"Who are you?" Lie Chen finally asked seriously.
"I... I..." Hindi pa man nasasabi ni Julianna kung sino siya pero sinasakitan na agad siya ng dibdib. Not from the injury but from heartache.
Telling who she was, also meant of recalling her past.
However, this was really needed.
She needed to tell Lie Chen who she was. Or else, he might misunderstand her.
"I am Julianna Lou from Magnolia City."
Lie Chen quickly recognized the name and place. And he must admit he was very surprised.
"You are Julius' daughter. No wonder you know about us. But what are you doing here in the south alone? You were wounded and passed out when I saw the two of you. I could tell you were in difficult situation then.
"As the Princess of Magnolia City, why are here instead in your own kingdom?"
Nangilid ang luha ni Julianna agad agad.
But she quickly wiped them off.
"I need to go to Hans Province, Chief Lie Chen. I need Aunt Emy's help. The Magnolia City needs her help."
Then she started telling everything to him. This time, kahit maiyak siya o magngitngit sa galit, she no longer held her emotion back. She could no longer keep them well inside her heart. These past few days, she forced them at the back of her mind, intentionally getting distracted by things outside. But now, she had to let them go all at once or else, she had a feeling that her heart would burst.
After a while...
"A-atticus is dead?" Hindi makapaniwalang turan ni Lie Chen.
He knew the old man personally. He was Emy's maternal grandfather. Now that he is dead, Emy must know about it.
"Yes. Great Gran is... d-dead." Julianna repeated. She was crying silently. Her heart was full of agony.
Agad namang napatingin si Lie Chen sa kanya. He felt pity towards the young lady. Hindi biro ang makitang mamatay ang isang mahal sa buhay. Paano pa kaya ang halos buong kaharian nila?
Hindi tuloy napigilan ni Lie Chen na tabihan ito at tapikin.
"You must be feeling worst since that day. Don't worry. I will help you inform Emy. Your aunt will surely not let the High Kingdom off after they kill Atticus."
He finally now understood why she needed to disguise. Somehow, he felt sad for her because of it. Some teens at her age were still busy in school and other things. But this young lady in front of her witnessed and experienced first hand the cruelty of this world.
***
"You must be shocked, Rui. I have hidden a lot of things from you."
Julianna said when Lie Chen finally left the room. The two of them were left there alone. She noticed how quiet Rui was. Ni hindi ito nagsalita kanina. He let her and Lie Chen talked and just listened intently.
"I am."
"Sorry. I have to keep my identity because of those people chasing me from High Kingdom. I have to take painstaking efforts, even cut my hair and acted like a real guy but they were still able to find me anyway." Then she sighed.
"I know you are a lady though. What I am surprise now is the fact that you are actually a princess."
Julianna was stunned. "How did you know?"
"I... I saw you when you were taking a bath in the river once."
"What did you say?" She suddenly covered her chest and glared at him.
Napaiwas naman ng tingin niya si Rui dahil doon.
"Yah!"
"Sorry. I didn't mean to."
"Tch. I should have known you are someone to peek."
Julianna saw na namula bigla ang mga tenga ni Rui kaya napatawa siya. What an innocent guy.
"Anyway, now that I have reached Ming Province, you can leave me already. Hindi ako papabayaan ni Chief Lie Chen. My father knows him. He will definitely bring me to Aunt Emy."
"Why do you keep asking me to leave?"
"Come on, Rui. You already know my story. Your master wanted you to see the world pero hindi ang mapahamak ka."
But Rui shook his head.
"Now that I know your story, all the more that I want to stay. I can fight with you."
"Yah, Rui..."
"Brother Yan, I still have to make my master take you as his apprentice. I won't leave."
Then he stood up saka siya iniwan doon mag-isa.
"What a stubborn fool..."
***
The next day, saka lang tuluyang umayos ang pakiramdam ni Julianna. Madaling araw pa lang noon kaya malamang ay tulog pa si Rui. So she decided to go out alone to see the Ming Province.
She heard a lot of things about this place.
Aunt Emy said when she was young, she fell in love with this place because of its difference from Grey and Royal City.
She said, here in Ming Province, everything was equal for everyone; rich and poor; male and female. Life was also very simple so it was more peaceful here than any other place. All they ever need to worry about is the nomads which they could easily defeat with proper precaution unlike big cities...
Unlike Magnolia City...
From smiling to sadness, Julianna's expression transitioned that quick. She looked at her surroundings na naliliwanagan ng hindi pa sumisikat na araw.
She also wanted a simple life.
She wanted to live like a common daughter without any kingdom to worry about too. She was always a troublemaker since young but it didn't mean she wasn't aware about the things in the palace.
She wasn't that ignorant at all.
Her father might have protected her from all the worries inside the palace but he didn't quite do that well actually. She still found out about their plans by herself.
Atticus and Julius were always planning of expanding Magnolia City. That's why they are sending scouts to places every now and then. Having several small cities plus Royal City was still not enough for them.
But Julianna always thought it was necessary.
Why do they need to expand their kingdom? For power? For influence?
Somehow, these kind of things made Julianna looked down on men. These one-tracked minded men always think about being at the top. But is it really essential?
That's why giving Julius troubles all the time became her medium to express her disagreement and also to interupt him some times.
"Thinking about it now, it would have been better if I became more overbearing towards father." Julianna said with a sigh.
Sakto namang napadako ang mga mata niya sa may hagdan ng templo. She thought Rui would still be sleeping at this hour but here he was busy wiping his swords.
***