Princess: Nuance Of Love Book 1 (37 page)

"What was that about?" Paramita asked
paranoidly, "What did father whisper to you about?"

"Later."

"Huh?" She said.

"Come on let's go to our room, they
told me where it is already." He said taking her hand. "So what did
you two talk about?"

"About you." She replied, "I'll tell
you everything once we get to our room. You never know who could
accidently hear us. In the meantime, tell me how you feel about the
news?"

"The news? About being the Crown
Prince? Nothing, really." He answered nonchalantly.

"Even if it brings you wealth and
power?"

"And responsibilities. I'm thinking of
taking it a day at a time. Being a Crown Prince now days is more of
a vanity title, just so people will know that you're the first line
to the throne, most of the responsibilities that come with the
title are more towards the image of the monarchy than anything
else. What I am excited about is the chance to give to the country
by being the future Minister of Finance once Pangeran Kadir
retires, of course I have to spend one year as his deputy minister
to learn more in-depth about the country's financial matters, but
I'm happy about it." He explained

"It's good to be able to do something
you love and to be able to chase your dream. I'm jealous of you."
Paramita said.

"Mita, if you want to work, we can
arrange something. But only after we resolve the issue of the
attempts towards your life. Your safety is my number one concern."
He said.

"Really? You wouldn't mind if I
worked?"

"Of course not. But I have another
condition."

"What is it?"

"When we have children, I want you to
dedicate yourself to them."

"I will, my children will never grow up
lonely and feeling abandoned like I did. After all, childhood only
comes once in life, but it's never too late to start a
career."

"Here is our room." He pointed while
pushing the door open.

She entered, and observed the
decorations, it had flowers on every table, and the bed itself was
decorated with rose petals and jasmine. She entered the bathroom
and saw that the bathtub was already filled with water and
bubble.

"I had the ladies in waiting fill the
bathtub for you." He explained.

"This is exactly what I need." She said
while dipping her hand in the water, "it's nice and
warm."

"Come on, I'll help you with your
hair." He led her back into the room and helped her sit on a chair,
then gently started to take out the jewelry and all the bobby pins.
He carefully took off the hair bun attachment. "There you go,
you're free now." He said.

"Why are you so experienced with this?"
She asked distrustfully.

"Don't get jealous over nothing. My
mother made me memorize this drill last night." He answered while
pinching her nose.

"Your mother is very considerate." She
smiled.

"Do you want me to help you with your
clothes?" He asked.

"Maybe with the girdle." She answered
earnestly.

"I can't believe they put a ten meter
rope around your waist." He said once the belt was off.

"Imagine wearing it all day. It makes
me wonder if the people who were assigned to dress me up are in
cahoots with the people who were trying to kill me."

"Stop talking nonsense and go to the
bathroom before the water gets cold."

"Aren't you coming into the tub with
me?" She asked in a very cute voice.

"I'll be there in a minute." He
answered while folding her clothes and arranging it into a stack.
He raised his head and turned to look at her after realizing what
she just said. She laughed, poked her tongue at him and quickly
disappeared behind the door. He hurriedly took off his clothes,
then ran after her.

* * *

She was already soaking herself inside
the bathtub when Ali arrived at the bathroom. As he entered the
bathtub, some of the water spilled on the floor. He sat down and
lean his head against the wall and stretched his leg out to the
other side. Paramita was sitting across him with her legs folded
up. She moved across to where he was, sitting between his legs and
leaning her head against his chest.

"This feels nice." He said.

"Eh-he..." She answered.

"So tell me, what did Ayahnda whisper
to you?"

"About our wedding night. You know,
it's the palace tradition to put a piece of cloth on the bed, to
catch the bride's blood."

"Well that's not going to happen." She
answered.

"If we were in a comic book, just
seeing you like this will give me a nosebleed, then we'll have the
solution there." He raised arms and hugged her from behind. "So,
your turn now, what did you talk about with Ayahnda inside his
office? Before you said that it was about me."

"I kind of feel bad about myself after
talking to him." She said.

"Why's that?"

"Where should I start? Hmmm ....so
apparently Ayahnda had considered you to be the Crown Prince since
several years ago after he saw that my brother was having
psychological issues. That's why he wanted you to marry my older
sister, naturally since she is about your age. I was initially
promised to Prince Hasan."

"Wait, does he know about
that?"

"Who knows about what?"

"Prince Hasan, does he know that you
were the one who was promised to him?"

"I didn't ask."

"Prince Hasan, huh?" He mumbled to
himself.

"Do you want to hear the rest or
not?"

"Don't be angry, go ahead. Go on with
your story."

"Okay, where was I? Umm, oh okay, so
when you started dating your Belladonna, that's when Ayahnda
decided to exchange our betrothed. He had my sister marry Prince
Hasan, and arranged to marry me to you."

"How could my dating someone have any
relevance to your engagement?"

"My question exactly! But then he said
that he considered I would have a better chance of sexually
alluring you than my sister would. He didn't want my sister to end
up as your first wife and Dewi as your second."

"Didn't I tell you that your father is
a smart and witty man?" Ali's tone was ironic.

Paramita chose to ignore him, "I don't
understand his way of thinking though, and how can he come up with
that idea?"

"That I would easily fall for you
rather than your sister? And that I would follow you like a fool
and leave Dewi behind? That's because he knows me well, ever since
I was small until I graduated high school my father would bring me
to the palace to his meetings with the Previous Sultan your
grandfather. And your father would chat a lot with me. He probably
knows how my ideal woman is."

"How is your ideal woman?"

"Like the one I'm holding in my arms
right now." He said while planting a kiss on her cheek.

"But my father doesn't know my
personality, so he won't know if I'm your ideal woman or not. He
did admit that he considered my physical appearance more tempting
than my sister's. And that's why he gave me to you, so I could
catch you and steal you away from your girlfriend." She paused for
a while, "You know I was so angry, I literally told him, it's
because I'm my mother's daughter, that's why he saw me as some kind
of royal courtesan to ensnare you between my legs."

"Ensnare me all you want then, should
we move positions so I can be between your legs?" He said while
kissing her neck.

"Bang, I'm serious, I'm upset here!"
She protested as his hands began massaging her
shoulders.

"I know you are, that's why I'm giving
you a massage to help you calm down." He teased.

"Bang...."

"Mita, what does it matter now? Don't
be obsessed, whatever and however we were brought together, it's
not important. What is important is how we live our lives from now
on."

"I know. It's just that, I hate that my
father sees me as a piece of meat that he can offer as
bait."

"I can't talk on behalf of your father,
but for me you're much more than a piece of meat, you're my world,
my life." He said while putting his arms around her and kissing her
head

"Tsk, and you're mine." She
whispered.

* * *

"Come on, let's get out of the water,
before we grow scales and fins." He finally said.

"Okay, help me up." She reached out her
hand.

He came out of the tub and dried his
feet on the thick soft rug, then reached his arm out to her, she
stood up and stepped out from tub onto the rug. He put a bathrobe
around himself and then helped her into the other one that was
already prepared there.

They entered the bedroom hand in
hand.

"Umm, there is no way in the world that
I'm going to sleep on that bed." Ali said.

"Why not?" Paramita looked at him
puzzled.

"The only time I've ever seen people
lying on top of flower petals, was before they were put to rest in
the ground.

Paramita answered with glee, "I didn't
think you were superstitious."

"That couch looks big and comfy." Ali
signaled with his head, he sat down and bounced his body on it,
"Yep, we're sleeping here tonight. There's enough space for the
both of us."

"We're sleeping there? But I don't have
any problems with the flower petals." She complained.

He looked at her
meaningfully.

"Oh, fine!" She sulked as she sat next
to him.

"Come here, let's squeeze in together."
He said while lying down sideways.

Paramita laid down in front of him on
the couch, using his arm as a pillow.

"Mita, I don't want you to think that
you've been given to me as a sexual object. I don't see you that
way. If you think that pure love is about holding back, then I'll
hold back." Ali muttered.

"Really?" She asked.

"Eh-he....I'll wait until you feel
comfortable to give yourself to me again." He smiled.

"Thank you, Bang." Paramita said
softly.

Chapter Thirty
One

Mak Noor helped Paramita to arrange her
clothes in the closet of their room in the Lotus Palace while
Paramita took it to herself, to arrange her husband's clothes.
Seeing how tediously organized they were in his parent's house, she
wanted to make sure that it would be just it was.

"Puteri, now that you are married to
Pangeran Ali, when are you going to retrieve the gemstones that you
kept away in the safety deposit box in the bank?" Mak Noor asked.
"You should arrange to change those glass stones that you have on
the jewelry you had made."

"I'll eventually get to that Mak, but
I've been so busy with organizing the new residence these past two
days, I just haven't had time to run my personal
errands."

"I don't know why you were in such a
hurry to move into this Palace, just one day after your
wedding."

"It's just that I felt uncomfortable
the way the people in the palace looked at me, it's like they felt
pity for me. And also a lot of the elder women either the maids or
distant family kept trying to tell me to be patient and
understanding to my husband, they told me that I will one day
eventually win his love if I stay calm and patient. But not with a
tone as if they were giving an advice, but more like trying to
console me."

"What in heaven's name for?"

"Who knows? Bang Ali has been great to
me, and he's always attentive and caring, why would these ladies
feel like if they need to comfort me. Oh well, that's why we
thought it would be better for us to start living here, away from
those nosey people."

"I can understand your
discomfort."

"Puteri there is a visitor for you
downstairs."

"Do you know who it is, Rin?" She asked
Rini the new palace staff that was assigned to them by the Queen
herself.

"It's a woman called Madam Soraya." She
replied.

"That's my mother. I'll go downstairs
to greet her." Paramita rushed out to meet her mother.

"Good afternoon, Mama." She said from
the door of the living room.

"Mita, how are you darling?" Madam
Soraya said to her. They kissed each other on the cheeks. "This is
the first time I've been to Lotus Palace, it is a beautiful
place."

"Thanks, it is beautiful, but I would
rather live in a house that is a product of my design." She
said.

"Darling, did you see the article on
the front page of the newspaper?"

"No, I didn't. I've been very busy with
organizing the Palace."

"Here, take a look," Soraya said while
handing the newspaper to her daughter.

The front page had a big picture taken
at her wedding where she appeared to be standing in the middle of
Ali and Dewi. She remembered it as the picture taken on the stage,
when Dewi and Jonathan came up to congratulate them. She cringed at
the title "Pop Star sings her broken heart on her new album" then
in smaller prints "A trusted source recounts that Prince Consort
Burhanuddin Ali was still too tied up on his ex-girlfriend to
comply with his new bride on their wedding night. The source that
requested to remain anonymous revealed that the bridal bed remained
exactly the way the decorators had left it, on the morning after
their first night as husband and wife. There were no signs of
anyone using......"