The Lost Bride of San Lucas

[Prologue]

SIXTH of June 1868. All the people including principales, businessmen and those belonging to high society were patiently waiting for a young girl to come down from her room and one of them was Señorito Felipe, eleven -a year old.

Moments later the only daughter of the Monteclara family, Señorita Sofia Monteclara, was slowly descending. Loud applause from all the guests greeted him. His lips were almost torn at the warm welcome he received from the people.

The Monteclara family is one of the richest clans living in the town of San Lucas. Señorita Sofia’s father Don Ireneo Monteclara was a good judge and was not tainted by any government anomalies. This man is also clean and good so he is highly respected.

Their family is also known and prosperous in the field of law and they are also one of the economic developers in the entire town of San Lucas.

Señorita Sofia was walking with her father and mother. Don Ireneo held his cane which he always carried with him whenever he had a walk. Their wealth comes from the businesses of farming, fishing, mining, bread making and they also have a large tailoring with its largest headquarters in Manila.

They also have several stations scattered in provinces such as Cavite, Bonbon (Batangas), Laguna, Bulacan and Tayabas (Quezon Province). They are almost at the same time as the Lucas family in the richest clans of San Lucas.

Doña Felicia was Don Ireneo's wife. He is the same age as his wife and they have two children. Señorita Sofia and Señorito Miguel, who are twenty years old, are one of them. Doña is beautiful and has bequeathed her white and smooth complexion to her daughter Sofia. She also taught her youngest child how to embroider and this is what they always do whenever Sofia doesn't want to go to bed at nap time.

The eldest, Monteclara, already has a family and a child. He graduated in law from the University of Sto. Thomas who has achieved high honor. He and his family live in Manila and work at the Real Audiencia, the country’s supreme court.

Moments later the three of the Monteclara family were down. The eldest could not go home because he was working on a hearing at the Real Audiencia of Manila. Another reason is the very long flight from Manila to San Lucas.

The applause stopped when Don Ireneo began to speak, “Buenas noches a ustedes, compatriotas y amigos. Muchas gracias por asistir al duodécimo cumpleaños de mi unica hija Señorita Sofia. Sentémonos un momento.”(Good evening to you countrymen and friends. Thank you so much for attending the twelfth birthday of my unica hija Señorita Sofia. Let's sit down for a moment.)

Everyone sat down. Don Ireneo's son's birthday party was in their spacious office. It was full of colorful curtains and the huge chandelier hanging in the middle of the office was conspicuous. The Monteclara family waitresses also spread out handing out wine glasses to guests.

Felipe's wide smile still lingered as he stared at Sofia intently. His eyes shone like stars and did not take his gaze away from the girl. She could not believe that she was in her twelfth year and that she was about to become a young woman. It seems like recently, the two of them are still chasing and hiding but now everything is slowly changing.

Señorita Sofia also smiled at the people so she caught the young man staring at her. Felipe looked away and Sofia hid her smile holding her red fan. He couldn't understand but his cheek was starting to heat up.

A festival organizer now speaks to guests in Spanish. He was also a friend of his father.

Sofia wore a very flamboyant red baro and saya adorned with a wealth of gold and diamonds. Her waist-length hair was also ponytailed with a gold pendant that her father had given her when she was six years old. A little lipstick was also applied to her face but I can still see its naturalness.

It cannot be denied that she is already a teenager. Gradually, her body improved and her breasts became slightly fuller, which she was happy because she was proud of her mother that her daughter was a virgin.

He glanced at Felipe again and found him talking to his father, Don Nataniel Lucas.

“FELIPE, son. Do you want Cariñosa to dance with Señorita Sofia? ” its question to the child. It was announced that all the guests as well as the Monteclara family would dance the Cariñosa, so Don Nataniel invited his son to dance it.

Meanwhile, Philip did not expect his father to invite him to dance with his boy. He seemed to feel embarrassed and his heartbeat was also speeding up.

"P-Po, I'll fix you?" Philip asked his father anxiously. "Sure, don't you love?" Don's smile. "S-Of course ... I-I want to dance with Señorita Sofia of C-Cariñosa." She doesn't let her father know that she's nervous but her mouth can't really hide her true feelings. As a result, his heart rumbled even faster and his cheeks began to heat up.

She couldn't figure out for herself why she felt that way, she had been with it when they were kids. But with each smile of Sofia, she feels that everything is eased at the same time the disappearance of the problems she faces. He had a suspicion in himself admiring that maybe he was with Sofia.

"Manang Paula, can you let Don Ireneo know that my daughter wants Cariñosa to dance with Señorita Sofia who has a birthday today?" command of Don Nataniel while smiling at the butler of his family and doncella (maid) of his children Señorito Felipe and Señorita Buntala. Next to him is Don's youngest son on his right and next to Señorita Buntala is Felipe. Lucas and his wife sat side by side at a round table.

Manang Paula, on the other hand, obeyed the order of her boss, bowed and turned around and went to where Don Ireneo was.

Manang Paula is almost forty years old. She has also been serving the Lucas for a long time and she has also been Doña Ritanueva's partner in caring for the two children of the Lucas since they were babies.

When he arrived at Don Ireneo's place, he approached him kindly, greeted Señorita Sofia and whispered what Don Nataniel wanted. All the guests were busy talking about things that the guests did not notice.

After he told Don Ireneo what his boss wanted, he returned with the response of the Don he was talking to earlier.

"Don Ireneo agreed to your request." Manang Paula smiles at Don Nataniel, Doña Ritanueva, Señorito Felipe and Señorita Buntala.

"Get well my child, show them all what you can do." Doña Ritanueva smiled at the child. "You can do that, brother!" Encouragement of Señorita Buntala.

It seems that Felipe just wants to swallow the ground. He was about to have a heart attack because he did not think that Don Ireneo would agree to his father's wishes. If anything, Sofia is young.

"Y-Yes, I-I can do it," That was all Felipe said because Manang Paula said, "Come on, Señorito Felipe." It smiled at the pet and hugged it.

Other guests are also starting to head to the center to perform the Cariñosa dance.

The folk dance named Cariñosa, meaning the loving or affectionate is a Philippine dance of colonial era origin from the Maria Clara suite of Philippine folk dances, where the fan or handkerchief plays an instrumental role as it places the couple in romance scenario.

When Sofia heard what her father had said, her heart seemed to leap with joy. She didn't expect Philip to want her to dance. He immediately went to the center and met his young man.

“H-Happy birthday, S-Sofia ... ah! Este ... Señorita Sofia, ”Felipe greeted her.

"Heck, it's okay for me to call you 'Sofia' when we're together." He smiled at Philip.

Felipe was about to speak but a loud and startling music resounded throughout the office causing the guests to start dancing in the middle.

Felipe began to hold Sofia's soft hand. There seemed to be electricity flowing through their bodies as they touched each other. Felipe could not deny that his childhood was very beautiful, because that was where he admired Sofia even more.

The smiles on Doña Ritanueva's lips never faded as she watched her son dance the Cariñosa. While Don Nataniel applauded.

For the first time, Felipe could not believe that he was dancing with Sofia in front of so many people. This was the first time their hearts were beating at the same time every second.

While dancing, Sofia said to the young man, "F-Felipe, I-I want to tell you something," Sofia said in shock.

"W-What's that, S-Sofia?" He was also nervous.

“I-I want to tell you how I really feel about you, Felipe. I want to tell you and make you remember this day, that a Sofia Monteclara is ... ”Should Sofia say that?

"Oh?" He frowned.

"I-I love you."