Hidden Bite (Book 3 of Bite Trilogy)

Chapter 23

Chapter 23: The villains

"She talked to me as if she's already familiar with me, and gave those words that I couldn't fully understand . . . she told me that I am not those foolish kings. Why do I have this feeling that she is your daughter?"

Silence overwhelmed us. When I glanced at Seth and Blair they had that similar puzzled look. Kahit ako ay hindi agad maintindihan ang mga sinabi ni Rosh.

When Claret, Kreios, and I got aware of the situation of Rosh's journey when Leticia and Dastan tasked him to follow Caleb, he was already in Fevia Attero. We never had any information before that he had this some sort of encounter with someone else before he arrived at Fevia Attero, but after listening to his confession that he'd chosen to reveal right now, it seems like this Rosh had his own kind of business before fulfilling his mission in Fevia Attero.

It wasn't surprising to learn that Rosh got involved in Fevia Attero for his own reason as well, but to discover that he has another sister. . .

"A-another sister?" ulit ko.

"It's not just Marah?" nagtatakang tanong ni Seth.

Rosh didn't answer our questions, but his eyes were directly looking at Adolfo. "I've seen that violin inside our castle before, Adolfo."

Agad napahawak sa lamesa si Adolfo na tila mawawalan ng balanse.

"Saan mo siya nakita? Between those portals? Is that even possible?" tanong ni Blair.

"Paano mo siya nasabing siya ang anak ni Adolfo?" Seth added.

Unlike in the forest where we were seated in a circle, in Adolfo's house we had that distance as if it would lessen the tension between us. Seth was still near the window, Rosh was on that old sofa, I was standing near the hearth without its blazing fire, while Blair was sitting on one of the chairs around the dining ball, with Adolfo's standing beside him.

"Hunch?"

Hunch?!" Seth, Blair, and I said in unison.

Rosh sighed. "This is the first time I heard something about my sister aside from my parents, and to see her image in this small house, and discovered that she's connected with Adolfo's missing daughter, who could that woman be?"

"So, she isn't a run-away daughter who abandoned her father to live with her rich man?" tanong ni Seth.

I grimaced when he heard similar words from Seth.

"S-sigurado ka ba na nakita mo ang anak ko?"

"Let's just hope that she's the woman," sagot ni Rosh na sumulyap muli sa painting.

Muling nabalot ng katahimikan ang maliit na tahanan ni Adolfo, ngunit hindi rin nagtagal ay nagsalita na si Seth. He's gently brushing his thumb on his chin while staring blankly behind Rosh.

"Why don't we try to trace this new information? Initially, we have to cross this village to find Zen's daughter, but we ended up in this situation where all of us turned into this body. And we discovered that this village under Blair's empire has been forgotten and currently experiencing a curse, but then as we tried to overcome this crisis, we met Adolfo, a father who has a missing daughter as well— who turned out to be Rosh's sister's dearest friend."

"To make it short, we are destined to wind up in this place," Rosh said wearily as he leaned on that old sofa.

"But as long as we haven't found the culprit of the missing children, I don't think we can move forward," sabi naman ni Blair.

Lumapit na si Adolfo kay Rosh at naupo na rin ito sa sofa. He even held Rosh's hands pleadingly. Nanatili kaming nanunuod tatlo sa sitwasyon nilang dalawa.