บท 28: EMPORER'S ENVOY

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The first thing that caught my attention were the gasps of the princes and princesses. Their gaze however was not directed directly at me, but rather on Adishri who had accompanied me to the garden.

Once the princes arrived at the area assigned for accommodations for the guest's early morning, they tried to get together with the various princesses that they already knew or wanted to know. They had already received the news about the high number of princesses that had arrived for the celebration by their attendants.

It was already difficult to meet a princess from another kingdom face-to-face, unless they were somewhat related or their parents were thinking of joining their kingdoms through trade or marriage. Now imagine there being a chance to meet not just a single princess but multiple. They were sure that even their parents would motivate them to interact further.

Seeing that the areas for accommodation were divided such that the princess were not staying with their parents, they thought this was a golden opportunity to meet and interact. Imagine their surprise when they were not even allowed inside the boundary by the soldiers, even after their attendants grandly announced their titles and kingdoms.

It was the first time for most of them to be met with disapproval by mere guards. This caused great disapproval among the princes. Seeing their masters in a difficult position, the attendants started making a lot of unrest while threatening, bribing and even coercing the guards to allow their particular prince inside the boundary to interact with the various princesses. When all of this turned out to be unfruitful, they finally accepted their loss.

Some of the calmer princes understood that this cannot be solved by strength and began using their minds to overcome this problem. If they were not able to go inside directly, they could ask the princesses already inside to vouch for them. There were some princes who knew the princesses and every one of them demanded that they would like for the soldiers to relay their message. They thought that if there was a princess to vouch for them, they would have an easy access in the paradise.

The soldiers were already under orders that if someone wishes to relay their messages to the princesses, they could certainly do so. They told the maid staying at the border about the messages that the so and so prince wishes to relay and asked her to relay it.

While the princes waited in anticipation, the princesses were enjoying their time by the pool and the gardens. The sudden increase in the number from the expectations, had rendered it somewhat cluttered. What was supposed to be ample space by the pool was now a sought-after space early in the morning. The princesses however were not fighting, as they were still enjoying their freedom in such a beautiful landscape.

When the maid arrived with various messages to many different princesses about the princes that wished to meet, it caused a sudden increase in curiosity about their fates among every princess and their respective entourage. They all moved towards the border followed by Adishri. Even though she was walking behind them, everyone knew that the main cast of the show to follow, will be her after seeing the attitude of soldiers towards her.

When they reached the border and the waiting princes saw the large number of princesses coming towards them, they tried to correct their postures and hair. One of the princes who had sent a message, moved at the front and greeted the princess he had known. She too greeted politely. Seeing this he looked smugly towards the guard and asked if it was now possible for him to follow the princess inside the border.

Instead of answering, the soldier turned his attention towards Adishri. Adishri clearly understood her duty and therefore took a step forward towards the prince. She first greeted the prince politely and then told him that the entry of any male is prohibited in the area where the princesses were accommodated.

The prince got angry and asked her to shut up. She did not get angry and just repeated that under no circumstance could she allow his entry. When the prince asked her for her position to act in such way towards him, she replied that she was a trusted aide of mine and it was under direct orders from me that this rule had been implemented.

When he vented that there was no way that I could have a woman as my trusted aide, she did not respond but glanced towards the soldiers guarding the border. They bowed down immediately and this was enough for the prince to understand that what she told was the truth.

Seeing the prince fail, the princesses began to look towards Adishri in awe and giggling on the misfortune of the various princes. The crowd also thinned down quickly knowing that they had no chance of interacting with the princesses in the area of their accommodation. They could only wait for the events during the celebration to interact further.

Seeing that Adishri truly was my trusted aid had caused the surprise gasps among the various princes.

After observing them I searched for my father among the crowd of kings. By my understanding, he should have been seated on the chair at the front. There were two chairs placed there with one being for him and one for me. Seeing that he was not there, I let my sight wander.

I immediately noticed that one place was crowded by almost ten kings. I made my way towards them thinking that it would be where my father would be. As I reached closer, I saw my father standing in the same circle and just as I was about to call him out, I noticed that a man was seated on a chair which was being surrounded by my father and the other kings.

I now understood that this man may be the reason for the nervousness of various kings I saw when I reached the garden.

Even though I did not call him out, my father spotted me and signalled me to come over.

He happily introduced me to the man and then looked towards me, asking me to thank him for attending my birthday celebrations. I did as I was told. The man then got up and introduced himself as Balaji Vishwanath, an envoy from the emperor.

To say that I was shocked would be an understatement. I did not dream that I would be meeting such a legendary figure so early in my new life. This also reminded me of how messed up the timeline was in the era that I was thrown into. He was not even supposed to be in service to the current emperor but rather to his children.