Upon getting out of the bathroom, I looked at the time. It was still 7 am. I still had 30 minutes before going out of the house to do all my responsibilities for the day.

I went into my walk-in closet and got dressed. Sita already prepared everything that I needed. After I blow-dried my hair, I opened the vanity drawer to get my hair brush when I noticed something. I gingerly took the small box and opened it.

No matter how angry and resentful I was towards its owner, I couldn't stop myself from wearing it. Maybe because I'm used of wearing it for a long time already that I still continue using it.

But during Costavia's day, I purposely didn't wear it because I was afraid that someone might notice that it wasn't my Royal Chastity necklace.

I heaved a sigh and was about to unlock it when I noticed something. Now that I looked at it carefully, Maximus' necklace was almost identical to Franco's necklace.

Even though I only got a glimpse Franco's for a couple of seconds, I knew that they were almost the same. I looked at the cross pendant and touched the letters that were engraved on its back part. MZSV. Until now, I still don't know what those letters stand for.

If the necklaces of Franco and Maximus are almost identical, then Franco's should have letters engraved on his too. But if that was the case, how come that they have the same necklaces?

During those times that I was with Maximus, I never had the chance to ask him about the meaning of his necklace. I never even remembered to ask him if he was the one who took my Royal Chastity necklace or not.

Franco once told me that his necklace was given to him by his mother, the late Queen of Nuevo Imperio, when he was five years old that's why he treasures it a lot.

His necklace was the symbol that he would the next king of Nuevo Imperio. I bit my lower lip. Somehow, I couldn't help but to wonder if Franco and Maximus were kinda related, but then, I shook my head.

"It's impossible. Maximus is just an ordinary man. Besides, Franco doesn't have any sibling. Maybe, Maximus' is just a replica of the necklace of Franco." I said to myself but as I touched the necklace, I could tell that it wasn't an ordinary one.

I groaned inwardly and decided to call Franco. I couldn't take my curiosity anymore. It took two rings before he answered.

"Hi, Princess Athena. This is the first time that you called me and I couldn't help but to get surprised." He sounded enthusiastic.

"I just wanted to ask you something."

"Sure, what is it about?"

"Do you have letters that are engraved on the back of the pendant of your necklace?" I asked and then bit my lower lip.

"Yes, there is. Why?" He suddenly sounded formal.

"Nothing. I was just curious because I saw a documentary on TV about the Imperial family of Nuevo Imperio and they talked about your necklace." I lied. Well, I saw a documentary about them months ago but I wasn't sure if they discussed about his necklace or not.

"Really? There's a documentary like that? Well, mine has my initials engraved on it."

"Ah. Is that so? Okay. I need to go now. I need to be in my office at 8 am sharp."

"Wait, did you call just for that?" There was a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"Well, I wanted to ask how are you because we haven't talked for three days now." I lied again. I groaned inwardly. I hate lying but I didn't have a choice.

"Me too. I've been wanting to call you but I was so busy that I didn't have time. Anyway, don't worry because we'll be together again during the fitting of our wedding outfits."

"Y-Yeah, you're right. Okay, I need to go now. See you next week."

"Okay. See you next week, Princess Athena." I released a harsh breath after a ended the call. I suddenly felt stressed out after hearing about the upcoming wedding.

I looked at the necklace of Maximus that I was holding and put it on me. Hearing the answer of Franco made me more curious. I could tell that there was something more about it that I needed to know.

I dialed on my phone again and contacted someone.

After that, I continued getting ready and when I finally finished, I exited the palace in a haste. I told my driver that we wouldn't be going straight to the office because I needed to drop by somewhere.

"What is the important thing that you wanted to tell me, Your Royal Highness? Thankfully, I haven't boarded the plane yet when you called me." T said with a boyish smile on his face. We've known each other for three years already.

He was introduced to us by my brother Antonius. According to him, they met in Afghanistan 5 years ago. Antonius was a soldier and went there to fight. They were both soldiers and in a mission. From then on, they became good friends.

Antonius even invited T to spend his vacation here in Costavia and that was how we met. The last time I saw him was before he decided to go back to the USA for good.

"I'm sorry for asking you to postpone your flight, T. I really need your expertise."

"It's okay. Thankfully, I wasn't in a hurry." I released a breath and then took the thing that I wanted to show him from my bag.

"I want to show this to you." His eyebrows knitted as he looked at the necklace that I was holding.

"A necklace?" He took it from my hand and carefully inspected it.

"What do you think of this necklace? Is it authentic or just a piece of imitation?" I asked. I noticed that T's expression changed as if he saw something interesting in it.

"Judging by the appearance, weight and texture; I instantly know that this necklace is not an ordinary one. This is authentic. If you carefully look at it, it contains this green part in the back of the pendant and I'm sure that this green part is Imperial Jade. Even though the front part is a solid gold, I'm sure that the dark thin colored part in the middle part which barely recognizable without looking at it properly is serendibite while the sparkling reddish particles around it is red diamond." I gasped in shock. I couldn't believe of what I was hearing.

It has components that were almost the same as my Royal Chastity necklace. Though, mine was consisted of serendibite, blue garnet and red diamond.

Then, I noticed his eyebrowed creased even more as he inspected the necklace closer to his eyes this time.

"Where did you get this necklace, Your Royal Highness?" He looked surprised while touching the letters that were engraved on the pendant but trying his best not to show it.

I cleared my throat. "Well, someone I know gave it to me." To my surprise, his lips twitched as he chuckled.

"You should keep this necklace, Your Royal Highness. I'm sure, he gave this to you because this necklace is rightfully for you. Don't throw it away because it is highly valuable." My forehead crinkled.

"What do you mean? Is it because of its market value?" I asked curiously. He smiled meaningfully and then gave me back the necklace.

"We're not talking about its value, Your Royal Highness. Yes, this necklace is very expensive if you sell it but aside from that, there's something about this necklace that is far more valuable than its price." He answered vaguely.

"I don't get what you mean. You look like you know a lot about this necklace. Can you tell me about it? I want to know because I'm curious."

"I'm sorry, Your Royal Highness. Yes, I know a lot about this necklace but I can't tell you about it for now. I'm not in the position to tell you about it because I will be violating a very important rule. Don't worry because I'm sure that soon, you'll know all about this necklace. By then on, I'm sure, you'll be surprised." I shook my head as I stared at the necklace.

"I don't understand. What's with this necklace that you can't even tell me about the details of it?" He shrugged his shoulders as he smiled without saying anything. He really doesn't want to talk about it.

"I have two last questions, T, and I'm hoping that you answer them truthfully."

"Ask away, Your Royal Highness."

"Do you personally know the owner of this necklace? What is the meaning of the letters that are engraved on the pendant?" I looked into his eyes, determined to know the answer.

"Yes, I know the owner of this necklace...but I'm sorry that I can't tell you the meaning of the abbreviation that are engraved on it. Just like I told you a while ago, I am not in the position to tell you anything about it. I'm really sorry, Your Royal Highness." I sighed in defeat and then nodded my head.

"I understand. Thank you for your time, T." He smiled suavely.

"Your welcome, Your Royal Highness. I know that what I told you just now brought you more questions in your head but rest assured because when you see the owner of that necklace again, he'll be the one to give you the answers." I bit my lower lip and just sighed again.

I wanted to ask him some other questions but just looking at him told me that he would never answer my questions about Maximus no matter what I do.

We talked for about ten minutes more before we parted ways. He flew back to the USA.

I couldn't help but to feel frustrated as I stared at the necklace of Maximus. I was already in my office but I couldn't concentrate on my work because of the things that I learned about the necklace from T.

How come Maximus possessed a necklace that was made of such expensive minerals? I already knew the first time that I touched his necklace that it was valuable but I didn't expect it to be this expensive. The gemstones that were used to create it were rare and it was shocking to know that such valuable item was owned by an ordinary man like Maximus.

I couldn't get that out of my mind until I finally finished my work and needed to go home. Upon arriving at my VIP parking, I was about to get into my car when I suddenly received a call from Daniella. She sounded unwell so I decided to visit her at her place.

Upon arriving there, she was lulling her daughter to sleep. Until now, I still couldn't believe that she already has a daughter. Thankfully, I saw her daughter during the shooting incident that happened in the big dome last week before something bad happened to her in the middle of those panicking people.

Apparently, someone kidnapped her daughter that time and left her inside the big dome for a reason we don't know.

When her daughter finally fell asleep, we finally got the chance to talk. I was so shocked of the revelations that she told me but I didn't judge her. Knowing her, she has valid reasons that's why she did what she did in the past.

After about an hour, she finally calmed down and I got the chance to ask her about her cousin.

"Dan, do you have any idea where your cousin is right now?" I asked and she looked taken a back.

"W-Why do you ask?"

"Because...I don't know...Maybe, I just want him come back and pay for all the things that he'd done." Daniella shook her head.

"Ath, if you're talking about what happened more than a year ago, you're mistaken. He's not the one who did it." My forehead wrinkled.

"How can you say that when the CCTV footages are telling the opposite?" She smiled sadly and was about to answer when we heard a series of knock on the door.

"Do you have a visitor?" She shook her head.

"I'm not expecting any other visitor today. Wait, I'll just check who it is."

"Okay."

She went to check who that person was while me on the other hand checked my phone. I received a message that came from a private number.

'Be careful always.'

"Who the heck sent me this message?" I mumbled with knitted eyebrows and was about to reply when I heard Daniella's voice together with a man's voice. Looked like they were fighting. I quickly stood up and went to the door.

I got rooted on my feet upon seeing who that man was. As per his request, I had to leave Daniella's place to give them privacy to talk. Looked like they had a lot of things to settle together.

I told my bodyguards and driver to wait for me outside because I didn't want Daniella to feel uneasy with their presence in her house.

I just got out of the gate when I gasped in shock because of the scene that I saw. All my bodyguards including my driver were unconscious. I was about to take my cellphone out when I heard someone cock a gun behind me.

"Don't you dare move or else, you're dead." My body went frozen when I felt the cold tip of his gun on the back of my head. Yes, I felt so scared but I tried to gather myself together and think clearly.

"Who are you? What do you want?" He chuckled and that sent me cold chills throughout my body.

"Remove that necklace that you're wearing right now and give it to me." He instructed. I gritted my teeth.

"Why do you want my necklace? This is not valuable at all." He laughed.

"C'mon, Princess. You and I both know how valuable that necklace is. Now, give it to me before I lose my patience and kill you here right now." I looked around, hoping that someone was there who could help me but I saw no one.

Even though I didn't want to give the necklace, I didn't have a choice. I slowly took the necklace of my neck and before I could even hand it to him, he snatched it away from me.

"Now, stay still and don't you ever turn around until I get away from here. Don't be stupid and just do as I say if you don't want to die." He ordered with a chilling voice before I felt him slowly walk away. I was tempted to turn around to see his face but I could feel that he was still pointing his gun at my direction.

My fists tightened. I didn't want him to take that necklace away. Now that someone took it, I felt the sudden emptiness as if someone took a very important thing from me.

No! No one has the right to own that necklace but him or me! I slowly turned around and saw that the man was already running away from there towards the gate of that exclusive subdivision.

I didn't know where I got the courage to run after him but I did. But before that, I took the gun of one of my bodyguards and then cocked it before blasting a warning shot.

"Stop! Give me back my necklace!" I shouted to the top of my lungs, trying to get the attention of the people around.

I saw the man look back at me but I couldn't recognize him because he was wearing a black full-face facemask. He shot at my direction but thankfully, I got to hide behind the trunk of the tree.

Me and my siblings know how to defend ourselves because we underwent a special training like handling guns and martial arts. I didn't really take it seriously before because I thought, it was ridiculous for me to learn self-defense when I had a lot of bodyguards. But now, I'm glad I did.

When he stopped firing, I reciprocated and I managed to shoot him in the shoulder. He fell on the ground but managed to get up and tried to run away. He tried to shoot back at me but looked like he has run out of ammo so his only choice was to run away.

When he reached the main road, a motorcycle stopped in front of him. I panicked. He's getting away. I was about to shoot him again when my eyes widened because a black car came out of nowhere and hit them. Because of the impact, the motorcycle together with the two men were splattered under the pavement.

I screamed as I covered my eyes. Even though I wanted to take the necklace back from that man, I never intended to kill him that's why I only aimed for his shoulder or legs to weaken him.

It was my first time witnessing that kind of gruesome scene and I felt like my knees turn into jelly.

"Don't be afraid, mi hermosa. I'll always be here to protect you." My body went still upon hearing that voice. That endearment...

"My necklace is yours so don't let anyone take it." I felt him put the necklace around my neck and his fingers slightly touched my skin. The warmth of his fingers told me that I wasn't dreaming at all. I slowly let down my hands and then turned around, expecting him to be there but he wasn't.

I looked around and my eyes widened when I saw him walking away. I couldn't be wrong! It was him! My whole body was shaking and I suddenly felt like I lost the capability to talk.

I was breathing hard, unable to move a muscle. My brain was screaming for me to move and do something to stop him but I felt like my body became a statue.

Then, I heard the police siren from afar, coming to our direction and that brought me back to my senses. I fired the gun upwards to get his attention.

"Stop right there! The police are coming so you should turn yourself in!" My heart ached as I said those words. He stopped walking and then turned around. A gasp escaped my lips when I saw his face for the first time in more than a year.

"Do you really want me to do that, mi hermosa?" I could see the sadness on his face and his sad voice affected my aching heart. A rush of different emotions surged within me. I couldn't explain what I was feeling.

But then, anger won and I pointed my gun at him. "Don't call me that! There's only one thing that I want you to do and that's for you to pay for your sins!" A sad smile appeared on his face.

"I missed you so much, mi hermosa. Believe me, I want to do that but I can't right now. I'm sorry if I'm failing you again." He was about to turn around when I warned him.

"Try to run and I'll shoot you!"

"I won't stop you from doing that. I deserve it anyway but as long as I can still move, I'll escape to continue the things that I need to do. I want to tell you everything but I don't have time for now. I'm so sorry for bringing you so much pain, mi hermosa." He then turned around and began walking away.

My hand was trembling as I tried to pull the trigger but for some reason, I couldn't. My vision went blurry as my eyes brimmed with tears. My heart was clenching painfully. I fell on my knees as I watched him walk away until he got inside the black car and drove away in such fast speed.

I didn't know how long I was on that position as tears continued welling from my eyes. I felt like all the pain and resentment that I felt these past one year came back like a tsunami. It was too much.

"Are you okay, Your Royal Highness?" I looked at the one who spoke. It was Mr. Esposito, the Chief of the Royal Police.

I slowly nodded my head as if I wasn't myself. A whimper escaped my lips. He came back. He really came back. I thought, I could kill him because of the rage and resentment that I've been feeling towards him this past year but I couldn't. I had the chance but I couldn't do it and couldn't understand why.

All I knew was, my heart was aching like hell and didn't know how to deal with it. I thought, I already moved on and forgot everything but one glance at him and I felt like the pain attacked me like an unstoppable avalanche.