The Serpent's Enigma

6 | Riding Dragons and Erecting Temples

GIANITA

The more time Gigi spent with Cal Junior, the more his personality stood out from his father's, conveying he wasn't just his father in miniature but a person in his own right. While both carried the same refined, aristocratic demeanour, his father preferred to spend his pastime outdoors as Junior preferred the tranquillity of his own home.

Intelligent, curious, and determined; Junior could go on for hours about things that he was interested in.

He even kept notes on what he'd learned! Gigi saw him writing it all down in a neat diary. And gosh, did he have beautiful penmanship for a seven-year-old. Gigi had never seen another boy like him in her life, not even her younger brother.

There was still another concerning matter about his father. The man had been giving her an intense stare whenever they were together in the same room. Still conflicted about his opinion of her, she was afraid that he was now holding a grudge against her for stealing a portion of his son's affection. Funny thing was, his expression reminded her of his son's when he fantasized about conquering the world atop a dragon's back, or dinosaurs.

But he couldn't possibly be thinking about dragons, could he?

"Cal, look what I've brought you today!" Gigi smiled delightfully as Junior gave her a tilt of his head. "...Tada!" Taking her hand out from behind her back, she produced six colourful pens, waving them before his curious face.

Junior was bewildered. "New pens?"

"Not just any pens! They might look similar to the fountain pens that your father gave you, but they're filled with colourful metallic inks. They're among the various fashion items that are the trend in Praja right now. People use them to draw on fabrics, but they're versatile enough to use on paper."

Staring at them intrigued, Junior then slowly picked up the green pen. After testing it on a piece of paper, he gathered them all in his hands. "Can I please borrow these?"

"You don't need to borrow them, they're yours. I ordered them specifically for you." Gigi ruffled his hair gently.

"Wicked!" The Prince squealed happily and engulfed her in a tight hug. "Gigi, you're the best!" Proceeding to take his diary out, he inscribed his name in green and gold.

"I can get you more colours, if you'd like," Gigi grinned, seeing him happy warmed her heart.

"Your home country does sound like a wonderland. I would like to visit there sometime," Junior said, now fully occupied with the pens.

"Would you? I would take you to visit the temples, you'd love the stories they carved into its walls. Then we can see a puppet show or a dance performance." Gigi stared into the distance. Taking Junior to Praja sounded like the right thing. Even though he had no Prajan blood, there were plenty of mundane things that would spark his interest.

"The thousand temples that were built by the genies?" His eyes gleamed with wonder. "The temples of Roro Jonggrang?"

"Yes," she gasped. How quickly he picked up on Prajan folklores amazed her.

There was a story about a warlock Prince who proposed to a Princess. Knowing he only did so to kill her father, she promised to marry him only if he could build her a thousand temples overnight, hoping that he would fail. Gathering the help of supernatural beings, the Prince almost succeeded in his quest. Taking notice of it, the Princess tricked the palace roosters to crow earlier to announce daybreak. Fooled, the spirits fled back to the darkness, leaving the Prince with only 999 temples. Enraged, he cursed her, turning her into the thousandth temple.

Indeed, a lot of Prajan legends often ended in tragedies.

"Honestly, I don't believe that they were built by genies. It erases all the hard work and dedication that our people did put into building them."

"If I was to marry a princess," declared Junior, "I too would ask her to build me a thousand temples."

Gigi laughed at him amused. "I believe it should be the other way around."

"Well, I like turning things around," said Junior craftily. "And don't forget about the dragon island! I'm going to ask Papa to take us to Praja tomorrow."

"Oh, good. Then we can avoid the banquet and speech and dance altogether," she laughed bitterly. She knew it was impossible to achieve, but a girl could dream.

"Dance?" echoed Junior.

"Yes! Your father commands me to waltz at the banquet, while I know nothing about it." She let out a small irked sound. Although she was quite familiar with the dance, having seen it a couple of times by some tourists; she had never learned, let alone practised it.

Despite the initial relief of knowing that in Angletonia, dance wasn't a public spectacle but an activity that both the hosts and the guests would participate in, her heart sank knowing that she and her husband were required to do the first dance, making it a performance nonetheless.

Having to present something she was unfamiliar with in a multinational event with her home country's reputation at stake, it was a recipe for disaster.

"Commands?" He giggled. "Papa does like to dance. Whenever there's a guest, he would entertain them with a dance. If the guest is a single male, he'd take him on a horse ride. What are those books for?" Junior gestured to a large pile of books that Gigi gathered around her.

"These books are written by famous dancers, I'm trying to learn it." She sighed, hoping that looking at pictures of the dancers would inspire her.

"You cannot learn to waltz like this! You have to hire a dance instructor."

"Junior, it's very unlike you to undermine the power of books. Besides, I wouldn't have time to hire anyone, it— Wait, I have an idea! Could you teach me instead?"

"Teach you... to dance?"

"Yes!" she clapped. "You, Sir, are going to be my dance instructor."

Junior's cherubic face was riddled with hesitation. "Mm, I don't know... Father said that I'm not required to dance till I reach fourteen, so I don't know much beyond the basics myself."

"It's better than nothing!" Gigi begged. "Listen, I'll get you a special hand-made notebook from Praja if you help me?"

"You promise?" The Prince's eyes glittered with excitement, squealing as Gigi gave him an assuring nod. "Very well, then! I could teach you a step or two before Papa arrives."

"There's no need, Junior," said a deep baritone voice. "I am already here."

.·。.·゜·༺♥༻ ·゜·。.