Princess: Nuance Of Love Book 1 (8 page)

“Do you know a good school?” Paramita
asked with interest.

“I do,” Ali answered, “I’ve been a
teacher of the art for several years now.”

Paramita nodded, “At least you’re not
as useless as your brother.” She said to herself.

“Well, enough about me.” She said
changing the subject, “Raden Ali and Miss Dewi, how long have you
two been together?”

Dewi smiled, “Three years now, three
happy years.”

“Three years is a long time, do you
plan to marry?” Paramita asked again.

Dewi looked at Ali, he was the one that
answered for her. “Of course we do. But not right away. Dewi has
some contractual activities that she has to comply with. As soon as
she finishes with all that, we will start planning the
wedding.”

“I see,” Paramita said, “And do you
want to have the wedding here or in Miss Dewi’s
country?”

“In our culture the wedding ceremony is
usually celebrated by the family of the bride, then we have another
ceremony to receive the daughter in law by the groom’s
family.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that,
I’ve never assisted a traditional Jothar wedding ceremony before.
And so both Jothar and Indonesia are from the same ethnic groups,
the Alam Melayu[
11
],
is there any difference in customs?”

“There are some difference yes. But the
outline is basically the same. First the groom's family have to go
the bride’s family to ask for her hand in marriage, then the
engagement ceremony, after that you have the marriage registration,
the ceremonial shower, where the family pours water on the bride
and groom cleansing them, followed by Sanding which is basically
the reception, where you have the bride and groom sit together for
everyone to congratulate them.” Ali explained.

“Interesting. So if you have your
wedding, your family will fly to Jakarta, they will arrange another
party here.”

“That’s right.” He said with a
smile.

“So tell me, how did you meet, and how
did you start dating.”

Dewi’s eyes beamed with happiness. “We
actually were introduced by a friend of mine at his company’s
party. I was singing there. He was the most handsome man in the
party. Do you know that Bang Ali is the most eligible bachelor in
Wirakarta?”

“Is he now? Congratulations. And so how
did you end up dating?” Paramita asked again.

“Well, Dewi was not only contracted to
sing at the party but to be a spokesperson in one of the company’s
social campaign. We kept seeing each other more often, one thing
lead to another, and we ended up dating.”

“How nice….”

“What about you, Puteri? Are you seeing
anyone?” Dewi asked her.

“Me? No, no, by no means. That is a
luxury beyond my reach.” She replied.

“Why is that?” Dewi asked
again.

“
Dewi, the members of the
Royal Family have their future spouses’ determined by the Sultan,”
Ali answered instead of Paramita.

“I understand that.” Dewi insisted,
“But Puteri Paramita wasn’t a princess until recently, I’m sure as
a commoner she had dated before, specially living abroad,
westerners are more, shall we say, opened to this than we are, I’m
sure you’ve had some adventures to tell.”

Paramita stood up abruptly causing her
chair to fall down and made a loud crashing sound. She stood there
without bothering to pick it up. Paramita smiled with annoyance.
She can see in which direction Dewi is trying to bring the
conversation, “Patience, patience.” She told herself. “Raden Ali, I
thank you sincerely for the invitation, but I will pay for my food
thank you. “

Seeing Paramita’s expression, Ali
answered, “Dewi, that was not right and it sounded offensive, you
should…….”

“Not at all.” Said Paramita once she
had calmed down, “Miss Dewi, I spent most of my younger days
pursuing things that I considered the more useful and interesting
in life. And boys were not one of them. At this moment, I’m only
twenty-three years old, and if I had the freedom to choose, men,
dating and marriage are the least of my worries. You know it’s
getting late, I think I should be heading back to the palace
now.”

Ali panicked, “Puteri, please forgive
Dewi, she didn’t mean to offend you.”

“Raden Ali, she didn’t offend me, she
insulted me, now excuse me, I have to go!” She turned to Rahmat,
“I’m sure you can arrange your own ride home.”

She turned around walked to the cashier
and paid, and left the restaurant. Ali followed behind her, “Wait,
please wait.” He called out

Paramita turned around facing him,
“What is it?”

“Let me at least drive you back to the
Sultan’s Palace.” He said.

Paramita looked at him viciously,
“Hmmm, I don’t think your girlfriend will be too thrilled with that
idea, she might even think that I'll try to ravish you on the
way.”

Ali’s heart thumped at her words, his
face blushed. Paramita realized her mistake, “Don’t get me wrong, I
said that because I was angry at your girlfriend’s insinuation
about me, I……I’m not trying to imply anything to you. I’m not that
kind of woman.”

“I wouldn’t dare.” He
replied.

“Thank you for your offer, but I think
I’ll take a taxi. Goodbye Raden Ali, thank you for taking me to
this restaurant.” She said as she walked away.

Ali walked into the restaurant and sat
back in his seat. “Dewi, how can you talk without thinking? She’s
right you insinuated that the Sultan’s daughter was a tramp, a
loose woman.”

Rahmat added, “From her reaction, she
was very offended by your words. If I know Paramita well, she’s not
going to let it go easily.” He said intending to psych
Dewi.

“But I didn’t mean to offend her!” Dewi
said defiantly, “And what can she do to me anyway, she’s just the
illegitimate daughter of the Sultan who was recently
acknowledged.”

“Dewi, I can’t believe you said that,
illegitimate or not, she is still the Ruling Monarch’s daughter,
insulting a member of the royal family is punishable by death. And
why were you so mean to her? I didn’t see that she did anything to
provoke that treatment from you.”

“Why do keep defending her, Bang? And
what are you saying punishable by death?” She yelled.

“I’m not defending her. It’s the truth.
And besides I’m worried about you.”

Dewi I hate to say this, but maybe you
need to leave Jothar immediately, and you should stay away until we
understand the situation.” Rahmat continued provoking her and
throwing fuel in the flame.

* * *

In the taxi, Paramita was shaking her
head. “Dewi Chandrawati, if you hate me now, wait till you find out
about the surprise waiting for you!”

* * *

Ali wasn’t in the mood to do anything
else for the rest of the day. After dropping Dewi at the gate of
her house, he drove home immediately. He felt his steps heavy when
he got down from his car and entered his house. Maya greeted him at
the door.

"Raden, your parents told me to tell
you to come to the living room to talk to them as soon as you
arrive."

“Do you know what it’s about?” He
asked.

“No Raden.”

Ali walked to the living room. He felt
that the air was tense. Could it be possible that his parents
already heard about what happened between Dewi and Paramita? Did
she complain to the Sultan, and he in turn talked to Raden Hamza?
It can’t be, only 2 hours had passed since the restaurant
incident.

The wide door to the living room was
closed, giving him a more tense feeling. He knocked then opened it
without waiting for an answer. Everybody was there even Hafiz, they
were watching television. When Raden Hamza saw him entering he
turned it off. Ali felt like he was a kid again waiting for his
report card result.

“How was your day?”

“It was interesting. Dewi came to my
office for a surprise visit, she came earlier than expected……” He
stopped his sentence, when he saw Raden Hamza turn to his wife upon
hearing Dewi’s name, “Is there anything wrong, father?”

“Take a seat Ali, there is something I
need to tell you. This involves Hafiz too, that’s why he’s
here.”

Ali’s heart skipped a beat, but he sat
down beside Raden Nabilla.

“His Majesty Sultan called me to his
personal office this morning. He wanted to discuss the marriage
plan, and set a date for the Peminangan ceremony.” Raden Hamza
paused.

Ali was relieved to hear that the
subject of the conversation was about the arranged marriage and not
the fiasco that happened today. “That’s good father, did you and
His Majesty Sultan set the date yet?”

“Yes we did, since we need to prepare
the dowry and align our extended family, we have set the date for
two weeks from now. The wedding will take place in two months from
then. The official announcement and press release will be done in a
few days. We need to tell your mother and ask her if she will be
attending, or if she wants to help with any
contribution.”

“Why is it so soon, and why would Bang
Ali’s mother want to contribute to the wedding, father?” Hafiz
asked thinking that his father’s words were strange.

“Well, if her son is getting married,
it will only be natural….” Raden Nabilla said in a soft
voice.

Ali looked up in surprise, “Her son?
Me? Mother, father, please don’t joke about these
things…..”

Raden Hamza sighed, “It’s not a joke.
His Majesty Sultan has decided to grant you marriage to his
daughter.”

Hafiz’s face brightened, he felt like a
heavy weight had been taken off his chest. “So it’s not me that has
to marry The Princess?” He started to do a small victory
dance.

“Hafiz, control yourself!” His mother
rebuked.

“Me?” Ali’s voice was shaken, “I
thought you said that it was Hafiz that was going to marry her.
What about Dewi? How am I going to tell her?”

“I’m sorry,” Raden Nabilla said trying
to hold back her tears.

“Ali, His Majesty Sultan knows that you
have a relationship with someone else. He did tell me to ask you to
end it immediately. He also wanted me to remind you that we are a
part of the royal family circle and that it is your obligation to
put the country’s interest before your own.”

“Father, I don’t know what to say.” Ali
paused, “Does Puteri Paramita know about this? If she did, why
didn’t she say anything to me when we were out at lunch
today?”

“You had lunch with Puteri Paramita?”
His father asked.

“Yes, when I was with Dewi we met her a
restaurant, she was with Rahmat, you remember, Hafiz’s friend. Well
something happened in the restaurant that made all of us leave
together to eat someplace else.” He deliberately didn’t mention
what happened afterward.

“I believe she knows about it.” Replied
Raden Hamza.

“Father, please help me, I need to talk
to her.” Begged Ali.

“To Puteri? Why? If you want to talk
her out of the marriage, that’s inappropriate. It’s been decreed by
the Sultan, and to try to reject it will be treason, I understand
that you are young and full of emotions, but you have to think of
your family, do you really want to put us in harm’s
way?”

“Of course, father.” He answered. He
realized that it was useless to argue with his father, “Please
excuse me, it’s been a long day, and I would like to
rest.”

Raden Nabilla hugged him and gave him a
kiss on his temple. “Why don’t you take a shower, and sleep for a
while. You should think this through with a calm mind, make sure
that you break this news gently to Dewi.”

* * *

Ali dragged himself to his room.
“Rahmat, if anybody can set up a meeting between me and Puteri, it
would be him.” He thought.

He picked up the phone and called
Rahmat’s office, luckily he still kept the phone number from the
time they were arranging the surprise birthday party for Hafiz. The
phone rang for a while, there was an answer from the other
side.

“Good afternoon, how may I help you?” A
voice answered on the other side.

“Good afternoon, I am looking for
Mister Rahmat Azlan, is he available?”

“Yes he is, please wait while I
transfer you to him.”

Ali had to listen to two minutes of
annoying phone music before he heard a familiar voice. “Hello, this
is Rahmat Azlan.”

“Rahmat, this is Ali!”

“Abang, what’s up? Did anything happen
to Dewi?”

“No, no…nothing, but listen, I need
your help, I need to talk to Puteri Paramita, you’re her friend,
can you please arrange that for me?”

“Of course. I will call her now.
Listen, about what happened today at the restaurant, don’t think
too much about it. Mita holds grudges and she can be petty, but
she’ll never do something to harm other people. Plus she never
likes to hide behind authority, the worst thing she will do is
probably avoid Dewi, or if they’re unlucky enough to meet in
public, she’ll probably make sarcastic comments to her face. As
long as Dewi acts humble and realizes her mistake, as she should
have from the beginning, there shouldn’t be any
problem.”