KULANG ang sabihing napuno ng tensyon ang buong Shinomiya mansion dahil sa ginagawang pagpaplano ng dalawang clan leaders tungkol sa gagawing rescue operation kay Seiichi. Idagdag pa na ikinukonsidera rin nila ang mga pahayag nina Iapetus at Hestia. Kaya hindi na nakakapagtaka na talagang kahit sinong pinakakalmadong tao yata ay matetensyon sa mga nangyayari.
Dumating sa mansion sina Tetsuya at Amiko kasama si Ayuka. Of course, Theron was surprised to see the Inubushi Group's heiress in the flesh after a long time. Nonetheless, it was obvious that he was glad to see the young woman.
"I never thought you would entertain the idea of coming to this country after all this time," komento ni Theron nang lapitan nito si Ayuka.
"I could use a little break, you know. Besides, I'm not here to have a vacation that almost everyone wanted me to have."
Tumango si Ayuka at hinarap si Amiko. "More like a clue... about Lord Hitoshi's involvement with all this. Aside from the painting that you've seen inside the tunnel, I've also found a few artifacts which might have contributed to the formation of the passage on his Iris Sword."
"Why do I keep having a bad feeling about this? Even though Lord Hitoshi's dead, most of the events we're encountering still revolves around him. How could he even do that?" Aya blurted out with slightly evident frustration in her tone.
"More or less, he had everything done to help the princess."
Agad na napalingon ang mga naroon sa meeting room sa pinagmulan ng tinig na iyon.
"Lady Mari!"
"You're back? But I thoughtー"
But Mari cut Tetsuya's words with a short but still a lady-like laugh. "Then you should blame Ryuuji for that. Pinabalik niya ako rito dahil may kailangan daw siyang ipakita sa akin ASAP." Kapagkuwan ay bumuntong-hininga siya. "I never thought that cousin of mine can really be demanding when he wants to."
"Forgive me for asking this. But what exactly do you mean by what you said earlier, Lady Mari?" Ayuka asked politely and soon shifted the 13th Knight's focus to the young Inubushi heiress.
Naupo muna si Mari sa upuang talagang nakalaan para sa kanya bago niya hinarap ang mga naroon. "Hitoshi already had planned almost everything to ensure that Kourin would become the Shinomiya clan leader and the leader of the Shrouded Flowers at the same time. Wala namang problema sa akin kung ang bunso kong kapatid ang maging clan leader. But what really bugged me was the fact that he wanted her to be the leader of the Shrouded Flowers, as well."
Kumunot ang noo ng ilan sa mga bisita, pati na rin sina Shouda at Kenji.
"But why would that concern you?" the Miyuzaki clan leader asked.
"Because in the past four centuries' history of the Shrouded Flowers, there hasn't been any female who became the leader of the four clans, Miss Shouda. Pero insisting ang kapatid kong iyon na baliin ang tradisyon. Well, with regards to our situation right now, walang dudang mababali na nga natin iyon," saad naman ni Mari. "And Kourin had just turned 17. How would anyone expect her to govern a group of martial arts-affiliated families with this kind of chaos?"
Katahimikan ang bumalot sa kanilang lahat matapos ang pahayag na iyon ni Mari.
"Well, at least we know you're not saying this for the reason that you doubt your sister's capabilities, Lady Mari," mayamaya ay saad ni Theron.
"There's no way I'd do that, Lord Theron. Alam ko ang kakayahan ng kapatid ko at walang dudang kaya niyang gampanan ang responsibilidad na iyon. I'm more concerned about my brother's plans for her. Ni wala man lang akong ideya sa mga iyon." Halata sa tinig ni Mari ang frustration. She soon regained composure upon remembering something. "We'll get to that later. Ryuuji told me you're dealing with another problem. Tell me more about it."
Wala nang paliguy-ligoy pa na isinalaysay nina Kenji at Shouda ang mga pangyayari, pati na rin ang mga engkwentro nila sa ilang miyembro ng Dark Rose. Pero pagkatapos niyon ay nanatiling tahimik si Mari na tila ba malalim ang iniisip.
"Lady Mari?" untag ni Amiko rito.
Lihim na napapitlag si Mari sa pagtawag na iyon. "I'm sorry. I was just thinking about the Celestial Points you've all just mentioned."
"What about it?" interesadong usisa ni Alexis.
"Japan is said to be the golden location where the Eight Celestial Points of the Shrouded Flowers were placed. Those were the original Celestial Points that truly brought chaos to our families in the past. Intriguingly, the same number of Celestial Points exists in the Philippines but none of them belongs to the Shrouded Flowers at all."
Hindi na kailangang pakaisipin pa nang pagkatagal-tagal para malaman kung ano ang nais ipahiwatig ni Mari sa mga salitang iyon.
"You're not saying...?"
Mari smirked when she knew the other had finally understood it. "That's perhaps one of the greatest reasons why the Dark Rose captured Seiichi. Hawak ni Seiichi ang susi para malaman nila ang iba pang lokasyon ng Celestial Points. Since they've succeeded in destroying two of those points already, which is Shiasena Temple and the temple located in the town of Casimera, what they need is to find the other six. Those locations held the key into putting back one clan's fallen honor to its former pedestal. Ganoon na sila kadesperado para lang siguruhin na hindi na tayo makakabangon pa."
"If that's the case, then we should execute the plan to rescue Seiichi before it's too late. We can't have any other people, especially the Dark Rose, to deal with that young man," suhestiyon ni Ayuka na sinang-ayunan na rin ng iba pa.
"I don't think there's still a need to do that."
Muli ay napatingin na naman sila kay Mari.
"Ano'ng ibig mong sabihin?"
But to their confusion, Mari looked genuinely surprised at the question. "You didn't know? Daryll and Takeru already went ahead to rescue Seiichi."
"What?!"
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