Chapter 5 Coronation Day, She Disguised

[I had a kiss with the devil. I shall be careful not to break the contract. Resistance, Ophelia. Therefore, you could fulfill your revenge.]

Ophelia's handwriting danced on the page. With a black ink splattered a bit on the edge of the word. Suddenly-

*knock *knock

"My lady, it's time!" Damien shouted behind Ophelia's bedroom door.

She inhaled a deep-long breath as she closed her diary. With a tiny step, she walked towards her drawer, putting the diary inside and locked it.

"My lady!"

"Yes, just a minute" Ophelia replied as she put on a white fur coat, covering her gown.

At the time, Ophelia's eyes darted around the room. "Where is it?!" Ophelia exclaimed, her voice marked with surprise, " Damien!"

"You gave me a minute and you didn't come out" Damien responded.

"W-well, I was looking for my boots" Ophelia stammered.

Damien smiled in response to the lady's words. "You surely feel nervous for today's coronation, my lady" the man said as he walked towards the closet.

Ophelia could not deny that she was quite nervous about it; After all, she knew that everybody would be against her.

"Here," Damien said as he took out a pair of boots underneath the gowns and gave it to the lady. Damien sat on the edge of the bed and continued, "Things around this kingdom has already changed in the past 10 years, it made a lot of sense if you feel nervous about how people will react to-"

"Wait..." She exclaimed.

"Is everything alright, my la-" Damien asked, interrupted by Ophelia's next sentence.

"I have just a perfect idea"

[A few moments later]

"So, this is your perfect idea?" Damien asked while wearing a long coat that covered her entire body.

Ophelia's eyes sparkled with anticipation, a sly smile occasionally played at the corner of her lips, "Yes, now we will see how they ruled this kingdom while I'm gone"

Ophelia and Damien traveled to the capital in a carriage. In front of the capital gate, they

stopped. "We will walk from here" Ophelia said.

Ahead them was a market sprawled across a vast square. Stalls and booths stretched as far as the eye could see, forming a colorful labyrinth in the middle of gray winter.

"Hoy! Grab your fresh vegetables now! It is rare in this cold winter!" a man in one of the booths shouted.

"Here, 2 silver coins, you assure me that if this thing didn't work, I can have my compensation?" a young lady was standing in front of an antique stall.

Money changed hands as buyers haggled with sellers to strike bargains. The jingling of the coins and clinking of metal weights were constant sounds in the air.

"How in the middle of this cold winter, could a warm place be built?" Damien's eyes wandered around the market.

"Surely, due to economical problems, people had to earn money every single day. Look at that" Ophelia pointed to one of the corner alleys, where a young girl was holding a baby as she called for people to buy her handmade jewelry.

"Nobody can survive without gold upon their hand" She continued as they walked by a weapon store.

"Hey, miss!" A young man called. "I see you are a warrior, carrying a bow behind your back" He continued as he walked towards Ophelia.

"Yes, indeed, I am" Ophelia said, winking towards Damien.

"I happened to have just the right thing for you" He said, taking out a bottle. Then, he continued "This is mavrk, made by a rare kind of flower extract. This thing will make your bow shiny".

"Oh, well, how much does it cost?" Ophelia answered.

"Only 1 gold coin, miss" He smiled.

Ophelia crossed her arms, with her brows furrowed "It's quite expensive, I might say"

she replied.

"Oho, I have a deal for you; if you take this, I will give one bow case for you. How about it?" He offered.

"Intriguing. Should I take a look then?" Ophelia said.

"This way, miss" The man led them inside his store to have a look at the bow cases.

"Please, take whichever you like," He said.

With zero interest, Damien whispered "We are here for your coronation, my lady. Not to spend a penny"

"You don't have to remind me, I need to look for some information first," Ophelia replied. "Oh, good sir, how long have you been in this weaponry business?" Ophelia asked the man.

"Maybe almost 12 years? This store belonged to my father," He answered. "But, he died last year due to some illness called flu or something..."

He sighed "Low economic growth since the Abellones died made us suffer. I knew that they were not capable of leading this empire at all. They killed themselves and left the throne just like that!"

"Wait, who said that?" Ophelia asked.

"Well, of course, the dukes. They told us that the Abellones were no longer ruling this empire. Instead, they left us by their deaths, burning their own house. I mean, nobody knows, they are rich, it is only a speck of dust for them to built another one"

"But nobody was found"

"Abellone's only heir is out there somewhere. He or she didn't come back...It is very obvious that the Abellones are abandoning us" The man said.

Upon hearing the shocking news, Ophelia's eyes widened. The dukes, of course, were trying to spread rumors among people. Still, Ophelia was in disbelief as the weight of the news pressed down upon her.

"Today, they said that after all these years, the Abellone heiress came to claim her throne. surely, so easy" The man mocked.

Damien stepped closer to the man, but Ophelia held him back. Instead, she smiled at the man and said, "I think it might be great if we could finally hear the truth from the heiress herself. Instead of trusting rumors and gossip. Well, I guess, I will take this one" She pointed to the leather bow case in the back of another bow case.

"Are you sure, miss? This one is old" He asked the lady.

"Yes, I am sure. Sometimes, it is better to learn from the past because they formed the future. So, 1 gold coin for these, thank you" Ophelia handed the man 1 gold coin and left the store.

After a while, they arrived at the capitol square. A big place where people gathered in the middle to hear one of the guards announcing Ophelia's arrival.

"The dukes are here," Damien said.

"Yes, they are. Cozily sitting upon their big chairs, looking down at the people like they are the king of this world" Ophelia replied, mocking the dukes.

"Hey-ho! Today, we gathered here for a very big event! Ophelia Abellone has arrived in this kingdom! This announcement was made upon her coronation, and we shall be waiting for her to come soon!" The guard announced.

Everyone whispered. Some agreed and were happy, others were against it. Duke Alamos stood up and said, "Now, everyone, silence! Our majesty will be here soon, we should respect her retardness for making us wait in the middle of this cold day!"

"Yes! That princess attitude is something that was inherited among the Abellones. We surely had to respect that. HAHAHA!" The other duke replied, mockingly laughed after.

Everyone laughed upon hearing the dukes.

Ophelia and Damien were standing between the crowds who were lightly mocking the Abellone family. Their brows furrowed deeply with eyes blazed with an intense, fiery determination.

Damien carved out a sly smile upon his lips and said "They said it's cold; we shall give them warmth, my lady". He lit up a fire on his finger as Ophelia swiftly drew her bow and aimed her arrow towards Alamos' head.

"Well, after you, my lady," Damien said.

Ophelia unleashed her fury with a single shot, aiming at the duke's headpiece. With each passing second, Damien lit a fire around the wooden stage where the dukes were seated.

"W-what!? Fire!? Guards!!!" The dukes panicked.

At the time, everybody was in shock when Ophelia uncovered her coat. The air around vibrated with intensity, and the dukes' eyes widened as they saw the girl before.

Ophelia walked to the front, passing the fire, along with Damien beside her, she shouted "I am Ophelia Abellone, I have arrived!"

----

to be continued.