"Then, what about the princess?" asked Satya. "What happened to her? Does she know that her parents, the king, and queen were poisoned by her husband?"
"At first, the princess didn't know her husband's cunning."
"Oh, I see?" Satya nodded. "Really, humans are indeed the most terrifying creatures. Cunning and greedy."
"Is that what you think?"
"Yes," Satya shrugged his shoulders.
"Yeah," Lathifa sighed softly. "Maybe you're right. Unfortunately, the princess found out about it on the day of her death."
"Wait a minute!" Satya glanced back, and for the second time, their lips almost touched each other, kissing. "Hmm, sorry."
Lathifa blushed, again she gently rubbed the man's back.
"Hmm, I mean…" Satya looked down again, smiling.
However, he could feel the touch of the girl's nipples on his back. But, he didn't want to think about anything other than what they were talking about.
"…You want to say that the princess was eventually killed by her evil husband too?"
"Yes," said Lathifa. "Just two weeks after the death of the king and queen, the princess was murdered in a very heinous manner by her husband."
"Oh, Great Goddess…" Satya took a deep breath. "Is this really happening? Or is this just your creation?"
"This is really happening in this country, Satya," said Lathifa, and again she lightly hit the man's shoulder which made the man chuckle again. "Besides, why would I lie to you?"
"Sorry, sorry," said Satya with a smile. "You are right. And then?"
"You know," Lathifa said, and unfortunately, Satya was facing the front, so the man couldn't see the change in the girl's face.
Lathifa looked so sad, even as she spoke, tears rolled down her cheeks. Disguised by the splash of river water she splashed on Satya's back.
"That night," said Lathifa, "the husband caught and tied the princess to a beam and dragged her to the edge of a cliff. With tears in her eyes and a hoarse voice, the princess begged to be released. Begged her husband, the man she thought loved and cared for her. The man was nothing more than a demon incarnate. Together with some of the courtiers whom he had tricked, they brought the princess to the edge of the abyss."
"Oh my gosh," said Satya. "This is worse than I imagined."
"Of course," said Lathifa. "Killed by the person you love is a painful way, must sound very, very worse."
"Then?"
"That's when the husband said who he was," said Lathifa. "At that moment he exposed all his cunning which of course, only added to the sadness in the princess's tears."
Satya took a deep breath. Although the water of the small and shallow river was quite cool, he felt the opposite. The heat rose in his chest to hear the story from Lathifa's mouth.
"Before that Linggatan Royal Prince threw the princess into the abyss, a Royal Counselor who somehow become the prince's accomplice approached the princess."
"What does it mean?"
"The prince is planning a ritual."
"A ritual?" Satya repeated with a frown. "Hasn't he get what he wants? Then, why else perform a ritual in the process of the death of the princess?"
"I don't know," Lathifa shrugged her shoulders. "Obviously, the Royal Counselor who was the right-hand man of the previous King Artapurana painted a symbol on the princess's forehead with blood."
"A symbol? Blood?" This is getting weirder and weirder, Satya thought. Sounds like rituals that Satanists go through in his world.
"And after that," said Lathifa, "the man kicked the princess so viciously that the princess fell into the abyss, plunged into the sea under the cliff, drowned in a thousand regrets and a grudge that was so great with her death."
"Good grief…!"
"And since then, until now, ten years later, this country has become chaotic under the leadership of the Prince of the Linggatan Kingdom who made himself a king, a ruler over the land of Artapurana."
"Tell me," said Satya, "is it because of the chaos you mentioned that you chose to live in a remote place like this?"
"Yeah," Unbeknownst to Satya, Lathifa wiped her face, wiped her tears, then nodded. "At least, it's like that. I don't want to be in crowds too much, or people who have now turned so unkind hurting me."
Satya took another deep breath. Of course, he thought. If indeed the condition of this country is in chaos, bad things will usually be in the chaos itself. Especially, towards a girl as beautiful and voluptuous as Lathifa.
So, naturally, Lathifa chose to live in this very quiet place. At the very least, she could avoid the chaos. And that's what Satya thought.
"May I ask you?"
"Of course," said Lathifa. "But before that, shouldn't we take turns?"
"Huh?" Satya glanced back. He found the girl's sweet smile so close to his face.
"I've helped by rubbing your back," said the girl. "And now, it's your turn to rub my back."
"But–"
"Unless you are an ungrateful man."
"Good grief! Okay!" said Satya. "Okay!"
After all, which man doesn't want to touch that beautiful body even if it's just her back?
Lathifa turned and sat quietly, then Satya turned around. Even though he was a little hesitant, Satya still did what the girl asked him to do. He splashed water and then rubbed her back.
And at the same time, Satya felt how the shaft of his genital had hardened and was at the point of his strongest erection to feel the softness of the skin of the girl's back.
"So what is it?" asked Lathifa as she put her hair to the front of her body, she giggled softly laughing at the nervousness of the man behind her. "Aren't you going to ask me?"
"Ah, yeah, sorry…"
Focus, Satya, focus! He screamed in his heart. Go away you bad thoughts, go away! Don't take advantage of this innocent girl!
"Then? What do you want to ask?"
"Hmm, about the actions of the Prince of the Linggatan Kingdom," said Satya. "He's all alone, isn't he?"
"Yes."
"Well, why do people just let him do that?" said Satya. "I mean, if King and Queen Artapurana ruled with an iron fist, cruel and tyrannical, I wouldn't be surprised if the people didn't act when that happened. But you told me that the king and queen ruled justly and wisely. Isn't this weird?"
"What you think," said Lathifa, "is what I also think."
"So you don't know the reason at all?"
"No, it's not like that."
"Then what?"
"At that time," said Lathifa. "Everyone thinks the same way, why did that happen? Even the person most trusted by the King and Queen Artapurana has fallen to that prince."
"Well, there he is!" said Satya. "It's a different story if it turns out that the Royal Counselor is dark-eyed, wants to control this and that, and then conspires with the prince."
"No, he's not that type of a human."
"How did you know?" Satya frowned. "You said yourself, he was even there on the night of the princess's murder, making a ritual symbol on the princess's forehead."
"There were a lot of things that happened that night, Satya," said Lathifa. "Also, what the public finally found out."
"What the hell is that?"
"First," said Lathifa, "that Royal Counselor was forced to do it all for one reason or another."
"Argh, it's just an excuse to justify what he did. Pathetic!"
Lathifa smiled as she stroked her hair. "No, it's hard to understand, but that's how it is. He, the Royal Counselor, the person most trusted by the royal family pretends to be subservient to Pramudya Antaguna, the Prince of the Linggatan Kingdom."
"Pretend?"
"Yes."
"Okay, that's might happen," said Satya. "But, it's his duty to save the only heir to the throne of Artapurana, isn't he? Then, why is he still doing the ritual?"
"Well, herein lies a bit of the problem, Satya."
"You mean?"
"By following the ritual," said Lathifa, "which Pramudya Antaguna hoped as a symbol of his rise to power, it turned out to be the opposite."
"You mean that guy got hit by some kind of curse, is that it?"
"No, it's not like that."
"Then what?"
"Like this," said Lathifa. "The Royal Counselor who pretended to be submissive to Pramudya Antaguna actually took advantage by turning the ritual into a spell that would later be able to raise the princess from the dead."
"Huh?!"
"Or at least," said Lathifa. "Saving the princess one way or another."
"Alright, although I don't really understand your story. But, what next?"
"Remember the blood symbol painted on the princess' forehead?"
"Uh-huh, and then?"
"Well, it should be, that symbol is a symbol of worshiping the devil as expected by Pramudya Antaguna. However, by the Royal Counselor, he actually made a different symbol without Pramudya himself realizing it."
"Aah…is that so, huh?"
"Yes," Lathifa nodded. "A symbol of worship of the Sea God."
"Because the princess will be drowned in the sea, is that so?"
"Maybe," said Lathifa. "Only that Royal Counselor understands it."
"Then, what happened after that?"
"About no one has stopped Pramudya Antaguna's actions on the Artapurana Royal family."
"Okay, then what?"
"Finally, people know that Pramudya Antaguna uses the power of evil magic to make people submit to him, even though these people are aware and not sincere at all, but like it or not, they are forced to submit under Pramudya Antaguna's feet."
"Good grief…" Satya then choked. "To think again," he said, "magic and all things mystical is so strong in this land."
"Yes, that's how it is. And Parmudaya has pledged his soul to the devil to obtain that power."
"Oh, the Great Goddess…" Satya suddenly felt something bad was going to happen to him too. "I'd better find a way to quickly get back to where I came from."