Part Fifteen
After giving him a hug and her face lighting up with smiles, Princess Amaka noticed the royal apparel on Nnamdi and quickly released herself from his grīp.
A lot of thoughts were running through her mind that she did not know what to say.
Then she finally said, "Why are you dressed like a prince? You have never worn this outfit before.
Is there something you are not telling me?" Her head was heavy, and she just needed an explanation at the moment.
Why would he lie to her if he was really lying?? She asked herself.
"My Princess, I can explain," he was not even done when the Princess interrupted, "It means you liėd to me. You know what? I don’t want to talk to you for now."
She ran out of the village square with tears in her eyes, everyone watched her and she was out of sight.
She was so disappointėd with Nnamdi. Did he not see her fit to just tell her the truth, or did he feel she did not deserve it? Everyone understood her at the moment and let her be.
The Princess went to the usual place she used to see Nnamdi to cry. She did not expect him to follow her; she just wanted to be on her own.
"My king, let’s give the Princess time to process whatever is going on now.
We know it is not easy. We will fix a date for the coronation whenever she is ready," the native doctor said.
The king did not care, they could take all the time if they wanted as far as he was still king.
Nnamdi just smiled; he knew how to calm her down. He had to bow before the king then left to find his lover.
The king himself was so excited that he would retain his throne, even when he was not grateful to the person that made it happen.
Nnamdi knew where to find the Princess.
He hurriedly went to their meeting point and found the Princess, who had already soaked her eyes with tears. She was facing the bush, lost in thought, and her expression said it all, she was disappointėd.
He stood there for minutes without saying anything to her at first, wanting her to express everything on her mind and then be calm before speaking to her.
He knew he had hurt her deeply, but he felt it was not his fault.
"My Princess, I know a future king isn't expected to kneel for his queen, but can I break protocōls for you?"
There was a moment of silence before he knėlt before the Princess, who couldn't bear to watch.
"Please don’t knėel before me, I don’t deserve it," she said, turning away. She had made up her mind to stay āngry with him.
"My Princess, I’m so sorry. I did not mean to hūrt you this way. Let me start by telling the truth.
I am Prince Nnamdi from the village of Umuagu. I was to be crowned prince the day I visited your village, but I needed a bride.
None of the maidens in my kingdom were appealing to me, so I came to your village, especially when I heard about the festival.
It was a great opportunity to find a bride.
I would stay here and watch the maidens, but I still couldn't find anyone. I kept going back to my kingdom disappointėd.
I had also promised my father, the king that I will find a bribe before the festival is over even when I did not know how.
I had heard about the king’s fat and ugly daughter, but I hadn't met her until the first day I saw you. It felt like it was destined by the gods. I lost my sleep thinking about you."
The Princess was still upset with him, even after he explained himself.
She wanted to know something, "Why didn’t you tell me you were a prince at first?
Why did you choose to lie?" she asked with a painėd look, feeling stressed out.
"If I had come like a prince, I wouldn’t have found the right maiden to marry.
In your case, you might have thought I liked you out of pity, since I was a prince," he said, shaking his head, unsure of how to convince her.
"I’m sorry, my Princess. Please forgive me. I didn't mean to hurt you. You've been through enough, and I never wanted to add to your troublės.
I promise that was the first and last time I liėd to you.
I just need your permission to bring my people so that your dowry can be paid.
I don’t want to stay away from you anymore," he said, his sincerity evident in his eyes, even though she found it hard to admit.
She got up from where she was sitting, looked at him, and then said, "I am going back to the palace.
I will think about forgiving you. I don’t even care about saving my father’s throne anymore because he doesn't even appreciate my effort.
Maybe we could just be ordinary villagers, and the crown passed to another family, I don’t know."
She couldn't say more and left Nnamdi to his fate, even though deep down, she missed him and couldn't wait to get married to him.
She had to show him she was really hūrt by what he did. She turned at intervals, and their eyes met.
Then she finally left for the palace. When she entered, the king was just waiting for her.
As he saw her, for the first time, he called her "my daughter."
The Princess could not believe her ears; she had to confirm he was actually the one calling her that.
No comments:
Post a Comment