There was a deafening silence after everyone heard what Maximus has just said. Even I felt nervous, but I didn't let my emotion get the best of me.

"Are you listening to me, Miss? I know what I'm saying. We can't take off right now. If you don't want everyone of us to be dead, ring the cockpit and tell the pilot to revert back to the tarmac!" I could tell that he was telling the truth, but the cabin crew was still hesitant.

"Annie, do what he says." I commanded. Annie, the cabin crew nodded her head.

"As you please, Your Royal Highness." She then went to ring the bell on the control panel. Later on, the assistant chief pilot opened the door and Annie informed him what was happening. Upon hearing what was happening, he immediately relayed it to the chief pilot before they contacted the control tower. Thankfully, we haven't gotten that far from the airport apron yet.

"Call the PRB of Her Royal Highness Amelia and tell him that they should do t everything that they could to refrain the plane from taking off if they haven't already." Maximus instructed Sita and that was when I felt really nervous. Sita obliged right away.

"Why? Did something happen to Amelia?" I asked worriedly.

"I'm not sure yet but it looks like we need to cancel our flights for now, Your Royal Highness." He then went to the direction of the cockpit and talked with the pilot. Later on, we got off the plane in a hurry and the investigation team arrived.

Everything happened so fast. We were ready to take off and the next thing we knew, we were in danger.

They took us to the VIP lounge of the airport. I specifically instructed everyone not to involve the media about it so that the situation wouldn't get more complicated.

"Where is Amelia, Sita? Did you manage to contact her?" I then asked my nanny.

"Yes, Your Royal Highness. I called her but the call got cut off. I couldn't contact her PRB either." Fear crept within me. If I could only walk; I would've gone to my sister right away, but I couldn't even stand on my own.

"Maximus, bring me to the tarmac. I want to check if Amelia's still there." I was beginning to panic. He held my hand, comforting me. His hazel green eyes looked into my sapphire blue ones.

"Don't worry, everything's going to be alright."

"How can you be so sure? I don't want to just stay here and wait for any news about her! I want to go there now!" Tears were already threatening to fall from my eyes.

"Shhh. Don't panic. I already sent someone to look for her."

"What do you mean? Who did you send?" He was about to say answer when someone spoke at the doorway.

"Ath!" I snapped my head to her direction and saw my younger sister. Relief washed over me upon seeing her. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. She then rushed towards me and hugged me.

"Thank God, you're okay." I said full of relief and then hugged her tightly. I could feel her body trembling in fear. "Shhh. You're fine now. Stop crying." We stayed like that for a couple of minutes before she finally stopped crying and pulled away from me.

"I was so scared. I thought, we were going to die."

"Did the plane take off?"

She shook her head. "No. We were about to. I was about to turn off my phone when I received Sita's call. I immediately stood up to tell everyone about the danger that was coming, but we suddenly heard a loud sound coming from the plane. Then, we saw fire and black smoke coming from the engine. Thankfully, the pilot managed to stop the plane, and everyone managed to get off the plane unscratched." She recalled and whimpered again.

I gritted my teeth. Even though I was scared, I managed to pull myself together.

"Maximus, I want you to tell the investigation team to do whatever they could to investigate how all these happened. I know that this is a deliberate attack to the Royal Family, and I want the people behind this to pay for what they've done." I ordered sternly.

"Don't worry, Your Royal Highness. Those people would surely pay." He then talked to the other Royal Guards that were there, probably instructing them something before going out of the lounge area.

About 45 minutes later, Antonius and Aris arrived. They said that they cancelled their flights this afternoon because of what happened.

"Athena, Amelia, go home for now. Let us handle everything here." Antonius said.

"Antonius, I think it's better for them not to return to the palace for now. This is surely a deliberate attack to the Royal Family. Who knows, the culprit might just be near us. I'm glad that nonna and Aria arrived safe in Switzerland without any problem, but we can't just be laid back about this. We must take precautionary measures." Aris suggested. Antonius was silent for a couple of seconds as if he was thinking before he answered.

"You're right. We need to be careful in everything that we do from now on. Looks like someone's out there, wanting to get us all so we shouldn't be careless at any cost." He then dialed on his phone and called someone.

"Did you tell someone that you're going to De Falco Farm?" He then asked after that call.

"Aside from Sita and Maximus, no. I didn't tell anyone about it." I answered.

"Good. What about you, sorellina?"

"Well, everyone at the palace knows about me going back to England today." It was Amelia. Antonius took a deep breath. Even though he looked calm, I could tell that he was livid.

"I asked for my friends' help and they agreed." Amelia's lips parted as her eyebrows furrowed in displease. "Sorellina, Leon will be the one to take you to England while Magnus will take Athena, Sita and Maximus to De Falco farm."

"What?! Why him?!" We got surprised of Amelia's sudden outburst.

"So, what if it's him? I trust him." Antonius asked confusedly.

Aris laughed. "You know what? Maybe you shouldn't be too serious all the time so that you would notice what's going on around you sometimes, fratello." Antonius glared at him.

"Cosa vuoi dire?" (What is your point?) Aris scratched the back of his head and then threw a glance at Amelia. I rolled my eyes. He really doesn't know when to keep quiet about things like that.

"Nothing. Forget about it." I mentally shook my head. Aris surely chose to just keep his mouth shut because he knew how Antonius is if he's mad.

After about 30 minutes, Leon and Magnus arrived. Just like what Antonius have said, Amelia left with Leon much to her displeasure while Magnus was the one who took us to his private jet. Antonius and Aris on the other hand stayed at the airport.

"Are you okay, mi hermosa?" I almost raised my eyebrow when I heard what Maximus call me just now. Now that nobody was listening, he called me that endearment again.

"Why do you always call me that when we're not even a couple?" I asked a little bit tauntingly. Thankfully, I felt okay now. I still couldn't believe of what happened but I knew that the investigators and my brothers would do everything they could to catch whoever attempted to erase us.

We were now seated on our respective seats on the private jet of Magnus and for some reason, Maximus insisted for him to sit across me so that he could act right away if something happens. Well, he's my PRB and when it comes to my safety, he's the one who's in charge.

Instead of getting affected of my tone, he remained serious while staring directly into my eyes intently.

"We both know that you already know the answer to that, mi hermosa." I felt like my tongue stiffen as my cheeks blushed profusely.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I answered, feigning ignorance, when I finally gathered myself together. I even leered at him which made him chuckle.

"Are you both okay here, Your Royal Highness, Mr. Vázquez?" Maximus and I looked at the one who spoke. It was Magnus. He was serious but I could see amusement in his eyes while gazing at us.

"Everything's okay." I answered casually and Magnus' eyebrows cocked up. I noticed his gaze shifted to Maximus and the two of them exchanged a weird stare.

"What about you, Mr. Vázquez?" I didn't know if it was just my imagination but there was a hint of amusement in his voice too, that kind of tone that someone uses to tease his/her friend.

"Why don't you just go to the cockpit and start maneuvering this fùcking plane already?" My eyes widened upon hearing what Maximus just said.

"Maximus! Magnus is also a-"

"-It's okay, Your Royal Highness. I'm used of his attitude already." That surprised me. I was about to ask him what he meant by that when Maximus suddenly stood.

"You-"

"-I need to go to the cockpit now, Your Royal Highness, before someone here kills me." Magnus said before hurriedly walking away.

"What was that about?!" I asked Maximus in anger when Magnus left, but he just shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't mind that guy, mi hermosa. He's just nothing but a busybody."

"Watch your mouth! Do you even know each other?!" I queried in disbelief. He went silent for a couple of seconds when he noticed the look that I was giving him.

He heaved a sigh. "Don't look at me like that, mi hermosa. Let's just forget about that guy. He just approached us just now to make fun of us." My lips parted. Hearing that confirmed my suspicion. They really know each other.

They acted like they didn't know each other when they first saw each other at the airport.

I looked at the direction where the cockpit was located and saw Magnus waving his hand at me. He hasn't gotten inside yet. When he noticed Maximus looking at him too, he stopped right away and then scratch the back of his head.

"That guy. Lo voy a despellejar vivo." I heard him mumble and understood it. He was speaking on his native language, Spanish.

"What did you just say?" His lips instantly curved with an exaggerated smile.

"Oh, nothing, mi hermosa." I mentally shook my head. He was obviously feigning innocence.

"Do you really think that I didn't understand what you've said?" I asked with an eyebrow cocked up. His body obviously went still.

"Y-You understand Spanish?"

"A little bit." I answered proudly. His smile faded as his face turned serious.

"Entonces deberías poder entender cuando digo que solo eres mía." My eyebrows knitted together. He spoke fast that I only understood the last two words.

"What? You're too fast! Say it again slowly." I demanded. His lips stretched with a lopsided grin. He was about to answer when Magnus, the pilot, spoke from the intercom of the plane for the briefing. A couple of minutes later and the plane started moving.

When the plane took off, I decided to just sleep because I didn't want to see Maximus' grinning playfully at me everytime I throw him a glance. Thankfully, I managed to fall asleep...

M-Mamma, wake up!" I said with a trembling voice. Even my whole body was shaking as my heart started beating like a drum. My mother remained motionless and that doubled the fear that I was feeling.

I felt like I was going to pass out, but I couldn't care less about the pain that I was feeling in my body. All I wanted was to bring my mother to the hospital and ensure her safety.

"Mamma, per favore, svegliati!" I cried but she wasn't waking up. The smell of blood was lingering in my nostrils and that made me feel sick.

"Mamma!" I frantically said but she remained unresponsive. Tears pooled from my eyes as I kept on calling for her. I've never felt this kind of fear before and I felt like dying too...

"Mamma!"

"Mr. Vázquez, here is your coffee." I smiled and thanked Annie. When she left, I was about to begin drinking it when I heard someone clear their throat. I looked up to see who it was.

"Sir, I received an email from our men about what happened at the airport this morning." It was Manuel. I looked around before gazing at Athena. She's now sleeping on her seat.

"What did they say?"

"It's confirmed. It was an attempted assassination." My fists tightened.

"I was right all along. Looks like they're beginning to move. Did they really think that they could outwit me? They have to double or triple their efforts to do that."

"You're right, sir, but unfortunately; the guys haven't gathered any evidence yet that he's the one who did this."

I gritted my teeth. "They should do everything in their power to gather any useful evidence as soon as they could. They know how impatient I can get when I'm mad, especially about things like this."

"I agree, sir. Everyone knows what you're capable of whenever you're mad." I scoffed.

"And they should know too what happens if they continued being useless like this." I added with a dangerous tone.

"According to them; they couldn't do their stuff because of the many members of the Royal Special Investigation team that the Royal Family sent."

My jaw clenched. "I don't care. They should do everything that they could and that's my order!"

"Of course, sir." Manuel answered as he bowed his head. I dismissed him and when he left to return to his respective seat, my attention focused on Athena who was still sleeping on her reclined seat.

A gentle smile appeared on my lips. Such a lovely woman. Even in her sleep, she's still beautiful as ever.

My forehead crinkled when I noticed that it the temperature inside the plane became a little bit colder than a while ago. I took the unused blanket and then stood up to put it on her so that she wouldn't catch a cold.

I was about to go back to my seat after doing so when I heard her mumbling words. I thought she was already awake, but it appeared that she wasn't. My eyebrows furrowed. She looked like she was dreaming. Her forehead was crinkled while mumbling uncomprehensive words. It looked like she was having a nightmare.

"Mi hermosa." I called for her softly, but she continued on mumbling as her head began shaking from side to side.

"M-Mamma..." That was when I finally comprehended what she was saying. My jaw flexed as my heart tightened. She was dreaming about her mother.

"Mamma, wake up..." Beads of sweat were already appearing on her forehead. I caressed her cheek while watching her troubled state.

"Nadie podría alejarte de mí. Te lo prometo..." I groaned inwardly as those words echoed inside my head. I looked at my mother and I panicked when I noticed that she was beginning to disappear. I kept on calling for her, but she just vanished into thin air.

"Your Royal Highness..." I groaned again upon hearing another voice as I felt someone shake my shoulder. My forehead wrinkled and opened my eyes.

"Mamma!" I was catching my breath upon waking up. My throat was sandy dry, and I couldn't find my voice right away. I looked around, searching for my mother, but she wasn't there. My heart tightened.

Then, I noticed Sita. Looked like she was the one who was waking me up.

"We're already here, Your Royal Highness." She informed me. She looked worried. I swallowed hard and then nodded my head but then, something caught my eye. There was a blanket on me. My eyebrows furrowed.

"D-Did you put this on me?" Sita shook her head.

"No, Your Royal Highness."

"Then, who did?" I queried, still breathing a little bit hard. She was about to answer when Maximus approached us.

"Let's go, Your Royal Highness." Before I could say anything, he carried me onto his arms to transfer me to my wheelchair. I was holding my breath the whole time. His scent was tickling my nostrils and I must admit, he smells so good. For some reason, I suddenly felt calmer as I felt his warmth on my body.

I leaned the side of my head on his chest and closed my eyes. I've been dreaming the same thing for the past couple of months but this was the first time that I managed to calm myself after such nightmare.