MTBMW: Wealth, Pride and Love

MTBMW 9: Sunshine Rose

Recovering from his incident with Hebe, agad agad niya itong sinundan. To his dismay, hindi niya ito mahanap. Limping from the king's room, out and unto the long hallways, she was safely hidden in the library and out of his sight. Ares looked for her everywhere until he found himself in front of his sister, Clio's, office.

"Help me" sambit niya kay Clio pag pasok na pag pasok niya. Clio was surprised with her brother's sudden visit. They weren't really close, more like allies than siblings.

"What do you need?" Ares sat on the chair beside his sister's office table. "Hebe Aphrodite Belle.."

"You proposed to her, right?" bumalik ang tingin ni Clio sa kanyang ginagawa. She's moderating posts and news for tonight's feed. There are writers in Ambrose that makes articles for their news every night, minsan pwede ding si Clio gumawa. "What were you thinking? Pano kung magalit sa'yo—"

"It was the king's order" Napatigil si Clio. "One of us needs to marry Hebe to be king" Tumahimik lang si Clio. On the back of her mind, she was disappointed. Sa totoo lang ay alam niyang ang lamang lang ng kanyang kapatid sa iba ay ang pagiging pinakamatanda. He's arrogant and unskillful that being the eldest makes all the difference.

"I need you to do me a favor" Pag-uulit ni Ares. Clio, driven by her desire to make his brother king and enjoy the wealth ang power alongside him submitted. "What do I need to do?"

—

Mornings weren't really Hebe's thing but that morning was awfully worse than most. People were staring at her as if she did something wrong. Sa iilang bahagi pa ay parang pinagchi-chismisan siya nito. She continued walking. Since the sun has barely risen, hindi pa siya kakaylanganin ng hari o ni sino man sa palayso kaya minabuti niyang pumunta muna sa lawa. She sat by the lake, her feet touching the water.

"Hi" A voice startled her. It was from a man beside him.

"Sorry, nagulat ba kita?"

"No, it's okay. Kanina ka pa ba diyan?" on the far end of the lake, beside a big rock was Sol. The rocks is big enough to block the view and Sol was leaning on it. Nakababad din ang paa niya sa tubig.

"I came earlier than you" Sol's eyes were fixed on the water. "Totoo ba?" He stared at her. She was wearing a fitted white three- fourths and a knee length black skirt.

"Ang alin?" Hebe replied in a confused tone. Hindi niya alam kung ano ang ibig sabihin nito. "You had an affair with Ares" Nagulat na naman siya sa sinabi ni Sol. She stared at him looking for a sign that it's a joke or an explanation why he said so. "It was posted last night, Ares said you did it with him" Sol stared back at her. Tumagpi tagpi sa isipan ni Hebe ang nangyari, kaya pala iba ang tingin sa kanya ng mga tao.

"Kaya pala.."

"I didn't open my social medias last night"

"pero totoo ba?" Sol repeated. In the back of his mind, he was ready to kill his brother if it was true. Mabuting tao si Sol but his greatest weakness is love. Even at that moment, the throne wasn't his priority, nor the wealth and power, the girl in front of him was.

"I kicked his balls when he forcefully kissed me. Siguro 'yan yung dahilan" Natawa si Hebe sa babang inabot ni Ares just to make it "even" with her. Siguro ay nagpatulong ito kay Clio para makuha ang gusto niya.

"I like you, do you know that?" Biglaang sambit ni Sol. Iniwas ni Hebe ang tingin niya pero nakatitig parin ang lalake. He was sincere and she knew.

"and I can protect you if you let me" Sol stood up and came closer to Hebe. She flinched and waited for his next move. Ang akala niya'y gagawin din nito ang ginawa ni Ares sa kanya. Sa isip niya'y, "magkakapatid nga" ngunit what he did right after made her eyes widened.

Sol bent down and placed a flower beside her. It was a rose in color yellow as bright as the sun which meant both friendship and falling in love. "I hope you let me protect you" and without touching even a single strand of her hair, Sol left.