To Mateo's disappointment, the dates he had been hoping to have with Yumi these past few days never happened at all.
Both of them got busy because of the arrival of their guests for the wedding.
Lalo na siya since he was the one who arranged everyone's accommodation here at the capital.
He didn't want any problems or troubles so he decided to handle these things himself. He received help from Antoine and Kami, which were good enough.
Anyway, his hard work paid off since the wedding day finally came without any hitch at all.
Soon, tanging ang wedding ceremony na lang ang hinihintay nilang mangyari.
***
Wedding day...
Ilang oras bago pa man ang mismong kasal ay papunta na ang mga bisita sa simbahan kung saan ikakasal sila Mateo at Yumi.
They were excited, of course.
Lalo na ang mga taga L City.
70% of the guests were composed of them kaya naman maaga pa lamang ay halos makumpleto na ang mga bisita doon.
On the bride's side, bukod sa pamilya ni Yumi, naroroon rin sa unahan sila Don Enrico, Doña Silvanna at Sedric. Isabella was also with them since she wanted to attend the wedding but not alone. Siya tuloy ang napagbantay ni Doña Silvanna kay Sedric.
Naroroon rin ang ilang malalapit na tao kay Yumi mula sa L City. Sila Doctor Erasmus, Doña Celia, ang ilan pang mga propesor ni Yumi sa Colegio at ang Dela Cruz siblings na kasalukuyang kausap si Amelia.
Madam Maria, Narcissa and the other staffs of Le Rouge Teahouse and Red Cosmetics had also arrived since most of them would be helping in the wedding reception but went there first at the church to watch the wedding ceremony of their beloved boss.
They arrived in the Capital weeks ago at pinasara muna ni Yumi ang dalawa niyang shop sa L City para makapunta ang mga ito dito. She wasn't worried about those shops since the members of Assassin Guild in L City were looking out for them.
Meanwhile, Rui and Xun Bao blended with them naturally since Yumi insisted for them to be there.
Sa side naman ng groom, naroroon na rin sila Doña Cecilia at Doña Selena na ineentertain ni Doña Teresa. Kasama din nila sila Don Simon at Doña Irma.
Ivan also attended with them but he decided to join the group of Mateo, Mikael and Yumi's brothers as they conversed with one another.
Gwen and Mikael actually had arrived together a week before.
Yumi, of course, was very thrilled seeing the two. Though Mikael was a bit down because, you know, it was her wedding day... to his twin brother. And... he was one of the Best Man of Mateo.
Naturally, the lad couldn't help thinking, what if it was him. Plus, his role to the wedding was like a salt to his wounds. At first, he didn't want to accept it but Yumi convinced him.
Anyway, the pain was no longer that unbearable. Five years was enough to heal some of that hurt.
As for Gwen, Malia had given her a tour around the capital right away. Yumi could have joined them kung hindi lang siya busy sa paghahanda sa kasal.
Kasalukuyan siyang kasama nila Malia at Victoria na nakatayo sa may pintuan ng simbahan. They were supposedly waiting for the bride.
Anyway, when General Alvaro and Amara had arrived, the latter joined them too. Malia quickly introduced Gwen to the newcomer with the hope na magiging magkaibigan silang lahat.
As for General Alvaro, when he and General Vicente saw each other, they exhanged insults quickly at kung hindi pa sila sinaway ni Doña Margarita ay hindi pa titigil ang dalawa.
This caused several heads to shake since these two generals were always like kids kapag nagkikita sila at nagpapalitan ng mga salita.
General Alvaro was ushered away by Doña Teresa patungo sa lugar nila upang magkalayo na din ang dalawang heneral. Agad namang nagbigay galang kay Doña Cecilia ang heneral. Obviously, they knew each other too.
Sa bandang likuran naman nang parehas na side nakaupo ang ilan pang mga bisita mula sa L City gaya na lamang ng ilang tagaCity Council. Ganun din ang karamihan sa mga miyembro ng alliance ni Don Enrico.
Soon enough, nagsidatingan na lahat ng mga bisita sa kasalang iyon.
Tanging si Yumi na lamang ang hinihintay nila.
However, fifteen minutes na ang nakakalipas mula sa takdang oras ng kasal ay hindi pa rin ito dumarating.
People were starting to get concern.
The elders were already thinking of sending someone else to collect her.
But Mateo stopped them.
"Please give Mayumi a little more time to arrive. It seems like there is an accident along the way and she is stuck there for a moment. I already send some of my men to help her with the situation. Please be at ease then." Mateo announced.
Since he said so and had already taken an action about it, they decided to just wait more for Yumi's arrival.
After naman niyang masabi iyon, Mateo stood at one side kung saan siya nilapitan nila Rui at Antoine.
"Is she alright?" Mateo asked them.
It was them who reported to him na malelate si Yumi ng dating.
He initially received the news of what happened from Antoine na inatasan niyang magshadow guard kay Yumi ngayong araw na ito.
Antoine told Mateo that Yumi had sent one of those people na kasama ng dalaga patungo dito sa simbahan upang balitaan siya tungkol sa nangyari at sabihan na rin siya na icover niya muna ang pagkalate ni Yumi.
Soon enough, Xun Xue arrived at ito ang nagsabi kay Rui na siya namang nagpasa kay Mateo ng mga pinapasabi ni Yumi.
Mateo calmly handled everything so as not to alarm anyone.
Yumi was currently with her bestfriend, Kami.
He knew they would be alright whatever their situation at the moment. He just had to trust Yumi.
***
"You are late to your own wedding, Yumi, just because of this. Pwede mo naman itong ipagawa sa iba. Why do you need to handle thos yourself? You are really crazy, you know." Kami told Yumi as he drove the carriage at the other direction kung saan dapat patungo si Yumi.
Yumi reached out to him at agad siyang kinutusan.
"I told you several times already. Never call a lady crazy. Right, Muna?"
Namumutla lang namang napatango ang maidservant ni Yumi which caused her to chuckle.
Naturally, Muna had received a fright kanina.
They were ambushed.
The coachman was already replaced pag-alis pa lamang nila ng mansion. Then there were men in black who suddenly attacked them.
But of course, Yumi and Xun Xue fought them all. And this what made Muna pale until now.
Bukod pa doon, Yumi sent Xun Xue to the church upang sabihan si Mateo tungkol sa nangyari. Then she drove her own carriage at the opposite direction kung saan nila nasalubong si Kami, lulan ng isa pang karwahe na pangkasal na magdadala naman sana kay Helena sa isa pang simbahan kung saan siya ikakasal kay Nero.
Yumi and Kami transferred Helena on their carriage at pinabantayan nila kay Muna ang walang malay na dalaga.
Now, Muna just witnessed her Señorita fought assassins then became kidnapper in a few minutes. If she didn't pale out of shock, then she wasn't normal at all.
"Poor Mateo" Simpatya ni Kami habang hinihimas ang ulo na kinutusan ni Yumi.
"At bakit naman, aber? I will be there to marry him. Malelate nga lang ako."
"You should be a better wife to him, you know. Wala ka ng mahahanap pang mapagtiis na kagaya niya. Tch... Hindi ko nga alam kung bakit patay na patay sayo yun?"
"What do you mean? I am drop dead gorgeous so naturally, he will feel that way towards me." Yumi even rolled her eyes at him.
Napailing lang naman si Kami dahil sa pagiging vain ng kaibigan niya. Then he resolved to just drive this carriage as fast as he could.
"Anyway, these people are too predictable and yet they do not seem want to give up. They keep on scheming against me. What? Masyado na ba silang nababaitan sa akin?"
"Some people are idiots." Kami shrugged.
Actually, Yumi had already known na may pinaplano sa kanya sila Nero at Helena sa araw na ito.
She learned from Xun Bao's investigation that they were planning to exchange the brides of the two weddings.
So Yumi made a counterplan and this happened. While Nero changed the coachman of her wedding carriage and sent people to ambush her afterwards, she also sent Kami to do the same for Helena.
Naturally, those people, no matter how many they were, couldn't outskill Kami. He did his task smoothly and led Helena to Yumi.
And now, they were going to send her personally to her groom.
"Xun Bao told me, Nero and Helena even prepared a special pill for me." Yumi said. Then she began to inspect Helena's body. "Aha! Found it."
She checked the pill at napatawa ng pagak. Kami curiously looked at her.
"What is it?"
"Look for yourself."
Yumi gave Kami the pill at nabigla naman ng husto ang binata when he recognized it.
"The Killer Pill... so they want to kill you now?" May pagkamangha pang tanong ni Kami. He thought that Nero was obsessed with Yumi so why would he want her dead now?
"This is also the puppet pill, Kami. I believe rather than killing me, they want me to be obedient towards them."
"This seems different than the last pill we have seen years ago though." Kami said as he continued to sniff and check out the pill.
"This gets developed, I guess. I am going to ask Mateo to break this apart and make his people trace the ingredients so we can compare it from the last time."
Kami nodded in agreement.
"Anyway, we are almost at the church. How do you want to handle that Helena?" He told her.
"Oh are we?" Yumi asked and then sneered. "Then it is time to wake her up. Also, since they want me to become a puppet, I should return the favor to them too." Then from her pocket, she took a vial.
She looked at Helena and with a wicked smile, she said, "I know you are already known for being slutty, sweetie. However, let's make you a little bit more, eh?" Then she looked at Muna. "Help me pry open her mouth please."
***