"You are seriously crazy right now."
But Kourin didn't even glance at the person who said that as soon as she arrived at the Shinomiya estate. She just continued walking and headed straight to her room. All the while, that person followed her but only stopped by the door. Then again, hindi na bago sa kanya ang kilos nitong iyon.
"Which part of me is crazy, mind telling me? Nananahimik na nga ako rito, eh." In a casual tone, Kourin faced Shuji with a small smile. Pero sa totoo lang, mukhang may ideya na siya sa kung ano ang tinutukoy ng lalaking ito sa kanya.
"Letting Seiichi enter your life -- again."
Just as she thought. Hindi nawala ang ngiti sa kanyang mga labi dahil hindi na niya ikinagulat ang sinabi nito.
"What's wrong with that? It's not like I'd be announcing to him about my life and what I truly do."
Shuji ended up sighing exasperatingly, which only made the clan princess laugh. Napakamot pa nga iti ng batok nito. Pero hinintay pa rin niya itong matapos mainis sa ginawa niya at nang makapagsalita na rin ito.
"My lady. You know that's not what I meant. 'Cause whether you tell him the truth about you or not, he would still be involved in our affairs. It seems that the Dark Rose is closing in on their search and to whatever they wanted to know about Seiichi. Hindi ka man lang ba natatakot doon?"
It was Kourin's turn this time to sigh. "It's all the more reason why I decided to let him into my life again, Shuji. True, it can be a bad idea at this point. But since the attempted kidnapping, I've been debating to myself. There has to be a bigger reason for that to happen. And I don't think it's merely related to his connection with my dead brother. There was more to that and I decided to find out what it was. Kabaliwan mang maituturing ang desisyon kong iyon. Pero kung iyon lang ang paraan para maprotektahan ko siya bilang Rin Fujioka, hindi ako magdadalawang-isip na gawin iyon."
No one spoke between them after that. Soon after, Kourin motioned Shuji to enter the room and asked him to report his search on the Swords of Ascencion. As expected, it came back negative. Pero hindi naman siya disappointed.
"But I did find out more about the other two groups that your brother mentioned. The first one was related to the Silhouette Roses in some way, though hindi pa rin ako sigurado kung paano. And the second group was about three families with connections to several noble families in South Korea. However, this group chose to separate themselves from the other three groups and would only assist the others when the situation demanded it."
"If that was the case, how come we weren't aware of their existence at all? Has something happened in the past for them to remain hidden?"
Shuji sighed. "Hindi ko magagawang sagutin iyan, Lady Kourin. Sa totoo lang, iyan din ang isa sa mga tanong na gusto kong hanapan ng kasagutan. But perhaps we'll be able to figure it out soon. Or at least, when the situation provided a way for us to know why."
Napatango na lang si Kourin.
Once again, the two remained silent after that discussion. Both of them knew they wouldn't get anywhere at this point as the clues they had weren't enough for them to form any conclusion. Soon after, Kourin stood up and went to her window to look outside. She looked up to the sky and sadly smiled.
"It seems all the answers we're looking for are still far from our reach at the moment," she said, breaking the silence between her and Shuji.
"That's only because we never actually considered looking for those answers, especially at the time when we still don't deem them as important. It's only after the attack that things began to move in a way we never expected. As much as I hate it, mukhang ilang taon din tayong nanatili sa dilim dahil sa mga pangyayaring hindi natin nagawang pagtuunan ng pansin noon."
"And yet the movement was enough to drive us crazy. Now things that we never knew before are starting to unfold in front of us one by one. A little fast to us that we're unsure on how to deal with them at first."
However, this was the only thing that the two of them could do -- to speculate and wonder about things unfolding in front of them.
"I'll still do my best to guard Seiichi as it was something that your brother had asked me to do, even before he died," Shuji said after a few moments of silence. "I'm more worried about his reaction once he finds out the truth about you. Alam nating hindi mo magagawang itago sa kanya ng habangbuhay ang katotohan tungkol sa pagkatao mo."
Kourin couldn't help sighing before facing Shuji. "Surely, he would end up hating me for that. Then again, at this point, wala na akong pakialam. I've been aware that my choice to let him into my life as I am now would just bring me more pain than ever. But I'm willing to bear that pain if it means making sure he stays alive. Ayoko nang manatiling walang ginagawa para lang protektahan ang mga taong importante sa akin."
It was the only thought that Kourin was holding on to and currently believing in, now that it came to this. Sure, kabaliwan ngang maituturing iyon. But there was nothing in her life that had not been deemed by anyone as crazy and mad. It was what she had chosen for a long time. The moment the clan realized that the danger was imminent, she knew that nothing in her life would ever stay the same way again.
Nananatili pa rin ang katotohanang iyon kahit dalawang taon na ang nakalipas.
"I know finding the Swords of Ascencion was already a heavy task for you to do. But it seems that you're also determined to guard Seiichi from all of this mess if you can."
The shadow guardian chuckled and slightly shook his head. "I just don't want your brother's spirit to come haunting me in my dreams if I failed to do the one important task that he had asked me to do before he was killed. Kahit yata sa panaginip, matinding magalit iyon, eh."
"Come on. My brother's not like that. And I'm pretty sure he wouldn't haunt you in any way at all. But if he's going to use dreams as a means to communicate even in the afterlife, I hope he could at least tell us the answers to the questions we're dealing with."
"Lord Hitoshi had always been known as the King of Riddles to the younger generations. Even the elders were having a hard time finding answers to all of his predictions. But he was the one who said that only the younger generations -- meaning, us -- have the greatest ability to solve his riddles."
Kourin nodded as soon as she sighed. Alam niya kung ano ang tinutukoy nito. "I also heard him say that to Seiichi before. It seems that at the time, he could already tell that he won't live long. O kung hindi man iyon ang nasa isipan niya nang mga panahong iyon, then perhaps he was aware that... something would be stopping him from fulfilling what he had to do as the supposed heir to the position of being the leader of both the Shrouded Flowers and the Shinomiya clan."
Her last sentence, however, made her frown. Why in the world would she end up saying that?
"My lady? Are you okay?"
She didn't say anything, though. She just ended up shutting her eyes tight and touching the side of her head. What was with the last sentence she said that made it seem as if... something felt off about her dead brother at the time of the attack?
Pero ganoon nga ba talaga iyon?
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