I stared at my reflection in the mirror without any emotion on my face. I just finished putting my make up on and everything's perfect. But then, something was wrong.

"Wow. You're really good at putting your own make up. I wish I could do that to myself." My attention went to Amelia after hearing what she just said. An humorless chuckle escaped my lips.

"Well, what do you expect? Ath is an artist so putting her own make-up is just a piece of cake for her." Aria butted in. "But no matter how good she is in putting her own make-up on, there's still something missing."

Amelia's eyebrows creased. "What do you mean?" She huffed and then crossed her arms across her chest as she stared at me.

"I don't need to spill it out to you, little sis. Just one look at Ath and you'll see what I mean. Her eyes are sad that no amount of make-up or mask can hide it."

"What are you talking about? Maybe, you didn't have enough sleep again that's why you're seeing things." I tried to sound humorous but Aria rolled her eyes at me.

"Don't give me that. Ever since that someone disappeared, I haven't seen you smiled nor laugh anymore. I mean, yes, you've been like that during those times that you couldn't walk yet but you changed. When you came back from your vacation in De Falco farm, I saw the improvement in you. You became cheerful and full of life whenever you were with him. Even though we weren't that okay that time, I noticed those small details about you." My throat tightened as my emotions began going haywire.

"W-What are you talking about? You were mistaken. I was just—"

"Aria is right, Ath. Even though you never said anything, we noticed it. The way you two stared at each other whenever you thought that no one was looking was very clear indication that something was going on between you two. I didn't say anything about it because I was happy that you changed for the better. But I wish, I told nonna about it so that she could've done something to separate you two. Maybe that way, you wouldn't get hurt that much." Amelia said and that caught me off guard.

I thought, no one noticed in the palace but I was wrong. I swallowed hard and then cleared my throat, trying to gather myself together.

There was a sudden deafening silence and I couldn't take it. I had to break it.

"Do you want me to help you put your make up on? C'mon, we still have time." I offered, faking the best smile and cheerful voice I could muster.

They stared at each other meaningfully before they silently agreed. Normally, we have our own glam team, dressing us up for different occasions but today, we decided not to call them over because we thought, we could do it ourselves for a change.

Well, I could do it without any problem but Aria and Amelia were having a hard time putting their make-up on.

"Yes, please, Ath. I don't have patience with these kinds of things not to mention that I don't really know how to use make-up." That made me chuckle. Thankfully, they didn't insist for us to talk about what happened last year because I wouldn't know how to avoid it for sure.

"You're hopeless when it comes to these kinds of things." I said in disbelief and she laughed. I almost sighed in relief because they seemed to forgot about the topic a while ago.

Ever since we were old enough to know how to put make-up on our faces, Aria never really took any interest of learning how to do it properly. Our nonna and mamma had been scolding her about it. According to them, she was a princess of Costavia so she should know how to properly put make-up on her face. But Aria being Aria, she was so stubborn and didn't listen.

Well, we're kinda the same. I go out in public sometimes without wearing make-up. That kind of thing wasn't a big deal for us but for our nonna, it was the opposite. She's always concerned about physical appearance, especially when we're in public.

I helped them with their make-up until we're finally done prepping.

"I'll just go to the kitchen. I want to drink something first before we head out." It was Aria.

"I'm coming with you. I want to drink something too. My throat is dry." Amelia said.

"Okay. I'll just go to the toilet first before going downstairs." I said and then checked myself in the mirror. When I was left alone, I went to the toilet. After that, I washed my hands and then applied a hand lotion. I then sprayed my favorite perfume and was about to follow them downstairs when I heard a knock on the door.

"Yes?" I said with a loud voice. The door opened and one of the maids came in.

"Pardon, Your Royal Highness, but you have a visitor."

"Who is it?" I asked with my eyebrows knitted together.

"It's me, Princess Athena." My lips parted in surprise upon seeing the one who just peeked through the door. Prince Franco of Nuevo Imperio.

The maid went out of the room, leaving us both to give us some privacy.

"I didn't know that you're here. I thought, you couldn't come because you were busy?" Franco approached me and then gave me a bear-hug.

"Well, today is an important day for the whole nation of Costavia. I even took a day off so that I could be here with you. Anyway, this is for you." He handed me a bouquet. They're pink roses.

"Thank you, Franco. You're right. Today's National Costavia day but you don't have to take a day off just to be here with us." A suave smile appeared on his lips as he took my hand.

"Today's very important day, Athena. Have you forgotten about the plan?" My forehead crinkled. He laughed.

"Looked like it slipped through your mind." I bit my lower lip.

"You're right. I'm sorry about that. I forgot. It's just that I've been very busy lately."

"Don't worry about it. It's not a big deal. C'mon, let's go?" He held out his hand and I gingerly accepted it.

It has been more than a year since I met Franco. I met him during those dark moments of my life. Looking back, I thought, we wouldn't have the chance to be closer but it happened naturally.

He's a good guy and he easily earned a spot in my heart. I could still remember our first meeting...

Tears continuously fell from my eyes while watching all the people sob for their loved ones. They're the victims of the tragedy that happened at the palace last week. Until now, I couldn't believe that there were ten of the palace's employees who lost their lives because of that bomb not to mention that there were another fifteen who were still in the hospital and that's including my nanny Sita. Thankfully, she didn't die. She only suffered a broke arm and leg.

Today's the interment and the palace held a special ceremony for them. The Royal family would be extending a big help to the families of the one's who died but I knew that that wouldn't be enough to ease the pain that each family was feeling right now because of the death of their loved ones.

After the ceremony and the interment, everyone of us went back inside the palace. Everyone of us was quiet and serious as we sat at the living room.

It has been a week since that explosion but Maximus hasn't been captured yet. He's already wanted by the law and his face was all over the news.

There were times that I was wishing that everything was nothing but a nightmare but I knew that it wasn't. Until now, I still couldn't believe that Maximus could do such kind of thing. Even though I was beyond hurt, hatred grew within me for him.

He didn't only deceive us all. He also took many lives and I would never forgive him for that.

"Listen. I have something to say." Antonius announced which caught our attention. He was the one who arrived last because I saw him talking with someone right after the ceremony.

"What is it about?" Aris asked full of seriousness. Amelia, Aria and I remained quiet while listening to them. I saw how Antonius' jaw clenched in rage as he handed the envelope that he was holding to Aris.

The latter opened the envelope with furrowed eyebrows. He brought out the papers that were inside and read it.

Then, after about a minute or so, I was surprised when he cursed expletives and then crumpled the papers full of anger.

"I can't believe that we let such an evil of a person be here in the palace! He deceived us all!" Aris looked like he was about to spit fire any moment because of so much anger. Aris was always a calm person but now, he looked like he was about to fly into a fit of rage.

"You're right. Now, I can't help but to think that there's a big possibility that he's the one behind the attempted assassination almost 6 months ago. I can't believe that he played us all with his little finger." Antonius answered and just like Aris, he was ragingly mad.

"What are you talking about? Is this about Mr. Vázquez?" Aria commented for the first time. My heart clenched tightly.

For some reason, I wanted to tell them that they're mistaken; that Maximus was not the one who's responsible of that attempted assassination of the Royal Family because he was the one who saved us but then, I remembered what the CCTV captured.

Maximus was the one who planted the bomb that exploded inside the palace which took many lives. I wanted to cry but nothing came out of my eyes. Maybe, because I've been crying too much since everything of this happened that my eyes were tired already.

I felt so emotionally and physically drained. All I wanted was to forget but I knew that it would be impossible for me to just forget it just like that. I gave him all the love that I could give to a man and I thought, he loved me the same but I was clearly wrong.

After committing such crime, he disappeared into thin air without a trace.

Aria took the papers from Aris' grip and then read it. She then became silent after that but I could see the rage on her face as well.

"I can't believe this. He really played with us all. How come he passed as PRB of Athena? Such dangerous kind of person shouldn't've the chance to get closer to any of us!"

"Let me see." I uttered after gathering all the strength that I could muster. I needed to face the truth once and for all. Aria handed me the papers and with trembling hands, I read everything that was written in there.

According to it, Maximus Vázquez was a member of a big mafia. Not just an ordinary member but he was the boss. He'd already killed countless people and destroyed everything that tried to block his way. I felt like my heart exploded in so much pain.

I felt so stupid for believing in someone like him. He was so good in acting that I didn't even notice that he was only lying to my face while saying how much he loves me.

A whimper escaped my lips but strangely, tears didn't fall from my eyes.

"Ath, are you okay?" Amelia asked me worriedly as she held my hand. I gulped inaudibly, trying to gather myself together even though I felt like my heart was about to explode. I couldn't explain the pain that I was feeling. It was so intense and deep that I felt like I couldn't take it anymore.

"W-Where did you get all this information?" I asked Antonius with a trembling voice instead of answering Amelia's question.

"It came from the intelligence of Nuevo Imperio." My forehead wrinkled.

"Nuevo Imperio?" He nodded his head.

"Yes, Ath. They're here actually. They came to give their support." I was about to answer when one of the Royal Guards announced the arrival of the King and Prince of Nuevo Imperio. A couple of seconds more and they're standing in front of us.

We greeted them properly. King Giuseppe looked like he was in his late fifties while his son, Prince Franco looked young in his late twenties.

Even though we were shaken up of all the things that we discovered, we had to push that aside for the moment and joined the Royals from Nuevo Imperio for dinner.

While we were eating, King Giuseppe began discussing about the report that Nuevo Imperio has provided to Antonius about Maximus' real identity.

"When we received the news about the explosion of the Costavia's palace because of Mr. Vázquez, we knew that we had to come to personally to warn you about that person. Costavia and Nuevo Imperio have a very good relationship and we don't want such kind of man to destroy one of our country's best friends.

"Actually, that person has been Nuevo Imperio's enemy for years but until now, we still couldn't capture him because he's slippery as an eel." While listening to the king of Nuevo Imperio talk, I felt like my heart was being stab a thousand times.

There was that feeling that I wanted to defend Maximus. My heart doesn't believe what he's saying about him but this is not the time for me to choose what my heart wants to believe because the truth was already screaming in front of me.

"Excuse me for asking you this, Your Majesty, but why Nuevo Imperio didn't inform other countries about him? If he's your country's enemy, you should've warned us all about him. Now, he targeted us and I don't even understand why." Antonius voiced out with a face void of any emotion.

"Because we finally got to know the face of the person behind all the crimes that he committed in Nuevo Imperio. We didn't have any clue who he was until recently. Remember about the explosion that happened in the capital of Nuevo Imperio last month? I'm sure, you heard about that news, right?"

"Yes, Your Mejesty. What about it?" Antonius answered. I could still remember that news. According to the media, that explosion was a terrorist attack but they never made any announcement publicly if they managed to catch the perpetrator or not.

"That was also a doing of Mr. Vázquez. We never told about the public about him in order to not cause any alarm. His group is connected to one of the most notorious terrorists in the world. The Horeeya." My palms turned white as I clenched my fists tightly.

Every word that they're saying was cutting my heart into pieces. It was too much for me to bear. My heart was still screaming for Maximus' name but I knew that I had to erase him in there.

"Are you okay, Princess Athena?" I was pulled out of my deep thoughts when I heard Prince Franco whispered to me. We were sitting next to each other.

Ever since a while ago, he hasn't been talking that much. His father, King Giuseppe, was the only one who kept on talking with Antonius.

"I'm fine." I whispered back and then concentrated on eating my food. After eating, King Giuseppe, Prince Franco and Antonius went to the latter's study room to talk about an important matter while me, Aria, Amelia and Aris went to the hospital to visit our grandma.

"What? The king of Nuevo Imperio is here?" Our grandma asked with furrowed eyebrows and Aris nodded his head.

"Yes, nonna. Antonius is having a meeting with them at the palace as of this moment." Our nonna's face hardened.

"What was Antonius thinking? He shouldn't've talked to them without informing me first!" She looked mad. Thankfully, she's fine now and could finally go home tomorrow.

"Nonna, relax, will you? Antonius knows what he's doing. I'm sure, he will not do something reckless." Aris said, trying to calm our grandma down. "Besides, I think, there's nothing to be worried about for now. Even though Mr. Vázquez is still at large, King Giuseppe promised to help Costavia in finding him. Just a matter of time and he's gonna get caught for sure."

Nonna sighed. She suddenly looked stressed out and worried. "I hope we're doing the right thing." She muttered which left me confused.

After spending about two hours in my grandma's room, we went back home. While I was in the terrace of my room, I couldn't hold back my tears from falling again. I thought, I was done of crying but now, they're they go again.

I couldn't explain what I was feeling. I felt so empty inside and my heart was clenching painfully. I felt cold inside and it was chilling.

"Just cry it out. Don't ever hold it in because it will only make you feel worst." I snapped my head to the direction of the one who spoke. It was Antonius. He was at the door of the terrace, staring at me with his hands shoved inside the pockets of his pants.

"W-What are you doing in here?" I asked as I furtively wiped my tears. He sauntered towards me.

"I knocked but you didn't answer. I thought, something bad has happened to you so I took the liberty to come in." He answered quietly and then sat next to me. I didn't answer as I wiped the new batch of tears that fell form my eyes.

"Are you okay?" He then asked after a couple of seconds. His jaw was obviously flexing. I swallowed hard and then shook my head.

"Do you want to talk about it?" A whimper escaped my lips. I didn't have the strength to talk about it yet. I shook my head again in response.

"I understand. If you're not ready to talk about it yet, then just cry it out for now." He then gathered me into his arms and I cried on his chest. It has been so long since Antonius comforted me like this and it felt so calming.

"That's enough. You'll get through this. I'm sure, you will because you're a strong woman." He whispered and then kissed my forehead. For the first time in a long time, the big brother I knew came back. I thought, I already lost my big brother since we lost our mother but it seemed that he was still here...

"Are you sure you still want to continue with this?" I was pulled out of my reverie when I heard Franco's concerned voice. I forced a smile.

"Of course. Both of our families already agreed to this so let's just get this over with and push through it." Franco smiled.

"That's my girl. I knew you'd say that. C'mon, let's go." I nodded my head. We then exited the room together.