Asking the Leaves (Monforte Series #3)

A leaf is just a part of a flower, not the other way around. It lingers... then it falls. The one that your neighbors burn when it multiplies. A companion, but never the subject. The poet, but never the poem.

Kalmia Sattari Monforte is an illegitimate child-that's why she always resonated with the leaves, which have mirrored her all her life. Hiding in the shadows. Just a part of something big. A scrap. A spare. An accessory. Hindi niya kailanman naramdaman na bahagi siya ng kahit ano. Parang dahon na tinabig ng hangin ngunit iniwan din. Parang dahon na nahulog ngunit walang nakapansin.

She gets it, though. She's an illegitimate child! That explains it already! Hindi na niya kailangan pang kamuhian ang mga tao sa kaniyang paligid dahil naiintindihan niya ang mga ito. She should just be grateful! That even though she is the personified mistake of her parents, she was given that Monforte surname!

But a leaf can break even in just a weak drizzle. Sa araw-araw na buhay ni Kalmia ay para na rin siyang isang dahon na nalalanta. Dahon na mahuhulog na mula sa sanga. After all the times she was ignored and left untended, she felt like she could just disappear and no one would ever look for her. Not even the bees.

Pero sino ang bagong estudyante sa kabilang section? Matangkad, matalino at gwapo. Edrix Kalon Porfirio kept her swinging through the winds. He made her attached through the stems of hope. And made her love the flowers even if it wilts. So, if the petals of the flower answered, "He loves me not,". Might as well ask the leaves.