One Chance For Redemption

Kabanata 1 - Lady of House Clerebold

Kabanata 1

Lady of House Clerebold

According to the timeline na kinalalagyan ko ngayon, meron pa akong ilang weeks bago mag-start ang pinaka umpisa ng novel.

Ang coming of age ceremony ng mga kababaihan sa capital magaganap ang unang kabanata ng novel. I'll attend the so-called ceremony, of course, kasama ang female protagonist na si Emeline Herondale. Siyempre ay kasama doon ang isa sa villainess ng story which is Beatrice Childe. Amaury, which is me, is a daughter of a Count. While Emeline and Beatrice are both from a Ducal family.

Sa original story, walang choice si Amaury to leech onto Beatrice because of power. But Beatrice will plan to make the male lead suffer by killing me because I was his sister.

So now, I need to make a very well-thought plan to escape my disastrous fate.

Naka-palumbaba ako sa lamesa na nasa harapan ko. Nasa labas ako ngayon sa hardin upang uminom ng tsaa. Wala sa ala-ala ko na mahilig uminom ng tsaa ang character nato na si Amaury. Maybe because she was a minor character kaya hindi na masyado nabibigyang pansin. Ang tanging focus ko lang noon sa story ay ang mga bida at kontra-bida. Side characters doesn't matter. Kaya ngayon bago pa ako mamatay ay kailangan ko ng kumilos.

Before planning, I must remember every detail sa story. Specially kung paano ang takbo ng ceremony at mga susunod pang events sa novel papunta sa supposed death of Amaury.

"Miss, there's a package and an invitation addressed to you."

One of the servants spoke na nagpawala sa iniisip ko. I waved my hand to signal him na ipasok ang parcel at invitation. Agad na nanginig ang buong katawan ko when I saw the letter. The letter has a stamp of yellow lamp on it. It was the sign of Childe's house.

The young lady from Childe's household wants me to join her next tea party. Agad kong nilukot ang invitation at inilaglag iyon sa lamesa, gumulong ito pababa sa sahig. Takang tumingin sakin si Joanne, my maid, pero hindi na nagsalita pa. She knows that Amaury never ignores Beatrice invitation, but I am not like the old Amaury. I must do everything to get away from her. At magsisimula iyon ngayon.

"Sunugin niyo ito." Talking about the crumpled invitation letter on the ground.

One of the guards took the letter and went away to burn it.

Ang kasunod kong tiningnan ay ang parcel. It was a white elegant white box with a moon crest on it. It was from my brother who was working as an attendant to the House dela Fleur. May kasamang letter ang package mula sa aking kapatid.

I feel embarrassed to see my brother's letter for me. I felt embarrassed because on my past life, I used to like him immensely. Hindi ko inakala na ang isang character na gustong-gusto ko ay Kuya ko na ngayon. My brother and I shared both crimson like color hair but different eye color. Mine was an emerald-green katulad ng mata ng Wyknight kung saang pamilya galing ang aming Mama. Ang kulay naman ng mata ni Kuya ay pinaghalong berde at asul, tila kulay ng karagatan.

Sa original na kwento, my brother is a stoic and serious kind of male lead. There were only two people who could break that hard facade. Ang una ay ang female lead, ang long lost childhood friend niya na si Emeline Herondale. A noble lady from the house of Duke Herondale. Ang pangalawa ay ang kanyang kapatid na walang iba kung hindi ako.

I can still remember how I cried when Gabriel, my brother in this novel, knew the death of his sister. That was the antagonist, Beatrice, revenged at Gabriel for rejecting and ignoring her marriage proposal. It was so heart-breaking dahil sa novel, laging ini-express ni Gabriel kung gaano kahalaga sakanya si Amaury. So, when his sister died along with one of his relatives while trying to protect his sister, doon pa lamang siya nagsimulang kumilos. Emeline helped him to succeed and punished the House Childe for his sister's death.

Inside the box were books for me to read. It has a letter from my brother asking me how I've been and that he will be having a vacation before the summer ends on our house.

I smiled after reading the contents of the letter. I neatly folded the letter and told one of my maids to put the letter on my hatch box. I look at the horizon thinking about the summer. By that time na uuwi si Gabriel, doon niya malalaman na patay na ang kapatid niyang si Amaury. Ganoon ang nangyari sa novel. Seeing the box again kind of ignites something in me. The moon crest... The very elegant sigil. Then, one important piece of information struck me. If I want to accomplish my goal, I will need someone's help.

Itinabi ko ang parcel sa gilid at saka tumayo.

"Miss Amaury?" Tanong ni Joane sa biglaang pagkilos ko.

I wore my white gloves at saka nagsimulang maglakad.

"Prepare the carriage. I'll be going downtown."