He tried to recall the condition of the dinner he had with Lathifa in the front room. Then suddenly he widened, his mouth half-open while looking at Lathifa.
"What is it?" asked Latifa.
"I—I remember now!" he said. "Y—You, you are the Princess of the Artapurana Kingdom!"
Latifa smiled. "Hey, you've said the same thing before. Come on, there's nothing to exaggerate."
"But–"
"Satya," Lathifa said, she took a deep breath which made her breasts look even more prominent. "Listen to me, if there's anything you still want to know about me, you can just ask it tomorrow. Now, let's go back to sleep."
Satya was silent, gulped again, he looked around the room.
"Uhm, I'd better sleep in another room."
Latifa smiled. "I only have one bedroom and one divan. Then where would you sleep if not here with me?"
That's right, Satya thought. This afternoon, he already knew how big the hut was. And it's not too big. There are only three rooms. The front room, the middle room which is the room where he is now, and the back room which is the kitchen.
After all, if he insisted on sleeping in the vestibule, it would probably be difficult to do. There are no good seats in the vestibule. There are only two small bamboo chairs, it is impossible to use them as a bed.
"Come on, come here," Lathifa waved her hand, asking Satya to come closer. "I promise I won't do anything weird to you."
But it's also quite interesting, he thought. Satya gulped again, and something in his groin was getting harder and harder. He tried to think of other things so that his lust did not explode.
"O-Okay," he said as he slowly walked over to the bamboo divan, then sat down to the left of the girl.
Lathifa shifted, closer to the wall made of woven bamboo, then Satya climbed onto the divan.
"Just get sleep," said Lathifa as she lay down. "Tomorrow, I will answer everything you want to know."
Satya was only able to nod with his breathing starting to become irregular and his heart racing faster.
Lathifa realized this, she gently touched the man's chest. Surprisingly, at that moment, Satya felt calm inside.
Lathifa smiled again. "Sleep."
Well, there's nothing for me to worry about, Satya thought. After all, this is just for a good rest, not to do anything weird.
Slowly, Satya closed his eyes.
***
When he wakes up, Satya doesn't find Lathifa beside him. He got up and sat on the edge of the divan, watching his body. There is nothing strange, the batik cloth still covers his body from the waist down well.
Satya smiled. Oh, the Great Goddes… what am I thinking?
Of course, with the condition that they had to sleep in one small bed, lustful things appeared in his mind. But it didn't happen at all.
Well, I shouldn't have negative thoughts about that girl!
Satya left the dirt-floored bedroom, he turned to the right, towards the kitchen. Looks like Lathifa wasn't there. He then glanced to the left, towards the front room. Maybe the girl was doing something in the front yard, he thought.
He stepped into the front room. On one of the chairs, Satya saw his clothes which seemed to have dried, as well as Lathifa's clothes. He smiled, thus, I do not have to wear this batik cloth again.
Again he continued his steps to get out of the hut.
Satya was slightly taken aback, he found Lathifa sitting cross-legged on a large rock on the right side of the courtyard, her hands tightly clasped together in front of her chest.
Is she meditating? Satya frowned. But he was no longer surprised by what he was seeing. After all, didn't people in the past often do meditation? One hermitage to attain spiritual perfection?
It is also still often done by certain people in my world, he thought.
The conditions outside were still too early, dim because the sun had not yet shown its form on the eastern horizon. Only appearance the golden light, but it was enough to light up the surrounding wilderness.
Satya just stood quietly in the doorway, watching Lathifa. He decided to just stand there until the girl finished her meditation.
Between sure and not, Satya saw around Lathifa emitting something hot, expanding, like a hot asphalt road surface, he thought.
He winced. Does the girl have some kind of magic or supernatural power?
Yes, it could be. Didn't she say that her original form was an ugly, black, and fat girl? She got his current face and form after being saved by the Sea God, Satya thougt.
Yea, yea, it must be!
A few moments later, Lathifa finished her meditation. The movement of her two hands looks like a girl dancing in slow motion. With a soft and long puff from her mouth, she opened her eyes.
The girl smiled, then looked to the left and back. "Are you awake?"
Satya tried to smile and gave a small nod.
"Do you do that often?" Satya stepped closer to Lathifa. "I mean, meditate?"
Lathifa got up from the boulder and stepped closer to Satya. She shrugged her shoulders slightly.
"Not as often as you think."
"Ahh…" Satya nodded again, he folded his arms to his chest, besides, the morning air in the middle of the forest like this feels cooler to him.
"Are you hungry?"
Satya shook his head.
"How about a bath?"
Satya chuckled. "In the middle of this cold temperature? No, thank you. After a little bright, then I'm going to take a bath."
"Alright, alright, no problem," said Lathifa. "Then come with me."
"Where?"
"You'll find out later."
Satya walked side by side with Lathifa, through the trees to the east of the island.
"Hey, Latifa."
Lathifa glanced at the man on her left, then smiled. "I know," she said. "Go ahead, if you want to ask other things about me, feel free."
Satya smiled, he was happy that the girl didn't mind at all.
"Ermm… so," he glanced at the girl, from head to toe. "Are you going to stay like this? Like forever?"
Latifa frowned.
"I mean, your physical condition?" Satya said. "Your face and body?"
"Ahh…" Lathifa giggled, shrugging her shoulders again. "I don't know," she said. "To be honest, I didn't expect this kind of thing to happen to me," she pointed at her face and body. "I just want the throne of the Artapurana Kingdom back to me, to make the lives of the people of this country return to the way it used to be, to live in peace."
Yeah, that's one thing for sure, Satya thought. After all, who wants to live under oppression forever, in the shadow of the fear of the new ruler?
"Hey, there's one thing that came to my mind."
"Oh yeah, about what?" Lathifa glanced again at the dashing face beside her.
"Hmm, with your current condition," said Satya. "Isn't this something in your favor?"
"Come on, Satya! What do you mean by that?"
Satya chuckled, raising his hands to shoulder level. "I didn't mean anything weird," he said. "What I want to say is about Pramudya Antaguna."
"Oh, I see?"
"Like this," said Satya. "If you experience a change in your face and body shape, then, I don't think that damn prince will recognize you anymore. You can do many things with your current condition. Avenge your parents, for example."
Lathifa smiled and took a deep breath.
"You know," she said. "By the time I realized that there had been a change in my face and body, I had also thought about the things you are thinking now. However, Pramudya Antaguna is not a common man, Satya. If he was just a prince who only avenged the defeat of his parents, he wouldn't be able to influence the confidants of the Artapurana palace."
Satya let out a long sigh. Well, looks like Lathifa was right, he thought. According to what the girl had told him yesterday, Pramudya Antaguna has high magic and supernatural powers. Of course, people with such abilities would be hard to fool even if you had a thousand faces.
"Well, here we are," said Lathifa.
Satya was quite fascinated by the scene that now unfolded before his eyes. A beach with pure white sand, waves crashing on the shore, blue sea water, and a gentle breeze.
On the beach, there are many coconut trees, sea pine, sea hibiscus, and sea pandanus.
Coupled with the chirping of the seabirds and the sunrise light, it all becomes a very beautiful unity in Satya's eyes.
"Wow…!"
Lathifa smiled looking at Satya's face which was filled with admiration at the panorama in the area.
"I brought you here to pick that fruits!"
Satya looked at the sea pandanus grove with its red fruit. Of course, Satya knew well enough that the unique sea pandan fruit was edible, even though he had never eaten it at once.
"Come on!"
Satya smiled and followed the girl's steps to approach the sea pandanus grove.
It is not too difficult for them to be able to pick this unique fruit, especially with Satya who is quite tall.
"The part here is not very wide," said Lathifa, pointing to the beach and forest area behind them.
They just sat on the white sand while enjoying the sea pandanus fruit, this unique fruit can only be eaten at the inner end. And it feels so sweet to Satya. At the very least, he could get energy from the sweetness.
"In the north," said Lathifa, "the land is connected to the mainland of Artapurana."
"So very few people visit this section?"
"Very, very rare, even in recent weeks, none."
Satya nodded. No wonder Lathifa can use this area as a place to live, as well as a hiding place from the target of Pramudya Antaguna and his men.