GENERAL'S DAUGHTER

Chapter Four

A/N: Unedited, errors may encounter ahead. Please vote and comments. Thanks.

Flossie Yvelle Villamor

"She cut my hair!" I yelled, my voice raw with anger. Wagner just stared at me, one eyebrow raised, arms crossed. I want to cry, but I couldn't. I felt a knot of sadness in my chest, pero mas nangingibabaw pa rin ang galit na nararamdaman ko dahil sa second-year cadet na yun. What made me even angrier is how the platoon leaders seemed to be taking her side, both the second-year and first-year ones.

"They saw your dagger. Don't you know that first years aren't allowed-"

"I know." Sagot ko kay Zae Wagner. Napailing sya, alam kong pinagpa'pasensyahan nya ako, But I could see on her face that she didn't appreciate me raising my voice at her and cutting her off before she could finish speaking.

Bumalik ang atensyon ko kay Wagner ng nilapag nya sa ibabaw ng lamesa ang black dagger ko na ibinigay saakin ni Dada. Tumaas nanaman ang init sa muka ko dahil sa galit nang makita ko yun dahil naalala ko yung face ng second year cadet na yun. That bitch cut my hair! I'd never let her forget it, and I'd make sure she paid for it. It was against the freaking Verhaltenskodex (codex) to kill and to took important things from other cadets, and my hair is one of important thing to me. It's considered a violation.

"Return to your quarters, curfew is imminent. Take your dagger with you and remember, no matter what, Diona doesn't bend the rules. Any transgression will be met with disciplinary action, regardless of provocation." She stated this before retrieving several envelopes from the drawer.

Tumayo ako at tumalikod na rin saka lumabas ng opisina nya. I walk down the hallway habang hawak ko ang buhok ko. Hanggang balikat nalang sya. Ang sakit sa pakiramdam, Mommy always told me never to cut my hair, and now, it was gone.

As I walked down the hallway, I felt eyes, stares at me. Some of them murmurs, their words a low, buzzing hum that I couldn't quite make out. Kahit naman hindi ko marinig, alam ko na kung ano yun. Hinawakan ko ulit ang buhok ko nang maalala ko ang mga nangyari kanina sa sparring hall. I traced my fingers from the nape of my neck, down the length of my hair, stopping at the blunt ends. My heart lurched, a cold dread spreading through me.  My hair. It was short. Tears welled in my eyes.

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"If you know exactly who is your enemy, then you can begin the battle before they even step in the battle field."

● Article 10, Section 17, Verhaltenskodex ( Code of Conduct). Translation: Command Lieutenant Michaela Rae Hotchner.

I slammed the book shut, as I finished reading the Fuchs Stamm. Book na nirecommend saakin ni Francesca para maibsan ang lungkot ko, hanggang ngayon kasi, nalulungkot pa rin ako. Every time I looked in the mirror, the sight of my hair, now barely reaching my shoulders, made my gut twist. I sighed, at muli akong napatingin sa libro.

I looked for this book in the library yesterday but couldn't find it. So I asked the archivist in the Archive Hall about it. He said that there wasn't a Fuchs Stamm book in the Library or the Archive of the Aizenberg Mansion. He explained that the book is just folklore and folklore stories aren't allowed in the library. But this morning nang makita nya ako dining hall nilapitan nya ako at laking gulat ko nang inabot nya saakin ang libro na ito. Ang bait nya, He even secretly gives me chocolate bars, kaya kahit na walang chocolates dito sa loob ng Aizenberg mansion, nakakakain pa rin kami ng mga ka-platoon ko dahil sa kanya.