Shipwrecked Hearts

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The death of Caroline and Minerva are connected. The way they died were similar, stripped off, and their tummy were engraved with one alphabet. K for Caroline, I for Minerva. I don't know what it was, but I assumed that maybe whoever is behind all this, he or she is sending me a message. It will all be confirmed if there will be a next victim again and there will be an engravement of the letter R.

Somehow, the death of Minerva and the way she was killed that resembled to Caroline's cleared that there are others besides Anatole. We don't know who they are and how many they were, and even their agenda or what they wanted. Which is why it is hard. You can never discover if you don't even know what you are looking for.

Dahil sa nangyari, mas lalong humigpit ang seguridad sa palasyo. I wasn't really sure if that was a good thing to do. I mean, the more people inside the palace, the more chances of whoever is behind this to slip pass and through.

Nasa loob kami ng crime scene, K was investigating the place and checking every single detail she needed to find out what really happened. Tumigil siya sa harap ng bintana, "since the guards said that they only saw Kira and Minerva enter this room... I think whoever did kill Minerva used another entrance and escape route." She pointed the window, "this." What K was saying started to make sense.

Tumango si Maximo, "we need to get rid of the ones behind all this before it gets worse. People are already alarmed because of the increasing crisis. Even if it's just two victims for now, you don't know who will be next." Nagbuntong-hininga siya. I can feel the exhaustion in his voice. Hinawakan ko naman ang kan'yang kamay, telling him that I'm always beside him to share a fair amount of burden and telling him that he is not alone because I am here with him. He seemed to get my message and firmly pressed my hand with his. "Thank you, Starfish." He gave me a smile.

After inspecting the place, nagpaalam na si K para bumalik sa kan'yang morgue sa s'yudad ng Jolly Roger. Naglakad kami ni Maximo papunta sa dining hall, he was unusually quiet. Halatang nag-iisip siya nang malalim tungkol sa insidente.

"Maximo, I have a question."

He looked at me for a brief moment, "what is it?"

"What's your full name?" That was all I could manage to ask on the spot. Somehow, I needed to make him divert his worries on something else. I can't bear looking at him, as if the whole world was his problem. I needed to be his breather, it is my job as his queen.

"Alexander Tatiana Sebastian Polonia Renaissance."

Wow. I never knew that until now. Perhaps because there are a lot of things I still don't know about him. "So, saan mo hinango o kinuha ang Maximo?"

"Maximo is an alias."

Tumango naman ako. So, all this time, that was it. And there I was, assuming that Maximo must be a part of his name. How can I call myself his queen if I don't even know his true name?

"How about you, Kira? What was your full name?" Pinagdiinan ni Maximo ang past tense ng kan'yang tanong kaya naman palihim akong napangiti. Why does it seemed like he was the one who was keeping me from getting upset when it should be otherwise?

"Akira Kara. That simple. Kompara sa napakahaba mong pangalan."

Tumawa kami nang marahan, "I'm really thankful, Starfish."

"For what?"

"Just... for everything." While we were walking, he slowly intertwined our fingers, he looked at me and grinned, "I am grateful that I have you as my queen, my one and only queen."

Pumasok na kami sa dining hall at umupo sa aming silya. Tila kumapit ang init ng kamay ni Maximo sa aking palad. Gaya ng nakaugalian, may mga kasambahay ang agad na naglapag ng mga samo't saring potahe sa pahabang mesa.