MISSING ROYALTY

Chapter 15 : Naked Wedding

Napabuntong-hininga ako sa hindi mabilang na pagkakataon. Kinalma ko muna ang sistema ko bago ko siya tiningnan ng masama.

"Cross, mas mapapadali ang trabaho ko kung umalis ka muna sa bahay at magliwaliw sa kung saan."

"Pinapaalis mo 'ko sa sarili kong bahay?" He raised a brow as if he can't believe what I just said.

"'Wag ka kasing magulo pambihira." Tiningnan ko siya ng masama as I saw him rest comfortably in the sofa at ipinatong ang paa sa center table na kakapunas ko lang. Pakiramdam ko ay inaasar lang ako nito.

Kasalukuyan akong naglilinis ngayon sa bahay dahil sa kontrata kuno namin na pinirmahan ko raw. Yes, back to normal. He opened up to me and that made us closer? Nuh- uh. Not in your wildest dreams. Hindi na niya ako sinasamaan ng tingin at hindi na rin siya masyadong nag uutos sa'kin. Konti nalang. Turns out, that was his way of showing his gratitude for listening to his story last night.

"Then clean the house. Wala naman akong ginagawa para makadisturbo sa'yo." He shrugged and continued pressing the buttons of his remote para makalipat sa iba't ibang channel.

"Hindi ka nga nakakadisturbo pero hindi ako matatapos sa paglilinis dahil pababalik lang ako! And put your damned feet down the table for goodness' sake!"

Napatingin siya sa'kin with his usual bored face which automatically translates to i-don't-care-about-all-your-shits.

"Did you just curse at me, Princess?"

I rolled my eyes exasperatedly.

I heaved a deep sigh and I managed to control myself na hindi itaob ang sofa kasama siya. And besides, the sofa's too huge and heavy. I doubt matataob ko 'yon. That's one reason I ignored the idea and focused on my cleaning job. Great.

I cleaned hardly as I ever did in my 22 years of existence. Oh wait. In fact I have never even cleaned my whole life. Ngayon lang na napadpad ako sa islang ito.

"I'll be out later."

"Hallelujah!" I muttered sarcastically at sinamaan lang niya ako ng tingin.

Hindi ko alam kung ilang oras na akong naglilinis. I am down to my last task which is doing the laundry. Napasulyap ako sa sala and saw the devil sleeping soundly. Hindi ko pinansin ang temptasyong saksakin siya habang natutulog. I like him, alright but that doesn't mean hindi na ako maiinis sa kanya. We've kissed but that doesn't change a thing. Whatever we do to each other, hahantong rin sa pagiging prisoner-capturer relationship ang lahat. No more, no less.

I heaved a sigh and loaded the last batch of clothes at nagpunta na sa kusina. Akala ko ba may lakad ang isang 'to? I decided na magluto nalang ng pananghalian. Somehow, natuto akong magluto sa kakapractice ko dito. As what I've said, hilig kong magtambay sa kusina. In the palace, tumatambay ako but I have never tried cooking there. Dito lang.

It's almost past twelve nang gumising si Cross. He walked groggily towards the dining table and looked at me as if he's waiting for something. Nakatingin lang ako sa kanya habang gulo gulo ang buhok niya and his eyes are half closed. I saw how his brow slowly arched. Itinaas ko rin ang kilay ko.

"What? Magtititigan lang tayo dito?"

"My food." He said at sinamaan ako ng tingin.

"Oh, of course. Stupid me. How could I forget that?" I showed him my very sarcastic smile at mukhang nahalata niya ang sarkasma doon because he shot me a deadly glare.

Tanging tunog ng kubyertos ang maririnig sa dining room because aside from the fact that I am too tired to even talk, there seems to be a silent agreement between us that whenever we don't feel like talking, we'd rather exchange glares as if glaring would voice out our annoyance towards each other.

Natapos kaming kumain and of course, I washed the plates. Hindi na ako nag abala pang lumingon when I heard the door open. Baka lumabas na siya. I busied myself with washing the dishes at nang matapos ko iyon, agad akong naligo. And swear, I have never felt so fresh.

I entertained myself with the television and became drowsy dahil na rin siguro sa pagod. Hindi ko namalayang nakatulog na pala ako and it's already 4 o'clock when I woke up. I searched my eyes around and found out wala pa si Cross.

"'San naman nagpupunta ang demonyong 'yon?" I muttered and made my way to the kitchen as I was starving.

I counted the days since I arrived here in the island. Almost three weeks. And with those three weeks, I managed to get half the population not to throw knives at me. And I got over the sight of naked women being touched by men publicly and swimming freely on the beach. I also got over the thought that anytime, some white ninja would turn up and shoot shurikens at people.

I was broken out of my thoughts when I heard a doorbell. Nang buksan ko ito, I wasn't quick enough to close it again dahil naharang niya ang isa niyang binti sa pinto.

Inis akong napatingin sa binti niya papunta sa nakangisi niyang mukha. Speak of the devil and devil shall appear.

"Ouch." He muttered and flashed a smirk on me. Napataas ang kilay ko and opened the door not wide enough.

"What?"

"Come on, Princess I once saved your ass --"

"Saved my ass? Sa pagkakaalala ko Flux, you made everything worse."

It was his turn to raise a brow

"Oh really? That deal was the reason he punched me."

"Exactly. Because of that false deal nagkasakitan kayo."

He rolled his eyes, smirk still plastered on his face.

"Oh please. At least I have proven something. And you should've noticed it too."

My eyebrows furrowed. What does e mean?

He waved his hand impatiently as if to end the topic dahil napansin niya siguro ang pagkalito sa aking mukha.

"Oh nevermind. I came here because I want you to go to the party at the shore with me."

Kung may itataas pa ang kilay ko ay nagawa ko na. What's this ninja on about?

"And what makes you think I'd go with you?"

He shrugged.

"Well, I can make you come forcefully."

"I won't."

"Won't or can't? You see, they're different."

Pinaningkitan ko siya ng mata.

"I know too well the difference between those two words, Flux. And I'm sure you heard me say I won't."

Mas lumapad ang ngisi niya.

"Oh really? 'Cause it sounds more like you can't. You can't blame me though. With you being Cross' prisoner, I can't expect you can go out without his permission. I see some princess enslavery."

"I am not enslaved!"

"Well that's how I see it."

"Fine! What time is that damned party?"

Sa lahat ng ayaw ko is that when someone provokes me like what this ninja is doing.

He flashed his grin widely.

"Later at 7:30 and oh.. Wear something sexy. Ciao!" He sped off and I was left there looking at him.

"Anong akala mo sa'kin? Tsk. Sexy my foot."

Marahas kong sinarado ang pinto and stayed at my room. The invitation occured to me now. Damn bakit ako pumayag sumama sa lalakeng 'yon? That shore party will be comprised of many people. Particularly people who are itching kill me and if I'm lucky, some people who actually converted from hating me to liking me.

"Oh God."

Agad akong napatayo when I saw the clock. It's 7 pm already. Dali dali akong nagbihis and walked outside my room. No sign of Cross. I hope hindi muna siya dumating.

Nang makalabas ako, halos atakihin ako sa puso nang bumungad sa'kin ang pagmumukha ni Flux.

He eyed me from head to foot and I can clearly see disapproval in his face. It's a a fact that he and Cross are archenemies and I suppose archenemies are enemies because they have something in common. For Cross and Flux's case, they tend to insult people inside their minds but nevertheless, it shows on their face. That's what they have in common.

"What the hell are you wearing?"

"It's called clothes." I said at nagsimula nang maglakad. Naramdaman ko siyang sumunod and still eyeing me from head to foot. Isa ka nalang sa'kin ninja tatampalin kita.

"I told you to wear something sexy."

Hinarap ko siya at sinamaan ng tingin.

"You don't tell me what to wear." I said at nagsimula na namang maglakad. Hindi na siya nagsalita pa pagkatapos kanina and I was thankful dahil kung hindi, baka manatili na ako dito habang buhay because of murdering a ninja.

After minutes of walking, nakarating din kami sa kung saan gaganapin ang party kuno. It was also the place where I landed with my raft. I scanned my eyes around and my eyebrows knitted.

"There's a wedding to be held here." Napatingin ako kay Flux.

"And wearing something sexy?"

"What? The bride and groom will get naked during the ceremony."

"What!?"

"Yes." I looked at him unbelievably hoping for him to say it was all a joke. A naked wedding? Seriously?

Naglakad siya papunta sa mga upuan which was decorated by women. Nang makita nila si Flux ay nagpakawala sila ng malalagkit na ngiti.

"Hello, ladies." Bati niya sa mga ito which made me rolled my eyes. Agad agad namang lumapit ang mga babae sa kanya and I have no reason to put up with their flirtatious conservations so I made my way to the backmost row of seats and settled there. Marami rami na rin ang nakaupo sa unahan and as much as possible, I don't want to attract any attention.

I sat there silently and observed some people na dumarating na. Any minute now and the wedding will start. Naramdaman kong may umupo sa tabi ang judging from his sigh that sounded like he just won something big, alam ko nang si Flux iyon.

"Look at those boobs. Oh my." Masama ko siyang tiningnan and he's just busy with scanning the women around, who, apparently wore something I can't dare to wear.

"Shut your mouth, will you?" This time, he looked at me and smirked.

"If only you've worn something sexy then I should be feasting with your body silently and not looking at those girls."

Sinamaan ko lang siya ng tingin. That made him shut up and I on the other hand, made silent mutters of why on earth did I ever agreed on coming here. Almost 90% of the women's body, as what I've observed is exposed and the rest portion is the only portion covered. And the guys were just wearing boxer shorts. Who the hell planned this wedding?

"D'you want me with my boxers on?" Narinig kong bulong ng katabi kong si Flux.

"Don't bother." I said boredly and focused my eyes in front. Mukhang magsisimula na ang kasal. Tumingin ako sa unahan and regretted it instantly as I saw the groom. And as what Flux said, he's butt naked. Goodness gracious!

Muntik naman akong malaglag sa kinauupuan ko when the wedding march started playing. And instead of slow, mellow song, it was a rock song na nakakabingi sa tenga. Pinandilatan ko si Flux na mukhanh aliw na aliw. His eyes are focused on the back and when I turned around, halos malaglag ang panga ko. The bride is butt naked too. She literally had nothing on except for her veil. Napasapo nalang ako sa aking noo as I focused my vision on my feet. Bakit ba ako nagpunta dito?

And then I heard the people around started laughing and whistling. Pati ang katabi ko ay aliw na aliw. I looked in front and that's when I realized what caused the laughters.

The groom just had a boner. And I was surprised as how confident the groom was for he did not even covered it.

Kung alam ko lang kung ganitong kasalan ang sasalihan ko, I should not have come. Parang ako ang nahihiya sa kanila.

"Princess." Napatingin ako katabi and he's wiping some tears in his eyes dahil sa kakatawa.

"What?"

"Later after the ceremony, all the guest are required to get butt naked too."

"WHAT!?"

Oh goodness gracious! What on earth did I get myself into?

* * *