Middle of 3rd Prahar* of the night (around11:30 pm)
Bali Mansion
It was eerily quiet when Ganak walked through the trees and shrubs to reach the Lotus Pond. Due to the increasingly cold weather, most of the people in the mansion were already in their blankets, trying to fight the bone-numbing chill.
Ganak had been uneasy since the previous night. After repeatedly going through the conversation between him and the eldest miss, he was on his guard.
When he had first raised the demand for a hundred gold coins, he firmly believed that there was no way that a young girl would have such a big amount tucked away in her boudoir. He had simply asked her for such a high amount so as to keep a leeway for the future where he would keep coming back to her at regular intervals till she managed to hand over the entire amount. Ultimately, he needed a reason to come to Bali Mansion again and again…
How else could he even hope to catch a glimpse of HER!
It was nothing more than curiosity, of course. He just wanted to know why...
But keeping his actions and the reasons for the same aside, Eldest Miss's easy acquiesce last night was extremely suspicious. Either she was really scared of her secret coming out or she had decided to deal with him.
While he struggled with this unexpected behaviour, his mind was also wondering about the person who had become so elusive during the last few years. This was the first time a fish had escaped his net.
Growing up as a poor orphan with decent looks, Ganak had learnt how to read and manipulate people.
To him, love was like a game. Whoever fell early and deep, was doomed to be a loser. Even if the other party fell in love eventually, one couldn't move recklessly because one wrong action and the game would be lost. In this case, Katyayani was the one who had fallen at the deep end.
The only thing that could make such a person's heart grow cold was discovering that despite having invested everything, the other person remained unaffected. But this shouldn't have been the case in Katyayani's case. He hadn't taken any wrong step, during the entire time when he wooed her.
Then why?
After Katyayani broke all contact with him without any explanation three years ago, he waited for quite a while patiently. He was really confident about her feelings for him.
Later on, he attempted to go look for her at the wooden cabin in the Mandh mountain but unexpectedly encountered a bunch of hooligans who had beaten him and left him half dead without any provocation. He had made it back to the Bali Mansion barely alive.
Thinking back, he had suffered terrible luck after he met Katyayani for the last time that year.
During that period, he was hit by another servant at the mansion, who had accused him of stealing from him. He hadn't stolen from him but the man's things were found in his bag. He could never find the perpetrator who had played him.
Then came that vicious attack by those hooligans.
But the worst was that he was charged with negligence and theft by the Third Master despite him not having done anything wrong. Unfortunately, there was evidence against him in the form of iron-clad testimonies.
He was thrown out without any pay or reference.
During this period, he had kept away from the eldest miss because he believed that he would manage to bring back the little girl in his palm eventually and fulfill the task given by the eldest miss. Had he not been on the same boat as her, he would have thought that Eldest Miss was the one who was doing this all.
At this point, he had still held some sort of hope of things becoming better.
He moved to Kohila, the adjoining city of Dima to better his prospects. It was only when he went under debt for the first time that he realised how dire his situation was. Ever since then, he had asked for and received small amounts from the eldest miss. But this time, his luck was really down and out.
Not only did he owe people in the gambling hall, he had also found himself a sweetheart at the local brothel in Kohila city. He wanted to buy her contract deed from the madam at the brothel and bring her to his side. The girl was really cute, much better looking than Katyayani but with the same kind of innocent smile.
She looked at him with the same kind of ardor as Katyayani used to.
His heart really moved for the first time!
If he managed to get these gold coins in his hands, he would straighten his ways and start a new life with his sweetheart.
Actually, it was all thanks to his saviour who had helped him shift to Kohila and introduced him to this girl as well. That same person was also the one who had kept an eye on things for Ganak in Dima city and recently told him about the arrival of Katyayani last week.
Hence, he decided to come here and try his luck. His plan was to threaten both the girls of the Bali Mansion, one through coercion, other via emotional blackmail.
But that didn't mean that he was underestimating the opposite side. He had prowled around this area for the past half hour now and checked if there were any hidden dangers. Only after ensuring that there was no one else around, did he approach the pond.
There was still half an hour to go before the appointed time and he intended to hide behind the old tree with the swing. It was the closest place to the pond and had a thick trunk, broad enough to cover his entire body.
The winter wind howled around him, enveloping him in its cold arms but the rosy plans for the future kept him warm enough!
*As per ancient times, day and night each have four prahars (period of approximately 2.5-3.5 hours)