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The Unofficial Empress - Chapter 12
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Marco is sitting on the concrete baluster of the balcony while having a glass of wine. “What a moonless night,” Alexandra spoke as she wrapped a shawl around her body. Marco turned to face her with a frown.
“Why are you still up?”
“I can’t sleep,” she replied so he jumped down beside her. “I’m actually agitated about the fact that we are risking our lives,” she confessed as she glanced at the glass of wine which he was just about to finish. “May I?” she wanted to take a sip to warm her body but Marco grabbed the glass and gulped down every last drop of wine. She frowned at his childish behavior. “You could at least tell me no…umph…” her voice was muffled when he grabbed her waist for a kiss.
Alexandra was taken by surprise so she tried to push but his grip was strong as he pressed her against the concrete baluster. He dipped his head for a deeper kiss holding her head with his other hand. His wine-stained tongue slithered unto her mouth making her gape in surprise. The sweet and intoxicating liquor, or maybe it wasn’t the reason why she feel like her head is spinning. Every second, her mind starts to go blank. Not knowing what to do. Not knowing how to react. Alexandra was slowly drunk.. His kisses are slowly guiding her to an ecstatic feeling, waking every nerve in her body. She unconsciously wrapped her arms around his neck. Slowly, his hands began to grope her waist down to her thigh.
She jolted at the sensation, and unexpectedly chewed something that sounded juicy. She then hit his chest with her hand and forcefully escaped from his arms. “Why did you hit me?” he asked wiping the tip of his lip where her teeth was able to nip.
“Why did you kiss me?”
“Am I not supposed to?”
“What? You could have at least asked my permission!”
“Would you say yes then?”
“Of course not!”
“Why?”
“You ask yourself. Our relationship is complicated and our marriage is not like what normal couples have,” she explained calmly although her heart is beating faster than usual.
“We’ve done more than kissing. You’re even carrying my child right now,” he shot back and was about to continue talking but he restrained himself. There is a conflicted look on his face as if he is fighting some guilt inside his head. He calmed himself down. “I’m sorry. Please don’t take it to heart.”
“What are you sorry for?” she asked as she rubbed her arms.
“Everything,” he said and gently dragged her closer to his body. She trembled as her back leaned against his warm body. One hand slid down to her belly and the other hand held hers against the baluster. It’s such a familiar sensation. She thought she’d forgotten about the incident that night but their little touches revived every memory of it.
That comfortable warmth she felt made her want to snuggle a little longer with him. Her free hand slipped on top of his hand holding her belly and she inclined closer to his body. No one has been aware about their deal so they can easily fool the others as they act more naturally and more caring towards each other than most of the real couples.
—–/////—–
The journey continued and as he said, Marco slept during the first two hours of the ride. He woke up and was quiet during the ride. Alexandra could feel a thick air around them and it felt suffocating if she didn’t open the windows.
“Wow! This is fantastic,” she mumbled as she saw a wide stretch of green carpet-like fields. “Has it been always like this?”
Marco pushed back the curtains beside him and looked out the window. “It has. People from the capital always gets thrilled upon seeing a nice view,” he said and crossed his arms. Alexandra pouted.
“I’ve not stayed long enough in Katapangan and I never toured places even when I was in Kalayaan.”
“Were you not interested in your country? Hongs are trying to take it under their control,” Marco propped his chin on his knuckle as he rested his elbow on the window. Alexandra gnawed the inner side of her lower lip as she sensed his prejudice towards her family.
“I worked as a volunteer worker in Kalayaan. There has never been a time that I forgot about my own country. Just by thinking, my youth withers away so my father took me to an orphanage to help the people in there manage it. I focused too much and by doing so, it helped me forget for a while…”
“Good for you to have something you can cherish from Katapangan in your childhood. The days you wished to be away from Katapangan were the days I’d been wondering about it.”
“If only circumstances were different back then, I wouldn’t have wished to leave Katapangan. All I thought was that Katapangan only revolves around the palace and it felt suffocating. I didn’t know that there are vast lands where I can freely roam around. If I knew that there would be so many places to wander in Katapangan, I would have attempted to escape the palace gates several times,” Alexandra blurted out as she clutched her skirt. “Thinking about those times makes me want to go back in the past and change it.”
“But we all know that the past is already gone and nothing can be done to undo it.”
Alexandra shot her head up to hear an unusual bitterness from the man in front of her. His stoic expression showed an obvious disgust. “Do you have something you want to change?”
Marco grinned and shifted on his seat. The carriage must be uncomfortable for Marco who has long legs. Tall and large people would suffer such long carriage rides. “If only Jiro didn’t come to our house back then,” he murmured as he turned his head towards her open window.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s pointless now. We should stop for a while,” he said but before he could knock to inform the coachman, the carriage shook and caught her off-balance. “Easy,” Marco swiftly came to aid her as if she is a very fragile piece of glass.
“I am fine. I can take care of myself,” she slightly brushed off his hand as they adjusted on their seats. The coachman knocked so Marco opened the curtain to see what he is about to say.
“You highness, I’m sorry to inform you but we got stuck,” he said. Agatha knocked and opened the door with worry. She was more panicky than her who is pregnant.
Princes have trainings in the military so Marco was able to help remove the carriage from the hole its wheel got stuck. He is not very muscular especially when he is wearing clothes so she didn’t realize he could yank the carriage with one hand. The coachman quickly placed a rock to fill the hole. Marco looks so effortless that even the coachman was surprised with his extraordinary physical strength. Normally, two people in full force could lift it up but with much difficulty.
Marco hid his trembling and bleeding hand as he left the coachman to check and fix the other broken parts caused by the sudden jolt. He just brought out a handkerchief and pressed it on the wound to stop the crimson liquid from flowing. He sat beside Alexandra as Agatha came running with two men from a nearby house to help with the repair. “Are you hurt anywhere?” he asked.
“I’m fine. How many times do I have to…you’re bleeding,” Alexandra immediately took his hand to check it. The bleeding has stopped but blood tainted his handkerchief.
“This is no big deal. I’m used to it,” Marco said uncovering his wound but Alexandra didn’t believe so she squeezed his hand. “Even if it stopped bleeding, we must make sure it does not get infected,” she said and untied her hair and used the same ribbon to wrap his hand.
—–/////—–
“Can we still repair it?” Marco inquired after a few minutes of rest.
“Yes your high…Yesss SIR. It’s just that we lost the spare parts in the trunk so it will take us some time,” the coachman replied. The word ‘your highness’ nearly slipped from his mouth, almost exposing Marco’s identity.
One of the men who came to help overheard their conversation and told them that they have a neighbor who was once a carriage producer. “You will find him over there sir,” the man pointed towards the direction where they came from. “Our town has few pine trees and we can count them and tell who has one. Just right behind that ruined brick wall, you will see a pine tree. To your left a hundred yards away, another one is there. There you can see is a stone path leading towards his house.”
Marco almost missed to say a word of gratitude if the coachman did not speak. Then he called Alexandra to go with him rather than stay under the sun and watch some sweaty men working. Marco memorized the instructions earlier and they arrived at the said residence without much difficulty. One can tell that the owner was once wealthy but now the house looks old and shabby from the outside as some mosses grew on the walls and vines are creeping from one window of the second floor.
Knowing their intention, the old master of the house invited them inside to take a look. The old man has plenty of spare parts in his storage room at the back of the house.
The old man has an attitude exuding from him. With a gaze as thorough as an eagle eyeing for his prey, he observed Marco and Alexandra. “You must be from the capital,” he said.
“We are sir…”
“Arnold,” the man introduced his name. “Youngsters nowadays dare to have some interesting adventure,” he commented as he called for the only servant to open the room. “You must be a newly married couple.”
“How do you know sir?” Marco intercepted Alexandra’s almost in denial response.
“Even without rings, you sure are. No sane woman would walk around in broad daylight with a man knowing that she might spend the night with him in the outside. Are you heading towards Luntian?”
“Oh yes. How did you know about our destination?”
“It’s the last village after this place. If you’re not heading to Luntian, then you might be lost on your way because this road leads to Luntian alone. You lady…”
“Alexa, sir,” Alexandra spoke and the old man nodded.
“Lady Alexa, if you would like, my daughter can show you around the area. Fixing a carriage is no big deal but I’m afraid you would feel bored listening to our conversation,” Arnold said and told his servant to call for his daughter to take her somewhere to have tea.
“You go,” Marco nodded at her when the woman came to fetch her.
Marco and Arnold talked about few yet useful matters for several minutes and the servant took all necessary spare parts to help their neighbors and the coachman to fix the carriage. When the servant was gone, Arnold looked carefully around before greeting Marco with reverence. Marco was surprised but maintained his composure. From the naïve boy image he portrayed, his attitude switched back to his usual.
“I didn’t think you would recognize me. Are you a spy?” he asked looking around for a possible weapon that might entrap him.
“I’m not a spy or a killer, your highness,” the old man replied. “I’m an old man who no longer wish to involve with the royalties. Killing my own child was enough for me to despise everyone from the palace.”
“What happened?” he asked eager to know the truth but the old man trembled as he refused to speak. A brief moment of silence fell between them before Arnold spoke again.
“Greed and ambitions could change a person instantly. I was a Hong supporter and I’m one of the men who defended the palace ten years ago. But it turns out that by doing so, my only son died. There was a letter next to his dead body stating that useless people should die.”
“What?”
“Boys in my family from my ancestors down to my descendants were already pledged to serve the Hongs due to a great debt my great grandfather had. The Angenas who were in power that time didn’t care about their small subjects but the Hongs did. They helped my great grandfather payoff the debt and as a sign of gratitude, he promised that all his male descendants shall serve the Hongs especially in combat without sparing. My son was sickly since childhood so I hid his identity by letting him live as a girl, working off my *** just to compensate for my uncompetitive son. Maybe it was my fault but I don’t care anymore. My ties with the Hongs were cut ever since that day.”
“Why are you telling me this knowing that I’m a prince from the Angenas bloodline? I won’t let you use me for vengeance.”
“I won’t go that far, your highness. I’m no longer related to the Hongs nor do I have the faintest feeling of anger towards them. What I want is a progressive country and a good leader. It was my mistake to have been blinded by my ancestors’ brainwashing without seeing the truth.”
“Are you saying that my father deserves the throne?”
“More than anyone else.”
Marco smirked. “The throne is thought to be the safest place but once you are on it, you will realize just how dangerous to sit on it. People who are greedy could be blinded and not know that they have made several enemies from all sides until their demise.”