Princess: Nuance Of Love Book 1
Read Princess: Nuance Of Love Book 1 Online
Authors: Evida Suntoyo
Tags: #romance, #adventure, #fantasy
License Notes
Princess: Nuance of
Love
Copyright©2015 Evida Suntoyo
Cover photo by Vienna
Gallery
All rights reserved
Published by Indo Romance
Bogotá, Colombia
All rights reserved. Without limiting
the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this
publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means
(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise)
without the prior written permission of the copyright
owner.
This is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the
products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious
manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or
actual events is purely coincidental.
Contents
Author’s
Note
Map of the Melayu Realm
This story is pure fiction
but……..
The novel is inspired by the many
kingdoms in the Melayu Realm. Home of the Melayu people spans
between The Malay Peninsula, The Island of Sumatera, The Island of
Borneo, The Island of Java and many small islands in between. This
territory was historically ruled by the various sultanates in the
Maritime South East Asia.
Currently there are several monarchies
throughout the Melayu realm, some are independent countries like
Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam, and others are cultural heritage
sanctioned by the Indonesian government.
This story is set in the fictional
independent Sultanate of Jothar. I have mixed many Melayu
subcultures for the royal titles and customs described in the
story, predominantly from the Javanese subculture from which I
hail.
The cover photo is of a couple wearing
a contemporary Melayu wedding costume. The photo is a courtesy of
Vienna Gallery, Jakarta Indonesia. The number one expert in
traditional wedding makeup and decoration.
The background photo is the Palace of
the Siak Sultanate in Riau, Sumatera, Indonesia. A sultanate that
was disintegrated in 1945 when it was absorbed by the Republic of
Indonesia.
Chapter One
"Father, I don't want to marry yet,"
said Hafiz with a protesting tone, "I'm too young, and I have
things that I want to do. I don't want to marry Paramita, she's
weird, and she hates me."
"Hafiz, how can you say
such a thing, Her Highness Puteri[
1
]
Paramita is the daughter of His Majesty Sultan Abdul Kadir. I can't
believe such a remark coming from my very own son!"
Raden[
2
] Hamza scolded
him.
"What was the point of studying in
Britain if I have to marry at this age? It's almost the same as
dying young."
"Don't say such inauspicious things"
His father exclaimed, "This marriage is very important for both
families."
"Why me? Why not my brother, he is the
oldest son, shouldn't he marry first?"
"He has a long-term
girlfriend."
"Why is my brother allowed to choose
the woman he loves but not me?"
"Hafiz, you know very well why! You
marrying into the royal family is your mother's dream, and besides
in my opinion since his Mother is a foreign woman, some people will
see him not fit to marry the Sultan's daughter." His voice shaken
as he said this.
"Though a foreign woman, but his mother
was a descendant of an Arabian royal family, unlike my mother who
is just a merchant's daughter. I don't see anything that would make
him not worthy of marrying the Princess." Hafiz exclaimed," I know
that you prefer him more than me, that's why you are sacrificing me
instead of him."
"You ungrateful son, how dare you talk
to me like that!" Raden Hamza raised his voice, he was clenching
his hands so hard that his nail dug into the palm of his
hands.
Without a warning the door burst
opened, Raden Nabilla, his wife walked over to him, she touched his
shoulder with gentleness to comfort him.
"That's enough, you're upsetting your
Father, Hafiz!" She scold. "Go to your room, we can talk about this
later!"
Hafiz stood and exited the study, as
Raden Hamza sat on his favorite chair, his wife stood by him and
caressed his back, she picked the bell off the coffee table, and a
maid came into the room.
"Maya, please get Raden a cup of warm
water and bring me his medicine." She turned to her husband, "My
dear, you shouldn‘t let yourself get too excited, you should really
take more care of your health."
"Didn't you hear how he spoke to me? I
can't understand how a person with a high education like him can
act so insolently and disrespectful to his elders."
"Please be more patient with him, you
should try to understand him more. He is from a different
generation than you and me, young people today, do not want to
marry by arranged marriage, they want to go and find their own
spouses."
"What are you blubbering about, woman?
It was you who insisted on having your son engaged to the princess,
and now you come and tell me this nonsense?"
"I was only stating the facts, I am not
giving my opinion. Besides, this is a decision that we both made,
we have to stand true to it. But, we also should understand what
our son is thinking and feeling. We cannot force him into this
marriage, but we can certainly convince him to believe that it is
the best decision."
Raden Hamza sighed, "I don't know why
he hates the Princess, and apparently there was a problem between
them, when they were in London."
"What happened? What did he
say?"
"He didn't tell me anything, he said
that Her Highness Puteri Paramita made it her purpose in life to
annoy and embarrass him, that's all," Raden Hamza said with a
sigh.
"Oh my, what should we do?" Raden
Nabilla worried seeing her son's behavior.
"I will tell Ali to talk to him, maybe
he can find out what really happened, and convince him to marry the
princess, Hafiz respects and trusts his older brother very
much."
"Yes, you're right, let's do that, I
think that's the right approach too."
She had finished talking when Maya
entered with the medicine and cup of water, she bowed in respect to
them, kneeled and put the tray on the table.
"Maya," Said Raden Nabilla, "Do you
know if Ali has returned?"
"He has My Lady," replied Maya, "He is
outside in the garden caring for his bonsai plants."
"Can you please tell him to come here?
Tell him that his Father wants to talk to him!" Raden Nabilla
ordered.
As Maya walked out, she reached for the
water and handed it to Raden Hamza, she took the medicine and gave
it to him. "Here, take this."
Raden Hamza took the medicine from his
wife without hesitation and drank it with water, he paused for a
while, as though trying to feel any effect of the medicine. "Until
when do I have to keep taking that bothersome thing?" He
asked.
"Until the doctor tells you so."
Replied his wife. "Besides, you wouldn't have such a high blood
pressure if you learn to control your temper."
Raden Hamza glanced at her without
saying anything.
They heard a tap on the door, Ali stood
in the doorway, smiling at them. "Did you want to see me,
Father?"
"Ali please come in and close the door,
there is something that we need your help with. Come in, sit here
next to us." Replied Raden Nabilla.
After closing the door, Ali walked over
like he was told and sat on a seat. "How can I help you,
mother?"
"Your father and I are worrying about
your brother." Said Raden Nabilla. "As you know, we have agreed
with our king, His Majesty Sultan Abdul Kadir to engage one of our
sons to his daughter, Her Highness Puteri Paramita, and as you also
know, between your father and myself, we have decided that it would
be Hafiz, who will marry her. But he has refused this arrangement,
and he even told your father that the princess hates him. He made
your father very upset."
Ali listened attentively, he turned to
look at his Father. "How are you feeling now, father, are you
okay?" He asked a hint of worry was present in his
voice.
Raden Hamza took a deep breath and
said, "Of course I am, it was because your brother was surprisingly
insolent and rude to me that it took me by surprise. I do agree
with your mother though, we must first understand what happened
between them in the past, so we can solve this issue and move
forward with the marriage."
"I understand, father, mother. I will
talk to him, but I have to warn you if he is being headstrong, it
might take me some time to solve this matter. I don't want to come
on him too strongly, because if he is up to the point where he is
confronting father, maybe it isn't so simple after all the last
thing, we want to do, is to create a family conflict."
"I agree with you, Ali." Smiled Raden
Hamza, "I trust that you will use your best judgment to solve this
problem. You know this marriage is very important for me and my
second cousin. More importantly, this marriage will make sure that
the Monarchy will stay safe, and in the hands of Jothar's own royal
lineage, as we are descendants of Jothar's royal family. Since our
Sultan has only one son Crown Prince Pangeran Abdurrahman, and his
three daughters from his wives are married to princes from the
sultanates in Malaysia, his brother Pangeran Bashir is sickly and
doesn't have any heirs. It makes perfect sense that His Majesty the
Sultan wants a relative to marry his only maiden daughter and make
his son-in-law as the second in line to the throne."