["PLAY THE KING" IS ACT TWO OF THE "PLAY" SERIES. PLEASE READ "PLAY THE QUEEN" FIRST.]
It's been four months since Priam Torres, the once unpopular president of the Elysian University Student Council, assumed office. Thanks to his chief-of-staff Cas...
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REYNARD
WE WERE just three weeks into the second semester, but things got heated real quick! I almost envied Rie because all the actions seemed to be happening in the USC. Kung hindi ako na-reassign, ako dapat ang nagko-cover n'on. Ako dapat ang may front-row seat do'n.
But thanks to Castiel and his aggressive stance, nabiyayaan din kaming nagko-cover ng LEXECOM. He kept us fed! His barrage of attacks against Alaric Esteban gave me something to work with. For that, I was thankful.
A war was about to break out on campus, and only some students realized it. Hindi alam ng karamihan kung sino ang unang nagpaputok: si Castiel ba o si Alaric? Even I wasn't sure who. But that was the least of my concerns right now.
"Mister Chair!" I called the alpha tiger in the university. Inabangan ko siyang lumabas sa student council office ng Business and Accountancy building. I learned from my colleague covering the CBA beat that the CSC held a meeting before lunchtime. For this ambush to be perfect, I didn't wear my navy blue hoodie. I might stick out like a sore thumb and he could evade me as soon as he spotted me nearby.
"Reynard from the Herald?" he acknowledged me, stopping dead in his tracks. Nakaakmang haharangan ako ng kasama niyang councilor, pero sumenyas siya rito. That guy stayed put and glared daggers at me. "I have already released my official statement to the campus press. There's nothing else that I can add to it."
Due to Castiel's live interview with us and the confirmation from Valeria Encarnacion, Alaric had been in hot water. What a PR nightmare! To most students, his image was quite perfect. Meron siyang looks, meron siyang charisma, meron siyang brains, at meron din siyang talent sa sports.
But the so-called revelations made some students doubt if his image was truly immaculate. May ilang nag-post sa SchoolBuzz na binabatikos ang umano'y ginawa niya. May isa o dalawa rin sa mga columnist namin ang nagsulat ng opinion piece tungkol sa kaniya. He was supposed to be invincible, invulnerable. Now, he was exposed. All thanks to Castiel.
"I'm not here to ask about your statement," I replied with a smile. "I'm here to ask about the conspiracy theory floating around the SchoolBuzz."
"Conspiracy?" Some of his councilors scoffed.
"You don't have to respond to filth—"
Alaric held up his right hand, silencing his colleagues. The leader knew how to control his ambush of tigers. "What conspiracy theory is that?"
"That you have something to do with the USC president's attempted assassination." There's no reason for me to beat around the bush. Students nearby let out gasps as if it was their first time hearing that angle. "You asked the president to step down in exchange for not exposing him. That failed. You tried to impeach him. That failed, too. Now, some are thinking that maybe . . . you decided to get more serious."
