The Villainess Ran Away

XXII

After namin magtanghalian, agad ako nagpaalam sa mga kasama namin sa hapag. I followed Sevi into the garden. This is getting suspicious na ha? Hindi niya manlang ako kinikibo mula pa kanina. Even right now, he seems quite out of it. Hindi niya pa ata alam na sinusundan ko siya.

"Uyy, something's definitely up with you. C'mon spill," untag ko at umupo sa tabi niya. Sinulyapan niya ako saglit at bumalik nanaman sa pagtanaw sa malayo.

Umiling siya, "Ginusto ko lang magpahangin".

"Really? That was it? I was kinda expecting you to be preaching to me about giving you a heads up before fainting or whatsoever," I shrugged.

"Alam mo naman pala," he gave me a pointed look. Napangiwi naman ako.

"Hindi ko rin naman inakala na mahihimatay ako no'n. Hayaan mo next time ka-career-in ko na gawing premunisyon kung kailan ako mahihimatay," sarkastiko kong turan.

"I'm serious, Verose. You almost gave me a heart attack back then," sambit niya.

"Buti nalang malakas ang pangangatawan mo. It would've been a hassle if the two of us collapsed," I taunted. He just let out a long sigh, he's really not having it.

"Look, I get that you're worried and I sincerely appreciate that but you have nothing to worry about. As you can see, I'm fine. It's just like I overslept," paniniguro ko sa kanya.

We sat there in silence for like a full minute, ito ata yung sinasabi nilang 'may dumaan na anghel'. Though I don't know kung may anghel sa universe na ito. There's magic and mythical creatures so why not angels, right? Nah, I can never know. Kung may isang bagay man akong natutunan sa mundong ito, it's that I can never truly know about everything there is. Tulad nung kay Gwenivere Verose, she was totally painted as a ruthless, sadistic and self-centered villainess but now, experiencing everything firsthand... filling her shoe, that I refused to do. I'm even doubting if she's genuinely the evil person that I expected her to be. What if she's no antagonist but a broken heroine struggling to find her place in this harsh world?

"I'm afraid he's gonna pierce a hole on my back for real with the intensity of his stare," Sevi blurted out.

Napakunot ang noo ko, "What?"

I instinctively looked around and sure enough, I saw Dion from the balcony. Ni hindi niya tinatago na pinapanood niya kami dito and from what I gathered from Sevi's statement, kanina pa. Kung ako lang, hindi ko 'yon mapapansin. Iba talaga sense ng mga knight, even from miles away. Speaking of distance, Dion and I made eye contact so I took the liberty to smile and wave at him before directing my attention back to Sevi.

"Why is he watching us? I almost feel like we're under surveillance," untag ko.

"You're not but I am," sagot ni Sevi.

"Sebastian Vicenzo, what happened while I was out? Mind filling me in on the details?" Pinagduldulan ko yung pangalan niya just to add pressure.

"When you passed out, I was the one who caught you and I carried you to call for help because there was no one else. Your maid came right at that instant and thought I was trying to kidnap you- overall, it was a misunderstanding. It was a mess, good thing Amber was there to vouch for me. Next thing I know, I have no idea how she's done it but Lyliane summoned your fiance within two hours. He almost killed me too that's why I had no choice but to tell him about everything," he narrated. Sinubukan kong imagine-nin sa isip ko habang nagk-kwento siya at napatango ako. Yeah, that sounds about right. Lyliane would definitely have done that.

"Wait, back up. You said Dion tried killed you?" Hindi makapaniwalang tanong ko.

"If you count, threatening me while the blade of the sword's on my throat. Then yes he did," he said nonchalantly. Siguradong matutuwa sa'kin ang mga pintor dahil kuhang-kuha ko ang itsura ng isang taong hindi makapaniwala. Alam ko namang Dion's a freaking commander of royal knights and I have no doubt in his ability in combat kahit na I've never seen it myself. Still... I can't believe it! He's always been so kind and helpful to me. It's hard to imagine him making threats let alone commit frustrated murder. Let's not dwell on that. Binura ko sa imahinasyon ko ang mental image ng kwento ni Sevi.