Chapter 6 Was I Dreaming?

• Koko's POV
• After that day's incident, I tended to avoid everyone.
• I went about my business quietly like a mouse whose tail was cut off.
• I worked like a horse, wallowing in my sorrows and woes. I had no one to console me. It was just me and my wolf.
• Though she doesn't speak to me, I feel her presence from time to time. But just as she decided to ignore me, I did the same to her.
• It wasn't that I was blaming her or something, but I was too broken to console anyone or listen to any consolation. I just wanted to be left alone.
• The servants still pushed me out to sleep on the cold balcony, but I didn't mind as long as I could put something on my stomach.
• I Ignored their curses and insults. I swallowed their beatings whenever they deem fit to hit me. I never fought back.
• I refuse to fight back. Perhaps I was tired of fighting back when all I would receive would be worse.
• Every day I watched as the love blossoms between my sister and my mate, no, my mate that rejected me.
• Though I felt a piercing sting every now and then, I have decided to let go. The painful part was that she chose the exact spot and time I usually went out to do the laundry.
• I would have no choice but to listen to her giggling and moans with my supposed mate. It took every ounce of my strength to fight back my tears every time or act as if I knew nothing.
• I was getting depressed as the day went by. Whenever I felt like snapping, I thought about my father and that alone gave me hope.
• My sister always acted like the fragile egg that she was. The whole Royal family adored her. She was accepted and pampered by them. No one talked about me, the rightful mate to the prince.
• And I didn't want to receive another humiliation too, so I just kept quiet. But trust my sister, she wasn't going to let this opportunity pass her by.
• One day as I was drying the bedspreads, I heard a group of maids whispering loudly to my hearing.
• "That's her. I heard she wanted to claim the prince as her mate."
• "Are you sure? I don't believe it!"
• "I am absolutely sure. I heard she first claimed him when the prince went to the kitchen."
• "And then what happened?"
• "Trust Prince Gad, he stopped her immediately and I heard she was flung high above the ground and broke so many bones in her body."
• "Serves her right. She dares to open her mouth to claim someone way beyond her class? How arrogant!" I was shaking as I quietly spread the clothes in the liner.
• I steeled my heart to their mockery and I wasn't going to let it get to me. "As if that wasn't enough lesson for that ugly bitch, she decided to spy on the prince and Miss Hanola."
• "She did what? You don't mean it, do you?" "I meant every word I am saying to you. I heard she even claimed she was the Prince's mate! And the prince was so angry that he slapped her! Yet she still didn't learn her lesson."
• "She sure is a bitch!"
• "I heard she was raining insults on Miss Hanola. Prince Gad was so annoyed that he immediately announced Miss Hanola as his mate and future Luna." I smiled bitterly at their twisted version.
• Why is no one talking about me being the rightful mate to Gad? Why are they saying I insulted my sister? I knew where all these rumors were coming from. I knew it must be the handwork of my sister.
• She spread her own version of the story to ridicule me. Even though I said I didn't care, I couldn't stop the pain accompanied by being mocked over and over again.
• I wondered if I would ever be free from those mockeries? These people are just pure evil. But I don't blame them.
• If my own family can mock me, what stops them from doing worse? The days rolled into months. It was three three months already and I kept bottling up my tears, anger and humiliation.
• I kept working like I was the only one existing in the world. As I was hanging out my laundry as usual, I heaved a sigh of relief when I looked ahead and didn't see the usual love scene between my sister and Gad.
• "Thank the goddess I would have a joyous day today!" I muttered silently so no one could hear me, though.
• It had been a week since I last saw them outside. No one talked to me about anything and my mother avoided me like a plaque.
• I didn't care, at least, I was relieved of being tormented everyday. I was grateful to the Moon goddess for answering my prayers this once.
• I have been less depressed these past few days. But something was nudging at me that there might be something wrong.
• I felt like something awful was going to happen. If I know my sister very well, she wouldn't want to miss a day of tormenting me.
• Even if Gad doesn't accompany her, she had her minions that flatter her and throw insults at me. Why was she absent for almost a week now?
• What were they planning on doing to me next? I wouldn't believe it if they said Hanola had given up on tormenting me.
• Even my mother was nowhere to be found. She always frequented the palace as if it were her home, but strangely, I couldn't see her either. As I was pondering on those thoughts, I heard hurried footsteps towards me.
• I was baffled because it was rare for anyone to come to where I usually rested. I looked up to see a maid with an anxious face running towards me and I could hear my name clearly.
• "Koko, you are needed urgently!" What was that or was I dreaming?