he was suspected of kidnapping you. But he refused and told us that he would just go back to the Glaciers." An eyebrow of mine raised as I listened to her.
"How about the coming war? He's one of the guardians." I pointed out.
"He said he'll just come back then. Since he already fulfilled his promise to your parents that he would bring you here safely. He believed that his mission is over."
I stood on my ground, asking Igris to let me go in the process. She bowed down her head towards the queen and then to me before she left through the red doors of the queen's quarters.
I watched her as she completely left the room, leaving me and the queen alone.
"When did he left?" I asked after a few moments.
"A few hours after you passed out last night." She answered.
"He didn't leave anything for me? Last words or something?"
"No, he just asked us to take good care of you."
I remained quiet after hearing that.
Did he really?
Am I supposed to believe that?
I was already full of doubts since when I tried calling him using my mind earlier, I didn't receive any response from him.
And the Queen here is not helping much either.
An idea struck me when I suddenly felt sick again.
I held my head and swayed my body a little. I acted like I would almost faint, I saw panic roused in her face.
She went down from her throne and walked towards me.
"Ignis!" She called out and not a second later Ignis came in rushing inside.
"Yes, my Queen?" she asked without raising her head.
"Call the Punong Baylan immediately!" she ordered and helped me stand from the ground.
A smile secretly crept into my lips when I heard her say that.
My plan was actually working.
She called out more guardias to help me go back to my room as we wait for Hailec to come.
We didn't have to wait for long since Hailec came almost instantly.
The queen ordered him to check on me. He was secretly giving me questioning looks which I answered with a meaningful stares.
I really didn't expect that he would be the only one I can trust here aside from Cool. Now that Cool is missing, Hailec's the only one who can help me.
"The princess' health isn't too good and a crowded place is not good for her. May asked everyone to leave the room first?" he announced after a while of 'checking'.
The queen hesitantly left with the murandas and guardias.
Hailec made sure to close the door before he asked questions.
"What's wrong? You look fine. You just need a little rest since you're drained. What happened? Where's Cool?"
"I'm fine. And about Cool---that's the reason why I needed you here. They took him and told me that he was sent back to the Glaciers can you go and check it out for me?"
"They took him? Why?"
"They accused him of kidnapping me."
"That's bullshit." I laughed at his reaction.
"That sounds a mundane talking." I teased but he just rolled his eyes on me.
"I'll look into it. But would you be fine here?" his face was laced with worry when he said his last sentence.
"I can manage. But please do look into it, I don't think Cool would leave me here alone like what they were saying." I said collectively.
"Yeah, I don't think so, too." He agreed.
"How was she?" I asked while he was checking my health for real this time.
"Still a brat." He answered with a snort.
"You know I wouldn't be surprised if you two ended up being together right?" I teased and laughed when I saw the horrified look on his face.
"That's never going to happen!" He said with a scowling face.
The queen went back inside after a few more minutes to ask about my health.
"It's not too great. The princess had used too much energy and her body needs time and rest for it to cope up." He said as he face the queen.
"I suggest not to cause her too many problems and not to rile her emotions up for a while." He suggestively told the queen.
I almost applaud him for being able to lie in front of the Queen.
The queen glanced at my direction worriedly.
"If that's all, may I go, My queen?" He said curtly while subtle looking at me as if he was bidding goodbye.
"Thank you Punong Baylan, for coming. The whole of Flamis appreciates your efforts of taking good care of our next queen." She said with gratitude.
"It's my duty, your highness. If you would excuse me, I still had some business to attend to."
"Of course. Of course. Thank you once again."
As soon as Hailec left the room, I immediately went back to lie on my bed. Not minding the other person's presence inside my room.
I heard her sighed when she saw me fixing my fleece blanket and manipulated it to fully cover my body.
"I'll be going then. Take some rest, hija." She said before I heard the door closed.
I waited for a little more before I pulled out of the bed.
I went to my room's lanai and stared at the beautiful scenery ahead of me.
'Where are you Cool?'
es"I went to Glaciers to check for Cool and wasn't there," Hailec said, a week after Cool disappeared."I know that. I just wanted to be sure.""So what's your plan now?" He asked while looking at me reading a book in the library."It's either I look for him or he shows up," I answered nonchalantly."You're not worried about him?" He was confused with the disinterest I was showing.I snap my fingers and small flames formed a message in the table between us.'Someone's outside.'His head turned towards the closed door of the library before it returned to face me."He left me here, alone. He promised me that he wouldn't, that he would stay beside me all the time. But he left. Without a word." I said using a pained voice but with a smirk plastered on my face."But you asked me to look for him?" he asked with a taunting smile."That was a foolish move. I just realized how stupid I was believing his promises." I replied.And then we stopped talking, we were just waiting for someone to make
I didn't know how to react.Seeing him show up at this very moment I wanted to run towards him and complain to him how much I feel wronged and how much I was hurting.I was just standing there staring at him staring back at me.He gave me a weak smile when I felt Blaze's presence approaching.My forehead creased when I saw Cool walk away.'Don't worry. I'm just around you. All the time.'I figured that he was hiding from Blaze or probably from the whole Flamis. I didn't know his reason but I somehow trust him. No, I completely trust him. I know he has a good reason why he's into hiding."Princess—""Didn't I told you to stay away from me?" I said without sparing him a glance and just continued walking."But I just want to explain my side." He reasoned out, frustrated with how uninterested I am to hear his story."Are you done?" I inquired a few moments later."You just really don't care about me, do you?" he asked in a bitter tone.I turned around to face him this time, my left brow ri
"Sassy this is Ignis, Ignis this is Sassy. The friend I was talking about." I introduced them to each other after arriving in Hailec's place."Hi! It's nice to meet you Ignis!" Sassy greeted cheerfully."Hi, it's nice meeting you too, Señorita," Ignis responded shyly."Woah there! I'm no royalty, okay? Sassy is fine." Sassy corrected."Okay, Sassy," Ignis said still a little awkward with Sassy's enthusiasm."I've prepared your rooms," Hailec said after appearing all of the sudden."Kimean!" Sassy called out as he followed Hailec inside the house."I thought his name was Hailec?" I asked Ignis after realizing that Sassy was talking about the baylan."Only a few one's knew that the real name of the Punong Baylan is Kimean Hailec Ledesma. And very few are given the privilege to call him with that name. I think your friend holds a special spot in his life now." She said and gestured me to follow the two first."Sassy," Hailec's warning tone welcomed us, as we enter his living room."But I
"Before your arrival here in Narte Fantasia, Blaze already had a hunch that there's a mole within the Royalties and he was right. The moment you came, the suspected mole acted more suspicious." Cool stabilized my position on his lap and he rounded his arms around the small of my back to my waist before he continued."Remember Duchness Ardor?" He asked and looked at me questioningly.I tried to recall who he was referring to but nothing came into mind, so I just shook my head to tell him that I don't."Remember the lady who suggested to send me back to the glaciers? You burned her clothes." He said and it was with his last sentence that I remember the middle-aged lady who screamed like a banshee after having her dress set on fire."Oh, yeah. I remember. Wait. Don't tell me she was the mole?" I inquired in which he responded with a nod."Yeah. She is.""Wow! The darkess did a great job sending an idiot as a mole." I said both a little disappointed and amused."After being taken by the Gu
"Wow!" I heard Sassy gasped as soon as we step foot on the opening of the Kabisera."Don't go too far away from us." Hailec reminded her."Yes, sir," Sassy answered together with a playful salute."Ignis, are you okay? Are you comfortable?" I asked her when I realized how quiet she is."Yeah. Don't worry. I just missed walking around here." She answered with a smile."Why? You haven't been here for a while?" I asked, my forehead creasing from curiosity."As soon as I entered the palace, it was too hard to go outside. It was a rule made by the queen since she found out that an insider helped Princess Blare escaped before." I wanted to feel pity for her, being unable to go to places she used to go to, but I knew that's the last thing she wanted right now."That's fine with me though. Don't worry." She said with a smile."I'll just look around for a while," she said and started to blend in with the crowd."Sassy!" we heard Hailec called out and immediately followed my friend who looks lik
I can still hear the screams and shrieks of the fantasians behind the wall where we are currently hiding.'Would the others be alright?' I worriedly asked him with my mind.He tilted his head to face me.'Don't worry. They'll be fine.' He said and gave me an assuring smile before peeking once again on whatever was happening behind the wall.I was pinned against the wall, Cool's body against mine, I can feel his hands on my waist.I didn't know how long it takes before the disturbing screams of terror started to die down until there was nothing left but silence.A dreading and eerie silence.'Stay here.' He ordered as he tried to check the area before he came back to get me.I felt my stomach turned upside-down, I instantly felt the urge to vomit.The lively and crowded Kabisera was now filled with dead fantasians on the ground. The disgusting scent of blood lingers on the air.I immediately thought of my friends and hurriedly scanned the place for any sign of life.My eyes glowed when
The very next day, Queen Feu immediately sent Blaze and a few guardias to come and fetch Ignis and me at Hailec's house."The Queen is worried about Princess Fhyra's safety, since your home is quite near in the Kabisera. I hope the punong baylan won't take it negatively if we ask the Princess and her muranda to come back to the palace?" Blaze respectfully told Hailec who was seated on the couch on the receiving area of his house.It's a good thing that his house was huge. We were quite startled to see Blaze and the guardias early this morning.Seeing Cool here would be a little understandable but seeing a mundane like Sassy here?So we needed to mask her presence in case the others would notice and Hailec hid her somewhere inside the house.Ignis, on the other hand finally gained consciousness this morning as well and Hailec assured me that she was fine.So here we are, facing Blaze and the five guardias sent by Queen Feu."It's not that I held it against the Queen, since I do understa
"No! I'll be draining you if I do. No, I wouldn't do it." I said in a firm and determined voice."No, you won't. You won't let yourself drain me. You can do it." Cool said encouraging me.I tried to focus once again but every time I started to feel his energy creeping into my body, I immediately