Defence of Tulip Town! (part two)

The trip to Tulip would last two weeks. In this time, Alfonso got to know the five generals of Felio, including an interesting one called Furio. He was an old man with a brown beard and he radiated an aura of bravery. Furio was interested in Wasteland Valley- to be more precise- in Wasteland Valley's archery. Furio talked a lot with Alfonso about the Principles of Archery and the techniques, however, Furio didn't know that Alfonso was, at most, an amateur in archery. Theoretically speaking, because his archery abilities didn't come exactly from him, but from Artemis, the "process" of using the arch and bow came naturally for him. It was as natural as breathing so, if he wanted to explain his so called "techniques," he couldn't.

The worst part of this was that the old man Furio was really… persistent. He literally stalked Alfonso even when he went to the bathroom (in the trees). So Alfonso made a strategically retreat and said thus to the old man. "If you want to know about this, you should talk to that guy over there- the one in white. His name is Artemis and he is our archery master," said Alfonso in a casual manner.

With this, Alfonso passed the post to Artemis.

The result?

Well, it wasn't that hard to imagine.

"I will kill you!" shouted Artemis while looking at the old man.

"Come one, little buddy you can't be selfish! I saw your abilities early on! Let's discuss the way of the archer!"

"Leave me alone!"

"I won't!"

Alfonso looked with interest on this scene. Early on, Artemis did punch the old man and it wasn't a nice punch either. However, that didn't stop the old man, in fact, it increased his interest in Artemis. So he was more persistent in his attacks. Artemis was stunned at the old man's persistence. She couldn't kill him or even cripple him, so she had no other option other than to kick his ass. However, this only increased the curiosity of the old man, so Artemis didn't know what to do.

"I don't know anything about archery!" shouted Artemis in a desperate intent to get rid of Furio.

"LIES! Mr. Lockheart had clearly said that you were a master in archery! So I won't go anywhere until we exchange pointers!"

"A-L-F-O-N-S-O!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Fortunately, Alfonso had prepared an escape route and made a tactical retreat.

..........................................…

Like this time passed and there were only 2 days before they got to Tulip Town.

Alfonso and Felio were sitting in Felio's tent.

"Felio, I have a question," said Alfonso.

"What is it?"

"Tell me the truth. Why did they kidnap the princess?" asked Alfonso.

Felio didn't expect this question.

"What do you mean? It's obvious that Titio, that old bastard, wants to have an ace in his slip in case thing went south!" said Felio with fury.

Alfonso didn't answer. For this answer, Alfonso could tell that Felio didn't find it suspicious. In fact, Alfonso did think that most likely, this was the answer- he was 99% sure…. However….

"Why is this bothering me so much?" thought Alfonso.

Something was telling him that this wasn't as easy as it seemed, but he didn't know what was wrong.

"Can you tell me about the princess?" asked Alfonso.

Felio looked at Alfonso, and after some time, he talked.

"When I was young, I fell in love with one woman. I met her in Vega City back when I was a soldier under your father's battalion. Her name was Rachel…. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen…. After some time, she and I got married and for safety purposes I decided to retire and come here- to Tulip. Shortly after, my father died and I became the new lord…. Years went by and Rachel got pregnant, however…after she gave birth to Susana, Rachel died," said Felio.

Although he didn't want to show it, one could see the sadness in his eyes.

"I never blame Susana for what happened. How could I? She was all I had left. Susana was smart since she was a kid- when she was 14 she graduated from Tulip's academia with honors…. However…I thought that she could do more than that, so I sent her to Dragon's city to study in Dragons City Academia…. There is not a single day that I don't regret that decision," confessed Felio.

"What happened?" asked Alfonso.

"When she was in Dragon City, she got to know the nobility of Leitol. However, she didn't involve herself with anyone…until HE came," said Felio with fury in his eyes when he said the word "he".

"He?"

"One of the commanders of Diana's Battalion and the youngest son of the Pentagate house, Lucio Pentagate."

"Lucio Pentagate….Well, that name sure rings a bell."

Alfonso Lockheart, the previous owner of this body knew this Lucio. In fact, all the nobility knew about him. This Lucio was the "little boy" of his father Astros Pentagate and since birth he was a spoiled child. However, Alfonso must admit that Lucio was quite something. He was a champion of the War God Destroyer. Although he hadn't accomplished many things in the militia like his fellow commanders, not even mentioning the general commanders, at least, he was above average. However, he wasn't famous because of this- he was famous for something else.

"He loves 'collecting' beauties," thought Alfonso.

"He saw Susana when he was on a visit to Dragon City and not long after that tried to get close to her. I won't lie. I saw this as an opportunity. Lucio was from one of the four dragon families and, if he became my son-in-law, Tulip Town might have the chance to become a city. However, Susana didn't want to. Over and over again she rejected him. I didn't want to offend Lucio so I organize a marriage meeting between them…. I was blind…. After the meeting, I didn't find them in the hostel….. I search for them for 2 days until, finally, on the third day… Susana appeared. I received the news and went back to meet her… but her usual smile never appeared again. I went to Lucio for answers. He only told me that he became bored and threw her away."

At this point, Felio seem to have aged a couple of years.

"She forfeited from the academia and went back home. She didn't talk to anyone, not even me for 1 month…. I went to her room as usual with food one time, but didn't find her. I and the guards search for her, and after two hours we found her at the foot of a hill. She was bleeding everywhere…. I took her to the doctor's and they told me that she lost the baby…. I couldn't contain my tears. I did something irreparable to her. Since that day, Susana couldn't walk- she lost the mobility in both legs. That's why I am to ashamed to even look her at the eye. All I want- all I wanted is for her to be happy. How could I do that to her…? What kind of father I am?"

Felio seemed to be in extreme pain at this moment. He didn't look like the brave lord of Tulip. Instead, he looked like a man on the verge of dying.

After some time, Felio took a deep breath.

"That's why, no matter what, even if it cost me my life, I will bring her back home. That's the only way I can repair my sins," said Felio with resolution.

"I understand," said Alfonso while standing.

He didn't say anything else and went out of the tent.

Felio just looked at Alfonso with profound eyes.

.............................................

Alfonso walked to his tent. However, before he entered he stopped.

"It's rude to spy on others you know," said Alfonso.

"How did you know?" asked a voice from behind.

A white silhouette appeared behind Alfonso. It was Artemis.

"You can fool others…but you can't fool me…. I could feel it, you know?" said Alfonso while smiling. "Your bloodlust."