THE TEARS OF KUMARI KANDAM
CHAPTRE 107

After a full five-hour journey, Jihan finally arrives at the home of her late lover. The house is located in one of the coastal villages that reportedly also visited by wandering tribe leaders who rose from the grave. Eve that remains hot even in the rainy season, the loud pounding of the waves are always awake, and the smell of the mackerel fish here and there, here and there, make Jihan did not hesitate to say if the Kumari Kandam underground prison is much more worthy of being referred to as a place to live.

"It's fucked up" Jihan murmured as she got off the horse-drawn carriage.

Jihan looked at the house in front of her. It was the biggest and nicest house among the others. Yeah, it's only natural. The wages of those who work for Svarg* are no joke. They could get one bag of gold coins from a regular customer, and five bags of gold coins from a queen or concubine. It was a count for one customer in two hours, and they used to work for twenty-four hours. Even so, there is still no point in building a big and nice house in the bastard, right?

Svarg* is a shelter for beautiful-faced male slaves. Some of them were sent to brothels, and some were sent in secret to the queen's palace or harem.

"Let's take a look around for a while and leave. I hate de-"

"Greetings. Sorry for the delay, Princess. Introduce servant Faakhir Samama."

Jihan turned to the origin of the voice, and was quite surprised to find a man who was very similar to the late lover.

"Please. Here's the key, Princess." Faakhir handed me the key.

"Why did you give it to me?"

"Because this house is already yours, Princess," replied Faakhir.

"What?"

"Master Murat has already bought it on your behalf." Faakhir thrust a scroll at Jihan. "Hamba has also changed the ownership rights of this house according to Mr. Murat's orders."

"He never gave me a gift, and once gave me a gift, he gave me a house in a crap. Murat Iskender is the most damn thing in the world." Jihan took the coarse key and the scroll from Faakhir.

"If there's anything you want to ask about this house or about Firdoos, you can send a waiter over there." Faakhir pointed to the ship at the end of the coast. "The servant lives there."

"I will never send my servants there."

Faakhir. "Then I beg you to resign."

Jihan did not reply, only handed the key to one of the servants and asked him to open the house immediately.

CLAMPS

The door opened, and at once the aroma of various herbal plants immediately tickled Jihan's sense of smell following the servants who had been tailing her. What a strange house. How can the atmosphere outside and inside the house be so different? Eve in harmony with the season, peaceful without the slightest sound of waves, even fragrant untainted mackerel fish that Jihan hates. It turns out that true what the devout people say out there, there is always paradise behind the bastards.

"Daughter, should I light the fireplace?" A waiter approached Jihan, discharging her who was carried away.

"Yes. Prepare warm drinks and snacks too."

"As per your orders, Princess."

While the servants were busy fulfilling his orders, Jihan went back around. The house was one-story, with no underground storage sheds or mackerel fish ponds. Instead, there was a garden of herbs in a small room made like a greenhouse. Jihan knew some of the plants, based on her experience of being a "tribe" deputy leader of a wandering tribe. It is a plant commonly used for minor ailments such as fever, colds, stomach aches and burns.

"It turns out his scent came from those plants." Jihan opened the first room.

Blank. There was nothing in the room next to the fireplace, as well as the second room. There is one last room. It must be the room Murat claimed could treat his longing for Firdoos Shyamali. Jihan rushed into the room. Narrow room with furniture that can be counted fingers. The thick dust that stuck here and there especially the floor, made the footprints look very clear. Either Murat or Faakhir, one of them had not long entered the room.

"Even a rat's nest is wider than this room." Jihan took a random pile of books at the table. "How to find a soulmate? Hid. Basic useless."

Jihan left the table the size of half her dresser, and turned to the wardrobe. There are many men's clothes hanging neatly, even women's clothes. It must have been the woman's clothes that belonged to a bored Firdoos customer struggling in a brothel bed. Indeed, unusual places often invite different sex sensations, for example in a room the size of the gutter. Jihan who had made love in the stables to the navel of her late adoptive father, understood very well how the sensation.

Jihan took out one of the women's clothes from the closet. "It seems I've seen this outfit." Jihan observed the metah-white clothes, trying to remember. "Ah, right. In the fake past. When we met for the second time."

*FLASHBACK ON*

"Long live, and be bound always, the month of Kumari Kandam." Firdoos bowed to Jihan who had just opened the door.

"You?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. It's servant. At that time I could not introduce myself. Introduce, servant of Firdoos Shyamali, temporary adviser to the king."

Jihan turned around, then stepped towards the living room. "How can the man who worked at Svarg be accepted to work in the position closest to the king?"

"Really not what you think, Your Majesty. Servant really took a difficult test to get to this position da-"

"Prove that you're not the incarnation of that goddamn demon" Jihan said.

Firdoos abandoned his intention of pulling the chair. "What do you want the servant to do to prove?"

"Anything."

Phirdos took out something from inside his robe. "Recently Kumari Kandam made a weapon called Gandh*, and the damn demon you mean is quite afraid of it. Although in a strong condition, if a little exposed Gandh, he would be upset and forced to appear."

Gandh* is a new weapon recently made Kumari Kandam, a mixture of salt and holy water. Salt is known to weaken the half-leech Gaana, and holy water has been used to drive out demons for hundreds of years. The reaction that would have arisen if Gandh had hit Gaana's body was a pain that slowly turned into a burning sensation.

"Where do I know it's the real Gandh?"

Firdoos smile. "Gandh won't react on anything other than the fucking devil you mean."

Jihan did not answer, only watching Firdos wash his face with Gandh. "Is this enough, Your Majesty?"

"Yes, for now. Then, what was your purpose in coming here?"

"To protect you, Your Majesty," said Firdoos.

"I have heard from the letter that Braheim sent to Murat. But I still don't understand. What does it mean to protect me?"

"Everyone was evacuated to safety, except you, Your Majesty."

"Ah, I understand. Such is. King Kumari Kandam does not have compassion for sinners."

*FLASHBACK OFF*

"How could he get the exact same clothes? What a strange man." Jihan took out another woman's clothes. "What's? Didn't I wear this too?"

*FLASHBACK ON*

"You don't need to worry, Your Majesty. The soldiers will protect you until the situation is safe again. Then I beg you to resign." Firdoos bowed to Jihan.

"Can't you stay?"

"The servant must go, Your Majesty. Servants must join Kumari Kamdam's fighting force."

Jihan was silent, looking disappointed. "Maybe you want to participate? Because even if it is only one person, it will be very helpful in winning the war," Firdoos added.

Jihan was still silent, still disappointed. "Then stay here, Your Majesty. It's also a safe place. But if you find the rain starting to fall, go to that place."

"I understand. Come back safely. I'll wait for you wherever it is."

Firdoos smiled, then bowed back. "Long live, and blessed is always the month of Kumari Kandam."

*FLASHBACK OFF*

"Sad. Sucks. Even the carcass is still a bitch." Jihan wiped her tears quickly.

"Daughter, warm drinks and snacks are ready."

"Put it down, and return to Sitaara" Jihan replied without turning to her servant who had just appeared at the door mouth.

"Are you going to spend the night here?"

"Yes." Yeah."

"Then, should the servant clean this room before leaving?"

"Leave it."

"When should we go back, Princess?"

Jihan wiped her tears again. "I'll send you a letter. Just leave the delivery bird a message."

"As per your orders, Princess. Then I beg you to resign."

The death of two stallions that were spanked many times by the coachman was increasingly faintly heard, replaced by a restrained cry Jihan who finally spilled. Jihan cries as she hugs the last clothes she wore in the fake past. Be ill. For whatever. Pain when life is on the tip of the horn alone is not as much pain when compared to the pain of people who love the half of the heart that is dead. The sky was already completely overrun by night creatures, but the pain had not yet gone away.

CLAMPS

"Have you?"

"Go."

Murat sighed. "Are you the only one who doesn't rejoice in Kumari Kandam?"

"I have no reason to rejoice."

"Didn't you like the festival? You always come out secretly just to see fireworks, don't you?"

"You think I'm actually out to see the fireworks?"

Murat stepped closer to Jihan who was sitting leaning under the window. "No. You're out to fuck the circus performers in the audience seats. I just picked a polite sentence."

Jihan clicked in response to Murat, her tears starting to stop lapping at the corners of her eyes that had missed red.

"No matter if you cry every day, he won't come back" Murat said.

"I know."

"Then go back to being like you used to be."

Jihan moved, still hugging her clothes in the fake past. "You want me to be an accomplice to Sanjeev Rajak?"

"try it. I swear I'll kill you right away."

"Then why should I go back to being the old me? I was just reborn into another me."

"The Advisor Murat meant is to return to being your strong self, Princess."

Spontaneous Jihan and Murat turned to the mouth of the door.

"Everyone knows you as a strong, intelligent woman, who has a lot of luck and who knows no wounds. Advisor Murat wants you to come back to being who you are" Princess Chadna added.

Jihan looked at Princess Chadna from head to toe. "You, Princess Chadna of Chamakadaar?"

"Yes, Princess. Salutations. Meet Chadna Anaan's servant."

"How far are you from this b*jat?" Jihan pointed at Murat.

"Hey, your mouth is really ha–"

"I heard three candidates for the queen came from a bankrupt kingdom." Jihan walked over to Princess Chadna. "He is indeed b*jat but his wealth is among the most numerous among Braheim Bhaavesh's other subordinates." Jihan plays Princess Chadna's hair partially unraveling forward. "If you're going to make him a bum, get ready to make him a guinea pig."