Chapter Sixty-Six: To Be Worthy

Chapter Sixty-Six: To Be Worthy
“Wow…” Glaidel muttered and gulped as she ran her gaze from my head to toe. “You look… so magnificent. I can’t believe someone like you would be so beautiful, Miss Minerva.”

“Oh, my goodness!” Even Melanie showed up from the corner with her mouth covered. “Miss Minerva, you are a lost goddess, I see!”

I giggled at their astonished faces and even playfully shrugged. Both of them were in the living area as I elegantly went down the stairs. Glaidel was already wearing a black tube dress. She also had silver accessories. I used to see her with no makeup at all, but now that she has some on her face, I could see that she is indeed pretty. Her hair was in a bun with a huge silver clip on the side. We have on the same silver heels because hers is also mine, which she borrowed from me. 

“You’re here. Your classes are done?” I asked Melanie when I got down in the living area. 

She was still amused by my entire appearance, but she managed to nod. “Yes, Miss. I just changed clothes and helped my family to clean the dining area when I noticed Miss Glaidel was here,” she said and looked at Glaidel beside her.

“Are you ready, Miss Minerva?” Glaidel asked.

“Yes. We have to go now, or else we will be late,” I regarded her. “Is the car ready, too?”

“It’s only waiting for us.”

“Good.” I turned to Melanie and smiled at her. “We have to go now, Melanie.”

“Sure! Sure! Please take care,” she said to both of us.

I held the mini bag tightly where the bullets were. I led the way, while Glaidel followed me behind. Melanie’s father was outside standing beside the car. When he spotted us, he opened the passenger’s door. It was Glaidel’s car. 

“I’m using my car,” she announced. “Whatever might happen, I will not get my sight out of you.” 

I chuckled. “What are you even talking about? We are just going to watch Helen’s ball to see what activities they are doing with her family, if they will pose a threat against us without us knowing.”

She slightly bowed her head and avoided her gaze. I couldn’t take it anymore but to stop her tracks, confronting her. She bravely met my eyes when we stopped. 

“You’re not telling me something, are you?” I suspected. “I feel like you are hiding information.”

“Miss Minerva,” she mumbled. “You will know tonight if I show you. Because if I tell you now, you wouldn’t believe me.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You will once we go to the party.”

Glaidel turned her back and didn’t wait for me to react. I am clearly frustrated that she wouldn’t tell me. But if showing me rather than telling me will help, then I would trust her.

On instinct, I looked at my phone. Karlo’s message also popped in.

Karlo: Hey, I will be late.

I stopped in front of the car to take time to reply to him.

Me: What are you doing?

Karlo: Just working, Minerva. I’ll go home to you after this. I love you.

I breathed in and out, taking his words and acknowledging them with my heart. I sensed Glaidel looking over me to check why I was still not going in.

Me: I love you, too.

Before I could turn off my phone, I saw the shock Glaidel had as she watched me hide my gadget. She blinked at me, while I just arched my eyebrow at her.

“It’s just my husband,” I reasoned, even though she still had not asked.

“Mr. Rodriguez, then,” she said. “Sure, Miss Minerva.”

She offered her hand to help me go to the driver’s seat of the car. When I finally went inside and she circled the vehicle so she could go to the driver’s seat, I received a message again. It was Timothy.

Timothy: I’m on my way to Karlo’s cabin.

I widened my eyes.

Me: What? What are you doing there? I told you to stop investigating!

Timothy: I don’t know, Minerva. The more I read my private investigator’s findings about your husband, the weirder he seems to me now. That’s why I have to go to his cabin. Maybe I would find something else.

I furrowed my eyebrows, couldn’t comprehend what he was saying. The car’s engine started and drove, while the memories of searching and finding out about the deaths of Karlo’s parents flashed through my mind based on Timothy’s message to me.

Doubts started to overflow again, just like what I felt over the past few days. It was because of his stares. Just a little thing from that mistake, I pulled a string. Now, it’s taking off.

Glaidel told me a backup plan in case we get ambushed. She would summon all of the assassins in the party and make an emergency combat against the enemies. If we are safe until the end of our mission, then we get out without alarming the Red Cartel. My mind drifted for a moment to focus on our plan, and I will merely take care of what is making me anxious. 

“Do you think I would be a good leader of the organization?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking Glaidel now.

Her lips parted in slight surprise before turning her head slightly while her eyes were still on the road. “How are you asking that, Miss Minerva? Of course you will!” she said firmly.

“I know you would say that because I am the daughter of your former king and queen in the Red Cartel,” I muttered with a bitter smile on my face. “But I don’t have the experience and skills like you guys in the organization. In fact, I am just the blood of my parents, but I am not like them and will never be like them.”

She fell silent and blinked repeatedly. I bestowed a bitter smile.

“I’m just good at being a hard-headed daughter to them. I didn’t even have any idea that I was born to be the future Red Cartel queen,” I said. “So tell me, Glaidel, do I really deserve to be the leader of the organization?”

“If I were to answer, you would not keep up with the skills and years of experience our assassins acquire. But everything happens for a reason. You are born for a purpose. You might not get it now, and you might feel like you don’t matter, but in time, you will figure things out,” she assured. “For now, let’s stick our focus on the mission tonight.”

“Taylor barged into my office last afternoon.”

“What?!”

“She doesn’t trust me to lead the Red Cartel. She knows my identity now. Without us two, she must have informed the assassins in the headquarters.”

“Oh, shit!”

She grabbed her phone, but I grabbed her wrist before she could manipulate it. Her teeth were gritted, and her dangerous glare was sharp when she turned to me. She was angry about it.

“It’s fine. No need to call anyone from there,” I said and inhaled sharply. “Just like what you said, we have to focus on our mission.”

“Tsk,” she hissed and threw her phone on the dashboard. “I’m really sorry, Miss Minerva. I should have warned her about you. Taylor is a skilled assassin, but her attitude is sometimes unbearable!”

“So what about mine? Is it also unbearable?”

“N-No! You must not think like that, Miss Minerva!” 

I chuckled when I saw the panic all over her face. She stared at me in awe, but took it back and cleared her throat, now focusing on the sight of the road. I looked at my phone. Neither Karlo nor Timothy is messaging. I wonder what they are up to. And what is Glaidel hiding from me that she won’t refuse to tell me?

The familiar mansion of the Palma family was vivid even from the far highway. It was sparkling with mixed purple and black, beautifully illuminating their evil deeds. I’m sure people would say that it’s magnificent, but if you know beneath the iceberg of this family, the mixed colors would be justified. 

“I’m going to kill her,” I muttered.

“What?”

I turned to Glaidel with a sweet smile. “I said, I’m going to kill her tonight,” I repeated and slowly grabbed my gun to show her. “She’s not going to escape the justice I bring for what she did to Victor. She’s going to beg me for mercy, but I won’t listen to her and shoot her.”

“Miss Minerva,” she softly called me and sighed, “Helen Palma is known to be the best assassin of their organization. Aside from being the daughter of their king and queen, she worked hard training and accumulating missions that honed her to where she is now. Several assassins from the other organizations have fought her, but they never won. You must be careful and not be impulsive when we get to their mansion, alright?”

I hate it. I hate hearing that Helen Palma is the best. She used to tail me around college and be my puppy. And now, Glaidel would tell me to be careful around that bitch? I am the queen bee in college, so everyone, including Helen, should be careful around me! Not the other way around! Hmp!

“Fine,” I answered, contradicting my thoughts, and hid my gun inside the dress. “But when the right time comes, I will be the one killing her. Not you. Not Karlo. Not anyone from the organization. But me.”

“As Your Highness commands,” she said in a teasing way.

“Dude, we are not in the medieval period!” 

She only barked out laughter. “Just kidding, Miss Minerva,” she said and winked at me. “But well noted. You will be the only one assassinating Helen Palma.”