Romeo's Revenge

Chapter Twenty Four: I'm Sorry, Romeo

The "gift" was disposed of. The contents inside the metal box burn into ashes, and the ashes were buried in a sacred garden close by the palace in memory of the deceased.

According to Sebastian, who was the receiver of the package, a troubled looking teenager was the one who delivered it. He said that the child was told to send it directly to the palace and now Sebastian is out searching for the boy to get more info.

Escalus could not utter a single word when he found out that his dear cousin's head had been delivered to him, together with his entire family. One looked to be just a new born child. His jaw clenched. If the death of Sofia did not anger him, the death of Mercutio definitely did. Now, the only thing that must be investigated is who ordered for this package to be delivered and once he finds out who it was from, Escalus will make sure that they will pay greatly. No one messes with the king and his family!

"Is it possible that the Capulets sent it?" Romeo rubs his chin. He leans at the entrance of the palace, needing to be away from the smell of rotting corpses. "Ugh, we need to hire the best cleaning crew in Verona and fast!"

"I wouldn't be surprised." Jose responds.

"What do you think, father?" Romeo asks the king who was still in a daze.

"What?" Escalus says as he realizes that his son was talking to him. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm just out of it at the moment." He gazes to where the box was formerly laid right before they disposed it.

Escalus was suddenly feeling depressed. He was very close to Mercutio. He always knew that one of one these days they will see each other again, but little did he know, it would just be his head.

Romeo pitied his father because he knew how close the old man was to Mercutio.

Escalus gives a heavy sigh while his head hung low. "We need to find out who sent this, and now. Or everything we planned will fall into chaos." He turns to Jose. "Boy, find out who it is and you are to put an end to this person. I don't give a fuck if you have to kill him." Jose bows.

"I will do everything in my power, my king."

"I trust you will do the job correctly as you always have." The king informs.

Jose leaves the room to start the investigation. He hopes to find the culprit as soon as possible. Nobody dares threaten my family.

On the next morning, Milliana was set to leave the king's palace. She's already had an idea on where she can start work.

As she got down the stairs, she noticed a quite stressed out King, but held herself back from wanting to ask if something was wrong. She carried one small suitcase containing all the important things she needed and a very old clutch purse that contained all the money she had saved since she started working in the palace.

Escalus looks up and notices the suitcase she carried. His face shows an obviously hurt.

As he was about to speak, his son interrupted him again. "Father, Jose confirmed who the package was directly from."

Package? Milliana grew curious but shook her head. She continues her way down the stairs and approaches the king and the Prince. Her gaze remain on the ground. "My King. My Prince. I will be leaving now. It was a pleasure to serve you."

The Prince raised an eyebrow. He had a feeling that the reason behind her leave must involve something that happened yesterday when he walked in on the both of them. The two were always secretive about their rendezvous. Romeo even thought that both the king and the maid were quite stupid. Everyone in the mansion knew about them, but the both of them always deny that fact. Romeo looks at his father, eyeing him suspiciously. All the king ever did was shrug a shoulder and nods at the maid, not uttering a single word. The maid was obviously hurt. Romeo knew that she wanted the king say something, but of course, his father was as stubborn as a bull. The maid nods back and walks out the door with her head still hanging low.

As soon as she walks out, Romeo turns his attention to his father. "You know, you shouldn't be so hard on her, father."

"What do you mean?" The king was confused.

"I understand that my sister is irreplaceable in your heart, but it doesn't hurt to give love another chance." Romeo smiles. "One day, when this is over, I plan on settling down. Find myself a woman that will love me unconditionally and rule beside me." After saying this, Romeo had an uneasy feeling in his chest. He suddenly thought of Juliet; of how she was a perfect queen to rule beside him.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Escalus denies.

Romeo sighs at his father's denial. "Yes you do, father. You're just too stubborn to see it. You see her walk out of that door and you regret it. You want to chase after her."

"Son, we have other things to worry about. I don't have time to worry about some maid that is just a good lay." He punches the wall.

Romeo knew he stepped out of bounds, but he didn't care. "One day, a man will sweep her off her feet. One day, they will get married and have children and all you will ever think about is that should've been the both of you." He says before handing him a small piece of paper.

As soon as Escalus grabs the paper out of his hand, Romeo quickly leaves the room. It contains the name of the person Jose is currently investigating. Escalus opens the note and crumples it.

"The Capulets will pay." He says as he grits his teeth. The content in the note said that it was indeed a Capulet, but no other than Alejandro Capulet himself.

During Jose's investigation, he managed to discover that a man named Paul, who has been a Private Investigator for the Capulets, had been spying on the royal family. He, too, was the one who hired assassins to annihilate Mercutio and his family.

It is now 2 in the morning. The breeze is cold as winter draws near. He stands by the shore of Verona's beach while staring at a photo of Tybalt and him in his wallet. He deeply regretted all the things he said to him, but he chose his job and his new life over love. "There are more fishes in the sea, anyways." He tells himself as he pulls out the picture from his wallet and rips it in half. He let's the wind take the small fragments of the photo, letting it dance in the cold wind.

Jose knew that he had to move on. It's the best for him. It's the best for all of them.

Suddenly, a bag was placed over his head. He gets punched and kicked multiple times to the face, his back, his stomach, and his legs. Jose tries to fight back, but was halted by a sharp pain in his upper thigh and another on his back. He had been stabbed. He stopped his fight as he began to get weaker and weaker with ever kicks and punches that were being thrown at him. Especially especially with the deep wound inflicted on him.

His last thoughts were of his best friend. He felt sad knowing that he will never get to see Romeo ever again. I'm sorry, Romeo.