The Uninvited Princess ✔

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Pranee didn't realize until now how painful it was to walk around barefoot. She wondered how Shashi was able to walk around like this all the time. If she were still in the palace, her attendants would've carried her rather than letting her walk barefoot outside.

"When can we get back onto the staff? My feet are starting to hurt." She quietly flinched from pain as she had accidentally stepped on a pebble.

"You weren't complaining earlier when you were carrying the bags of food." Shashi gave her a side-glance but Pranee refused to acknowledge it.

"It would be bad luck if I complained about my karmic duty."

"Hmm, I see. Well, it won't be for too long."

Silence separated them for a moment as Pranee walked uncomfortably. She was still curious about the young wizard but didn't want them to tell her to stop. Pranee knew that they had seemed to warm up to her more recently. She even met their dad which must've meant something at least. She decided to try anyway.

"Hey, Shashi?"

"Yes?" They didn't seem to mind now.

"If your father is a monk, what happened to your mother?"

"Ah, my father divorced my mother to pursue enlightenment. She's now living comfortably back in her home country with my relatives."

"Ah, that must've been tough." Pranee lowered her head slightly.

"He did it in hopes that it would bring good karma to me," Shashi reassured her and she shook her head.

"I mean... your mother. She must've had difficulty raising a child on her own."

"Especially one with no arms, right?" Shashi glanced at her. "You were thinking that, right?"

"Well... no. But I guess that is a concern." Pranee averted her gaze.

"There's nothing I can do to thanking her for raising me." Shashi nodded absentmindedly.

Pranee couldn't stop herself from frowning. "Ah, sounds very different from my family. Your father was very nice."

"He didn't give you a hard time, did you?"

"Ah no, he didn't."

"Funny story, I actually brought Kiet and Chann here once and my dad was skeptical of them."

She perked up and looked at Shashi. Her curiosity was burning more than ever. She never thought that Shashi's friends had come by the temple before.

"How come?"

"Has he told you that he could see the past lives of people?"

"Yeah."

"I'm actually skeptical of that."

"How come?"

"I have a feeling it's linked to that since he refused to give an exact reason why."

"Was Kiet rude?" Pranee thought about the last time she saw the man and could only think of how cold he acted.

"Definitely not." Shashi raised an eyebrow at her but she didn't say anything. "Chann was too shy to say anything, though they're always the nervous type. My dad and Kiet just had a staring contest for a long time that I had to eventually say something."

"That's strange. He seemed to like me."

"He thought you were my girlfriend. He may be good at looking into the past but I'm not sure if he's very good at looking at the present."

"Hey, should you really be saying that? He is a monk and your father."

"If I were to be punished for what I just said, so be it. I'll let karma take its course."

Before they could walk any further, they heard something making its way through the jungle. The sound of foliage being moved was loud and Pranee could only guess what was lurking in the distance.

"What was that?"

"I don't know."

A long white trunk emerged from the bushes and not before long, a light grey face was peering at the two travellers through light eyelashes. Pranee let out a quiet gasp and looked to Shashi to confirm if what she was seeing was real. Shashi stood there stiffly with a shocked look on their expression.

"Is that a white elephant?" Shashi asked.

"I think so."

The elephant had light spots that varied in size all over its body but Pranee could tell it was definitely a white elephant. Their offerings to the temple were more immediate than Pranee had thought. To find a white elephant while wandering in the wild would only mean immeasurable amounts of good karma was coming their way.

"That means we'll have to bring this elephant to the king." Shashi let out a worried sigh and Pranee froze. "How are we going to bring an elephant to the other side of the country?"

She had forgotten that all white elephants found in Isla were automatically the property of the king and had to be brought immediately.

"Both of you don't need to panic, this elephant is mine to bring."

The young woman stepped into view as she walked out from behind the elephant. Shashi's muscles tensed visibly and Pranee instantly recognized her the moment her face came into view.

"Wipa."