Chapter 117 - PUOD

Where Lapil treated her that he liked her then for the next day he would ignore her. She's not his subject for entertainment. If he felt like it, he would play with her and when he got bored he would abandon her. 

Tala thought that if she stood her ground, he would be the one who would approach her. However, the day came where they had to leave and he did not see her once, it was like a passing affection.

"Do you know where he is right now?" Tala inquired as she wanted to talk to Lapil. After eight months of no contact, this would become a disruption in her plan. Besides, she likes Lapil--- She liked him even before he met her at the banwa of the Datu.

It was when she was a young girl. Her mother brought her to the Rajah's puod to see the young ginoo who was sparring with the Rajah in the public. Little Lapil was battered, smaller, and weaker than the Rajah but he fought and continued to stand up even if he fell numerous times. 

That time, she fell in love at first sight. And to her delight, her mother told her that the young man was her future Bana or husband. 

However, after her mother told her about who her real Baba was, she also found out that the man who she admires was betrothed to the first daughter of her Baba. She was heartbroken and tried to accept the fact that they were not meant together.

He was a Ginoo, son of Rajah. And her umbo, was the Bai, favored daughter of her father. Yanar was loved, adored, and respected by everyone in the banwa. While she was there, she was ridiculed, bullied, and outcast. 

Although they were both binukot. Yanar was the daughter of the first wife and she was the daughter of the slave. The status was not the same. They were apart from each other. 

She had to wake up from her illusion of marrying Lapil. They were not just meant for each other. She was fooled by her mother's misconception. She was hurt because had an expectation that wasn't her reality. She hated her mother because of this. 

Yet, her Iloy's death brought her to enlightenment. She was right, her mother was right. What is the status for? Why does it matter? Why do they have to suffer because of her mother's origin? Why can't she have what her sister is having? Why does her father only love his first wife if he also had her mother? Why are they so cruel to them? 

Why did the first wife hate her mother? Why did her Iloy die so unjustly? Why can't she marry the man she loves? Why was she enduring this fate of misery? 

Because she was the daughter of an uripon? The slave? Does she not deserve what a person could have too? Why was Yanar the only one who could have everything she wanted? While she was not blessed with a single thing. She couldn't accept that anymore, if life was unfair, she would make it fair for herself. 

There was no one she could rely on, but herself alone. She had progressed where she could almost reach the top. Lapil will be her finale, the man she solely yearned for. She will become his Hara and he will become her Rajah. They will rule these people under them, and she will never be treated as a nonentity again. 

Now that her umbo had died she should have his full attention. She had done everything according to the plan. And she had succeeded in making him like her. However, Lapil was behaving differently. He was not supposed to be cold to her. What went wrong?

Lapil was sitting on the rocks beside the batis or the rivulet, dazing on the calm clear water with his preoccupied expression. He was waiting for someone or something to appear in front of him. 

He does this every day hoping that the woman, whether it was the ghost of his dead fiancée or a goddess of the forest, would show herself once more. He was enchanted, he just interacted with her one time but she made him like this. A fool. 

He even created a shrine for her. That woman called herself, Rym. How could he miss someone he just spent a day with? He dreamt of her every night. That was why he could not forget her face. In his dream, he even covets her at the falls. How funny was that… 

"Ginoo, I think the guests are coming, the Rajah will be needing your assistance to manage them." Famir who was with him the whole time reminded him regarding the piging for the Rajah's birthday. 

"Right." He stood up from the rock and took the lead to head back on the puod. 

Yanarym was covered by woven high-class fabric, dressed like a mummy where her eyes were the only skin visible for the on-lookers. Despite that, Achis also wanted to conceal her eyes and not exhibit a single thing to the people who were staring at her. He never knew he could be this possessive towards her, but showing her to others made him insecure deep inside. 

Though she was covered from head to toe, her eyes that shimmering gorgeously might attract some men and took a liking to her. He was starting to regret bringing her outside yet he doesn't want to leave her in the cabin for a week too. He was in turmoil. 

"Achis, this is so hot! I want to change!" She blurted out as they were being carried on the wagon going to the ballet of Rajah. Achis wrapped his arms around her waist and bent over to whisper in her ears. 

"No, that is your disguise. No one can recognize you wearing that clothing." 

"But it's summer! I'm not used to wearing this overall.." She whined but Achis did not listen to her.