Vows and Bullets
Chapter 151 - 1st week of September (Part 5)

Chapter 151: 1st week of September (Part 5)

Please DON’T READ this Chapter yet. I will update this first week of September!

Good news! My hands have healed now and I’m catching up on writing my missed Chapters. My apologies for all the delays. I will replace this Chapter with the real one soon, don’t worry, and upload a new one for the next day. I really apologize once again.

In the meantime, please enjoy the continuation of the story below titled "The King’s Beloved". This is the revised version I am planning to submit for paperback publication. Hopefully, I get a chance someday.

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(Part 14 - Continuation...)

Each palace was huge and contained around thirty to forty rooms, varying from bedrooms to social rooms, dancing rooms, kitchen, study, library, and others. Maids had been assigned to each palace to maintain the place and serve the ladies. Thus, as days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, the division and competition amongst them rose up. Each Elite Magi was dead set to receive the favor of the king. If the king’s chosen queen were to be one amongst their group, surely, they would be rewarded lavishly and promoted.

When the House Leaders were chosen, they, too, chose the maidens whom they would groom. Thus, they were divided into groups named as follows:

Próta, led by Satis, the Elite Magi who favored beauty and therefore chose the most beautiful ones among the hundred women.

Défteros, led by Prudens, the Magi who preferred wisdom instead.

Trítos, under Magna, for those who possessed a great talent that could be useful enough to entertain the king.

Tétartos, under Genus, which dwelled those with the kindest of heart, and also the group that Azalea belonged to.

Lastly was Pémptos, the opposite of the prior led by Malum. Gathered in this group were those harboring an evil heart since their leader enjoyed malice, competition, hatred, and all vileness. He enjoyed watching the events unfold before his very eyes. For what better entertainment was there than one’s wickedness could bring? And for some reason, this was the group that Rania belonged to.

How were they chosen in their specific groups? Aside from beauty, how did their leaders identify which one was kind and evil? Talented and not? Knowledgeable and a fool?

It was simple. All they needed was a dress.

Though not just any dress, but a dress that held spiritual energy capable of distinguishing the deepest and darkest secrets of the mind. It judged the being wearing them and showed its answers by changing color and design. Each color symbolizes the greatest trait the person has. And this dress was called Pandora’s Dress.

Upon Azalea wearing the dress, it turned into a baby pink color, and the design went from a plain cream wrap dress to a beautiful princess dress. The same happened to her group mates though the only difference was the shade of its pink, and a little difference in design and length, but all showed to be a princess dress type.

For the intelligent women, the dress became blue in color and a pouf dress design. The talented ones had yellow in a halter dress; the beautiful ones, purple in a mini dress; and the wicked ones inhibited a green-tone color in a tea-length dress, mostly in dark green or moss green. For the maidens who got colors in-between, they were given a choice on which house they wanted to join to even out the numbers in each palace.

Everyone seemed at home to their group as you watched their colors compliment each other. All save one—Rania. For amidst the colorful rainbow, she alone was tainted in pitch black—a black yet elegant asymmetrical dress.

Days continued to pass as the maidens were trained. For a normal woman who lived in modern days, the training was rather dull as it mostly involved things that medieval women in human history would be taught of. There was reading and writing, in Magi’s language, of course, then history, culture, etiquette, singing, dancing, playing different instruments, and many more. But most of them were topics on how to be a good wife, how to be a good wife, and another how to be a good wife. They even included topics about sexuality and ways of pleasing men in bed!

Despite the months that passed while being trained, Rania continued to mourn. Instead of time helping to heal her wounded heart, she only sank deeper into the abyss of depression. Little by little, her heart became empty. She continued living like a doll with nothing but a beautiful appearance and emptiness inside. Only... was it really called living?

One night that Rania couldn’t sleep again, she curled herself in bed and tried to call on the only ones that remained in her life—the voices from the wind.

"Rose... Lily... Iris," she called them one by one despite the dryness of her tone. She hadn’t been talking much lately, thus, making her voice hoarse. "Can you still hear me? Where are you? Talk to me."

But even they didn’t respond. Only the deafening silence could be heard.

The next day, Azalea visited Rania in her room. She struggled a bit on her way due to the mischievous acts of the wicked girls of Pémptos Palace, but she managed to escape them. After all, she visited Rania quite often, and the girl’s tricks became easy to predict in time. She often used her wits to outsmart them. Her worry towards a stranger who had become her friend was way stronger. And so, she continued her visits despite the circumstances. This time, bringing a basket of treats as a gift.

"Good morning, Rania," she greeted her with a sweet smile while placing the basket of different kinds of cookies on the table. Then, she pulled the huge curtains by the window, welcoming the blinding light of the morning sunshine. "Did you manage to get some sleep last night?"

Rania, who was still curled up in bed, squinted, seeing the light. She rolled around, trying to find a place without the morning’s shine. Unfortunately, there was none, so she got up and sat on the couch where it was darker.