Days passed quickly. Shin's family officially ended their winter vacation at bumalik na sila sa Royal City para sa pasukan nila Shantal.
Bukod pa doon, Emy had been busy doing various things.
Una, most of her time are occupied sa training nila ni Franco ng archery. Like when she was learning the swordfighting, she dedicated a lot of time sa pag-aaral ng archery at paggamit noon sa practice nila. She's still about to master it but her progress is already quite impressive.
Sa gabi naman na hindi siya nagpapractice, inilalaan niya ang oras niya para sa pag-alala sa mga alaala ni Emy at sinusubukan niyang isulat ang lahat ng iyon sa mga notebooks niya. Most of she can remember are under chemistry, ang pinakapaborito ni Emy. But her entries under the other topics are not that bad too.
And to see how effective they are, she started deploying Lia and Veronica to do tasks for her.
Of course, unlike Grey City, masyadong maliit ang Ming Province. Kaya naman kapag may ipinagagawa si Emy sa kanila, they always wear their disguise.
Gaya na lang ngayong araw...
Dalawang linggo ang pasukan, Emy made sure to begin her experiments habang hindi pa masyadong okupado ang oras niya.
Kaya naman Lia and Veronica are now wearing their disguise to do their mission for Emy.
They won't be going in the same place though.
Lia's mission is to look for this certain Master Lino na may maliit na pandayan. Usually, he forged those na ginagamit sa pangsaka. But last week, a lad approached him on behalf of its master and offered him a huge amount of money in exchange of his forging of certain objects, like armors,by following a process its master will provide. And today, the first prototype will be delivered to him by Lia.
Veronica, however, will go to a pharmacy to be an apprentice there. Hindi rin alam ni Veronica kung anong naisip ng Miss niya. She had never went to school before. At kahit pa hindi naman siya illiterate, being an apprentice in a pharmacy is totally different from her usual na binabasa.
To be honest, kanina pa namamawis ang palad niya. Her Miss had taught her the basics of medicines and drugs these past few days. Emy never stopped teaching her hanggang sa makuha niya ang lahat ng tama. But still, she felt like her heart is going to burst out of its socket.
"Breathe, Veronica. Remember, Miss won't give you this task kung wala siyang tiwala sa kakayahan mo." Lia said to her nang malapit na sila sa lugar kung saan sila maghihiwalay.
"I know that. Pero sa tanang buhay ko ay ngayon pa lang ako magsusulit." Fear crossed Veronica's face. Namumutla na rin ito.
Lia sighed saka niya iniharap sa kanya ang dalaga. "Copy my breathing pattern."
Agad namang ginaya ni Veronica si Lia. Soon, her anxiety is slowly fading. Even her complexion is getting better.
"Thank you, Lia."
"You can do it. Miss believes in you at ako din."
She nodded and started to walk again. They took different path now. They are just hoping to come back successfuly for their Miss.
***
Emy was also wearing a disguise kasama si Anika. She will meet Franco's friends, Liu Fu and Choi Kang, early this morning para puntahan yung lugar kung saan nila nakuha yung tubig na ginamit nila para sa magic tricks nila.
Lately, she had been asking them to show her more of that tricks. That's when she figure out that Liu Fu is quite knowledgeable in chemistry. Hindi nga lang mamaximize dahil hindi pa gaanong kaopenminded ang Ming Province para iexplore ang field na yun.
Anyway, nasa restaurant na ang dalawa ng pagkakakitaan nila maaga pa lang. Pinili nila ang malapit na sa bukana na bundok para pagkakitaan dahil baka mamaya ay makatunog si Franco.
They knew how protective that guy to his cousin. Kahit na sa opinyon ni Liu Fu ay wala namang dapat ikatakot si Franco dahil napakawais ng pinsan siya.
He had proven that lately. He had witnessed kung gaano katalino si Emy. Kahit na she keeps on pester them about their magic tricks, he still couldn't help but to be at awe kapag naexplain niya ang concept ng tricks na yun. And that makes him more interested dahil if she knew about these, then it means may mga iba pang nalalaman ang dalaga.
"Do you think she is coming?" Tanong niya kay Choi Kang.
"Yep. She pesters us for this, remember?"
Tumango lang siya then looked around again habang tinatapik ang mga daliri niya sa mesa.
Tinawanan siya ng kaibigan. Kaya kunot noo niya itong tiningnan.
"What?"
"You are very much interested to that girl. Kapag nalaman ni Franco yan, patay ka dun."
"Correction. I am interested with her knowledge."
"Psh, maniwala..."
"Not gonna force you. But don't tell me you don't find her intelligence awesome."
"Not much. I figure out lately that girls who are smarter than me are not my type." Sabay tawa ni Choi Kang. That's a news for Liu Fu, though. Maloko lang siya but this Choi Kang is the real cassanova among the five of them. At least ngayon na nagbago na si Haow. Of course, if the latter was still the same, none of them will be able to hold out a candle against him.
He was thinking that when two young men sat in front of them.
Sasampolan na sana niya ang mga ito when the face of the other one caught him off-guard. Kung sa gandang lalaki lang naman ay hindi siya papatalo kanila Haow at Choi Kang. Franco is also good looking but he has a different charms as he is a mixed. As for Lie Chen... Never mind that guy. Gusto atang magmonghe ng isang yon e. Though, he doubted if he can be parted with that hair of his kung sakali.
But this guy... He is literaly a pretty man. Even the other people from across the table ay napapadouble look.
"Liu Fu, Choi Kang, sorry we are late."
Literal na napanganga ang dalawa when they heard that pretty man spoke.
"W-why are you..."
"I need to disguise in order to blend. I don't want to bring troubles to Brother Liu Fu and Brother Choi Kang, especially that I know how handful my cousin can be."
Napakamot na lang sa ilong niya si Liu Fu. She calls this blending? People will be staring at her everywhere they go dahil na rin sa itsura niya. But in all fairness, she wore men clothing very well. Sigurado siyang sukat na sukat sa dalaga ang suot nito ngayon at tago ang mga dapat itago.
Napailing na lang siya as he can't totally believe this at all.
Choi Kang laughed.
"Brother, we should be going then." Sabi nito sa dalaga. Humor is dancing in his eyes.
"I think so too."
They started to make their way out of the restaurant at saka nag-umpisa ng tahakin ang daan pabundok.
***