CHAPTER EIGHT
"ARAY! Dahan-dahan naman," reklamo ko habang inaayusan ako nitong dalawang babae. They are called dressers and they are almost pulling my hair out of my scalp in the way they comb it.
"Sobrang tigas kasi ng buhok mo eh. Ilang linggo mo ba 'tong hindi sinuklay?" Sagot nitong nasa kanan ko. Napaisip tuloy ako. Ilang araw na ba ang lumipas simula no'ng tumagos ako sa portal?
"I can't even remember," I sadly replied. I kinda miss my home. I don't have any permanent home at all. But Southville feels like one and I consider it as my home now. I kinda miss all of them. Paris, Ate Emma, Kaiser, Mrs. Linda, Victoria and especially, Vincent.
"Are you done!?" We all turned to the closed door where the voice of the prodigal prince came from. I rolled my eyes. Kanina pa siya tanong nang tanong kung tapos na ba. Pang-limang beses na niyang tanong 'yan.
"Ganyan ba talaga 'yan? Sobrang mainipin?" Tanong ko sa dalawang kasama ko.
"Well, you haven't seen him throw things out of his room yet," the girl on my right said. Siya lang naman ang nagsasalita. Itong kasama niya, ni hindi ko pa narinig ang boses.
"He throw things?" I gasped in horror.
"Yes. He even fired half the number of the regular royal servants," dagdag niya na lalong nagpabuka ng bibig ko. Grabe! He maybe have a terrible conduct disorder.
"Pero mukha naman siyang mabait sa akin," pangangatuwiran ko. He even smiled to me a while ago.
"Mabait naman talaga 'yang si Prince Blaze. Pero may galit kasi siya sa tatay niya. Whenever he wants to get his father's attention, he would do something mischievous." Napaisip tuloy ako dahil sa sinabi niya. Gaano ba kalalim ang galit niya sa tatay niya at nagawa niya ang mga gano'ng bagay? Anyway, that's least of my concerns now. My problem now is how can I walk with this ostentatious gown.
"Are you done!? Answer me or I'll barge in!" Prince Blaze shouted from outside. Napairap na naman tuloy ako.
The two dressers helped me stand up. The gown is a bit heavy. Hindi ko nabilang kung ilan 'yong layers ng skirt pero alam ko lagpas tatlo. 'Yong bodice ay masyadong fitted dahil sa corset. The gown is in a colour of beige and has some white accents. They tied my hair behind my head and let the other strands flowing beside my face. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I almost choked. How come that that beautiful lady is the same girl who had a messy hair and dirty face an hour ago?
Inalalayan ako nitong dalawa kong kasama palabas ng silid. Naabutan kong nakapamewang ang prinsipe at akmang sisigaw na naman sana. He eyed me from head to toe and then toe to head. When our eyes met, he gave me a smirk.
"How can you turn a rug into an expensive dress?" He mumbled. My brows met at his remarks. He must be referring to me as a rug. How dare he!?
"Please excuse us, your highness," the girls asked before leaving. The prince's eyes are still fixated on me. Ah yeah, I forgot to bow. I curtseyed in front of him. When I looked back at him, he lent me his hand.
"Shall we?" He asked. I felt my face burned. This seems like a fairytale came to life. An ugly poor girl transformed into a beautiful young lady and asked out by the prince. Kung hindi ako si Cinderella, magdadabog talaga ako.
Wala nang sabi-sabi kong tinanggap ang kamay niya. His warm, soft hand held mine gently. He looks incredibly handsome with his royal garments. He is wearing a white tailcoat jacket with golden embroideries and a matching white trousers. What stands out the most is his neatly brushed white hair that is exposing his forehead.
