Princess: Nuance Of Love Book 1 (22 page)

"Kakakanda[
12
]
Puteri." Ali stressed, "Is still a tomboy, and still has strength
that can match a man's. Even enough strength to break a nose or
two. That is part of her charm."

"So I read in the newspaper that your
girlfriend was singing in the same event you attended, that must be
awkward for you, having your girlfriend and fiancée in the same
place, at the same time." Hafiz said intentionally ignoring Ali's
word.

"Hafiz, please respect you brother!"
Raden Nabilla warned him.

"Mita has become very beautiful now,
well she has always been beautiful, but now, she's well groomed,
and mature. She's come a long way from the girl who had a big crush
on me in college, and was always coming up with excuses to be close
to me..."

"That's enough, Hafiz." Raden Hamza
yelled. "I forbid you to call Ananda Puteri so casually by her
name, she will be your sister in law, your brother's wife! You
should respect her for her position. I don't care what relationship
you had in the past with her, a gentleman never disrespects a
woman."

"Father, I'm not disrespecting her in
any way, I'm just telling my fond memories of her." Hafiz
argued.

"Hafiz, my fiancée is a proper and
respectable woman. Please treat her as such. If anybody heard what
you said just now, they would misunderstand and judge her
negatively." Ali said calmly. "And one more thing. You and her
might be friends in the past, but if you dare to treat her any
differently than how you should treat your brother's wife. You will
regret it. I swear!"

With this, Ali wiped his mouth with the
napkin and stood up, "Mother, the diner was very delicious, and I'm
very thankful for your effort, but I've lost my appetite. Father
and Mother, please excuse me, I'd like to go back to my room now."
He didn't wait for them to answer and just left.

"How can you say those things? How can
you act that way? What's gotten into you?" Raden Nabilla
reprimanded him.

"Nothing happened to me. I just
realized that I'm about to lose the only woman who had truly loved
me, and that I never realized how I felt for her till now. Also,
Abang has a girlfriend. How can he make her happy if he doesn't
love her, and is only marrying her because he was told to?" He
reasoned.

"Who says your brother doesn't love
Ananda Puteri?" Raden Hamza asked.

"Who says he does?" Hafiz refuted. "He
never did. And he just knew her for a few weeks. Not like me who's
known her for years."

"Hafiz, please..., I'm too old for
this! Leave your brother's fiancée alone.......!" Raden Hamza said
putting his hand on his chest.

"Hafiz, just go to your room. Every
time you open your mouth you cause your Father's heart to act up."
Raden Nabilla said.

"Well I'm sorry I'm not the perfect son
like my brother." He said while leaving.

Raden Hamza and Raden Nabilla looked at
each other. He put his arm around her shoulder as she leaned her
head against his. She cried as he caressed her back. "Be patient.
Let's hope that God will open his mind soon." He
whispered.

* * *

Paramita woke up feeling energetic, she
stretched her body and got out of bed, she was happy her ankle had
totally recovered. She didn't feel any pain when moving it, and the
swelling had gone away. She was happy that today she could finally
go jogging around the palace grounds. Maybe even catch a glimpse of
Ali. She shook her head trying to get rid of the idea. She walked
to the bathroom to shower before making her morning
prayers.

"Good morning my little Puteri, how did
you sleep last night?" Mak Noor entered her bedroom with
coffee.

"Good morning, Mak. I slept so well, I
didn't even want to wake up this morning." She responded
cheerfully, "Eh, Mak. I think I am ready to go jogging today, I
haven't exercised in a long time, my body is getting weak, and my
muscles are softening." She said while bending her arm up to show
her biceps.

"Puteri, why would a woman need muscles
for? It's very unfeminine. That will scare men away."

"Mak, do you think if I was born
pretty, petite, thin and feminine, I would be more attractive to
men?" She asked.

"Puteri, now is not appropriate for you
to think about something like that. You're already engaged and
you're getting married soon."

"I know, I was just thinking..." she
frowned remembering the pretty and petite Dewi.

There was a knock on the door, "Puteri,
your mother is has arrived, she's here to see you."

"My mother?" She and Mak Noor looked at
each other. "But isn't she supposed to arrive this weekend? Why is
she already here?"

"Ran, can you please show Your Highness
Puteri's mother up here." Mak Noor said to the Palace
staff.

"Yes, Mam."

"Puteri, come on hurry up and get
dressed, I want your mother to see how beautiful you
are."

"Alright, I'm coming."

Paramita had barely put her clothes on
when Soraya appeared at the door, she had her handbag in one hand
and a thick roll of newspaper in the other. "So you are too high
and noble to greet your mother now?"

"Mama, how are you? Of course I wanted
to greet you down stairs, but it's just that I haven't finished
getting dressed."

"How have you been doing?" Soraya
asked.

"I'm fine, Mama."

"Noor, can you please leave us, I need
to talk to my daughter." Soraya said in a serious tone.

Mak Noor hesitated for a while, she
knew quite well that when Soraya speaks that way, it means that she
was going to scold her daughter. On top of that she could smell the
alcohol from her mistress’ body. She walked out of the room, closed
the door a little bit, and stood there, listening in to the
conversation.

"Mita, tell me how have you been
doing?" She asked, putting her purse on the bed.

"I'm doing well Mama." She answered
nervously.

"From what I hear, you have been
getting along well with your fiancée?" She asked her daughter
sharply.

"Well, Abang is a nice person and he
treats me will." Paramita answered.

"Is that why you went and spent the
night with him, even though you're not legally married yet?" She
said while throwing the roll of newspapers that she was holding to
the bed.

"But mama, I didn't spend the night
with him, I don't know what you're saying..." Paramita answered,
quickly scanning through them. There were pictures of her and Ali
on the front page, the headlines reported that they had spent the
night together in the forest. It didn't mention about the attempts
on their lives.

"You liar! Is this how I educated you?
You were here just for a few months and you're already doing things
to embarrass me."

"Mama, I swear I didn't go to spend the
night with him. What happened was I had an accident, and he helped
me...and..."Paramita was too nervous to speak. Suddenly she felt a
sting on her cheek from a slap by Soraya.

"So you did spend the night with him,
and you said told me that you didn't." She said while grabbing a
handful of her daughter's hair. "How is he going to appreciate you
after you are married, if you don't know how to protect your
dignity? Don't you know how men are? Haven't I taught you enough?
If a man had a woman before marriage, he will easily get tired of
her, and find another woman."

"Nothing happened between us, mama."
Paramita said, "It's not like that between us. Besides, he already
loves somebody else, he..."

"He already loves somebody else? What
is wrong with you?" She shook Paramita harshly, "Stupid
girl...stupid...stupid." Soraya picked up the coffee cup and threw
it at her daughter.

The coffee cup hit Paramita on the
forehead, she stood up while holding her forehead, "Mother, calm
down, listen to me first, let me explain..."

Soraya was beginning to become
hysterical, she picked up Paramita's belt that was lying on the
bed, and began to whip her daughter with it. Paramita curled to the
ground, holding her hand up in a defensive position. "Mama. Please
stop, please stop, you're hurting me..."

"Madam...Madam...stop it, please,
you're hurting my Puteri. Stop it." Mak Noor came running into the
room, and tried to hold Soraya back.

"Move! She's my Puteri[2], my daughter.
It's my responsibility to educate her. Look what happened when I
entrusted you to take care of her for a few months, look, what
she's done."

"Madam, Puteri didn't do anything
wrong, it was an accident, she was injured, you should be grateful
that she is safe and well."

"You know, it's still not too late,
you're lucky that your Mama is smart, I have a medicine here that
can prevent you from becoming pregnant!" She said ignoring Mak Noor
and taking a bottle from her purse.

"Mama...no.....how can I be pregnant,
I've done nothing, I don't want to...."

"Drink it you stupid girl, if you
become pregnant before your wedding, your child will be a bastard,
and It will be against the law for the father to recognize it, and
you'll be so sad that you'll get a miscarriage, and it's going to
hurt you, it's going to make you bleed for days, making you feel
like you're going to die."

"Mama, what are you saying?"

"Drink it!" She yelled. Soraya grabbed
her daughter's jaw and poured the content of the bottle in her
daughter's mouth, she grabbed the glass of orange juice that was on
the table and forced her to drink it.

Paramita coughed and spat out as much
of the bitter tasting liquid as she can. This only angered Soraya
more, she pulled Paramita by the hair and banged her head on the
side of the bed. "All your life I taught you to be a good woman,
and now, you throw mud into my face by acting like a loose
woman!"

Paramita felt something hot trickling
down her face. Mak Noor looked in shock as she saw blood flowing
from the wound on her head. Paramita stood up abruptly, she grabbed
Soraya, lifted her up in the air like she weighed nothing, and
threw her on to the bed.

Mak Noor screamed
"Puteri....Puteri..... God....help us...."

"How dare you hurt your mother? You
sinner, you'll burn in hell! Your life will be damn! I'm the person
who gave you your life, I put my life in danger to give birth to
you. How dare you do this to me! I curse you! I curse you!" Soraya
screamed.

Paramita, turned around and ran out of
the room, her vision became blurry because of the blood and tears
covering her eyes. She ran barefooted, only dressed in a skirt and
bra. But she didn't care, she was becoming detached. She ran and
she ran, out of the residence, into the garden, she just kept
running without knowing where to go, her mind was blank, and all
she could see was darkness.

[12] Puteri also means
daughter

Chapter
Nineteen

Ali was in the Sultan's office
attending the monthly progress report meeting delivered by the
Ministry of Agriculture. The Sultan had ordered him to attend and
be an observer at every meeting, to be familiar with the government
officials, their responsibilities and matters that they are
handling.

There was a knock on the door, and an
attendant entered. "Your Majesty, Pardon me for interrupting. There
was a call from Her Highness Puteri Paramita's residence, there
seem to be a problem there. The staff reported that Her Highness
Puteri ran out of the residence undressed and bleeding from the
head."

Ali turned pale imagining the worst, he
stood up in reflex, "How could something like that happen? Where
were the guards?"

"Pardon me Your Excellency, according
to the staff, she had a fight with her biological mother, Madam
Soraya."

Ali became confused, "What?"

"Ananda Raden Ali, please go and see
what happened with Ananda Puteri," The Sultan ordered him, he
paused for a minute continued, "I am trusting my daughter to you,
please take care of her. Do whatever you need to do, but please
make sure she's alright."

"I understand, Paduka." He
replied.

"Ananda...." He said approaching closer
to Ali, "Make sure you treat the matter with caution, don't let a
word of this spread out."

"I, Your Majesty" He
replied.

Ali hurriedly left the office and ran
towards the East Wing Residence. The chief of staff was in the
front garden with a radio. "What happened here?" Ali
asked.

"Your Excellency, we don't dare to go
and search for Her Highness Puteri, we think that she is possessed.
We know that she hasn't left the grounds and that she's somewhere
in the garden."

"What a stupid thing to say, I heard
that she was injured, are you going to wait until she bleeds to
death?"

"Your Excellency, when Her Highness ran
out of the building, she was, umm....sorry, not properly dressed.
She was growling like a wild beast, the main door was closed, and
she broke it with a kick, you can go and see it for yourself. It
was like she was possessed by a tiger demon. No normal woman can
have that kind of strength."