["PLAY THE KING" IS ACT TWO OF THE "PLAY" SERIES. PLEASE READ "PLAY THE QUEEN" FIRST.]
It's been four months since Priam Torres, the once unpopular president of the Elysian University Student Council, assumed office. Thanks to his chief-of-staff Cas...
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REYNARD
I WAS not the biggest fan of Castiel Seville. He's smart—I'd give him that—but he's dangerous when left unchecked. He hadn't done anything illegal yet, but duping the student body into believing a fake love story? That's almost equally as bad as spreading fake news. He's feeding everyone lies to reach a certan end.
He's the perfect target for me. He ticked off all the boxes. Someone in a position of power? Check! Someone who preyed on the student body? Check! Someone who was working for his self-interest? Check!
He and his house of cards down almost went down. Just one more heavy blow, and everything that he had worked so hard to build would all come crashing down! Fabienne Lucero, our lovely but sadly manipulated First Lady, was the bowling ball meant to take down all of his pins. But alas! He managed to outmaneuver me at the last second. Sayang!
If he thought he'd already neutralized me, he's absolutely mistaken. Hindi ako ang tipo na isusuko na ang laro dahil natalo ako sa isang match. Hey, my mom didn't raise a quitter! Sisiguraduhin kong magkaka-rematch pa kami.
But our conversation on the rooftop somewhat adjusted my perspective. Ang akala ko'y magyayabang siya't ipamumukha niya sa 'kin kung paano niya ako nilampaso. To my surprise, he explained his side of the story. Hindi niya ikinuwento ang lahat—sakto lang para maintindihan ko kung ano'ng intensyon niya. His words would never be enough to win me over, but there's some merit in them. Niyaya niya akong makipag-collab sa kanya, pero tumanggi ako. Working alone's my preference.
For now, I'd lay my hands off him. Pero hindi 'yon nangangahulugang pababayaan ko siyang gawin ang gusto niya. If he thought that he and the University Student Council were already off the hook, he'd be wrong. If he thought that he'd recruited me as an ally, he'd be wrong too. Hindi ko kailanman kakampihan ang gaya niya. So he better sleep with one eye open because I would come after him again.
In the meantime, I would chase a bigger fish—or whale, in Castiel's own word—a bigger story. And that happened to be the person that I was waiting for outside the Business and Accountancy building. It's almost four in the afternoon, so his classes must have been already dismissed.
"Alaric?" I called out the guy with blonde hair who trotted down the front steps. CBA students like him wore a black blazer and yellow tie to make them look like businessmen. "Alaric!"
He was surrounded by four students, but there wasn't much noise from his crowd. I was a hundred percent sure that he heard me. Was he playing deaf?
"Mr. Chairperson?" I called him again, this time by his title.
He stopped dead in his tracks and turned around to face me. A hint of recognition crossed his face. This wasn't the first time we'd seen each other. "You're that Herald reporter, right? Reynard?"
"Yup, that's me! I'm flattered that the majority leader recognizes me."
"I was one of those who watched that . . . intriguing explosive exposé interview with the First Lady. I honestly thought you were onto something. But it turned out to be just nothing. What a shame, right?"
