[√]Lady of the White Rose

31: Dark Side

VESPER

"L-let's leave here, Gran -" hahatakin ko na sana si Gran upang umalis ngunit bigla naman itong naglakad papunta sa pinanggagalingan ng mga umiiyak.

Nanginginig pa rin hanggang ngayon ang buong katawan ko at tila hindi ko ito makontrol. I feel heavy and I was sweating profusely.

I immediately followed Gran behind. Every step I take the cries intensified, my ears ringing loudly. I tried covering them but it didn't help at all.

The ground is wet and it made a splashing sound with our every step. At mas lalo kaming napapalapit sa ingay ay mas lalong lumalakas ang masamang amoy sa paligid. My stomach churn upward.

Napapikit ako ng mariin kaya naman hindi ko napansin na tumigil sa paglalakad si Gran sa harap ko. I ended up bumping into him. I stared at him, confused.

Hindi ako nito pinansin at nakatingin lang sa harap niya. Sinundan ko kung ano ang tinitignan niya. It was dark, I couldn't clearly see anything. I squinted my eyes to see what was in front of us. And when I saw it, my mind wish I never saw it. I couldn't stop the unpleasant feeling in my gut and vomit beside the wall.

I saw several prison cells. Inside were humans. No, not just humans, worst is, there were kids, children among them. Their cries seep through my body like dark muds sticking to my flesh.

"What is this?"

Yeah, Gran. What is this hell?

Pinunasan ko ang gilid ng aking labi bago binalingan si Gran ng tingin. Pinuntahan nito isa-isa ang bawat selda. Agad naman siyang napansin ng mga tao sa loob at nagmakaawa na tulungan sila. They stretch out their arms and beg.

Their begging clutch my heart painfully. I didn't know why, after all I am not that kind of a person. Nalulungkot ako sa sitwasyon nila ngunit wala akong magagawa para sa kanila. It's not my business to deal with their misfortunes, I have a fair share of misfortunes too.

Siguradong may iba pang tutulong sa kanila. Hindi naman kailangan na ako talaga diba? Hindi ba pwedeng ipagdasal ko na lang sila kay Malaya? Right. Malaya surely can help them -

"Gran! What the hell are you doing?!" I exclaim frantically when I saw him slashing the metal bars like tofu. Nagmamadali akong lumapit sa pwesto niya at pinigilan ito. "Ano'ng ginagawa mo?"

"Duchess," seryoso ako nitong tinignan. "Hindi kaya ng konsensya ko na makita silang ganito -"

"So sinasabi mo bang wala akong konsensya?" Naiinis kong turan dito.

"What? No, that's not what I mean, Your Grace -"

Binitiwan ko ang braso nito. "No, you don't need to explain. Do whatever you want. Sino ba naman ako upang respetohin mo ang nga desisyon ko, hindi ba? Hindi naman talaga ako karapat dapat maging Duchess. Siguro lahat ng tao sa estate disappointed kasi ako na lang 'yong natirang Frontera."

"Duchess -"

"Choose, Gran. Show it with your actions that you accept me as your Duchess, let's leave here. None of this is our business in the first place. We don't have time for this, father and Kuya Iklis are still missing, I don't want to waste time helping them." Ramdam ko ang mas lalong panginginig ng nga kalamnam ko. The more I think about not helping them the more it doesn't feel right to me.