Chapter 27

The very next morning, The Prince had a talk with Lwani. He was curious about Lwani's point of view on his curiosities.

"Lwani", he said. "I have somethings that does not seem to make sense."

Lwani listened on.

"There is a girl that lives in this village. She lives with her grandfather. She did not come to the bride selection."

"Yes. Buhle", remarked Lwani.

"No. I mean, yes… Actually, no. A different Buhle", The Prince tried to clarify. "This one was not noticed."

Lwani got confused.

"What I am trying to say is, there were two girls that did not show up at the bride selection. But this other girl, was unidentified and never caught", said The Prince.

Lwani was still confused.

"I only realized this recently", said The Prince.

"But, My Prince… the number of maidens, old enough to marry, in the kingdom was accurately and repeatedly calculated to be thirty-seven", argued Lwani.

"But, was it 'accurate'?", questioned The Prince. "I am thinking that we should do some digging."

"Some digging, My Prince?"

"Yes. Before we start, where does Buhle live? Buhle the 'Missing maiden'", asked The Prince.

And just like that, The Prince began his investigation. He told Lwani that they would be going to Buhle, the 'Missing maiden's' home the next morning. He said to Lwani; "Next, we will go to Buhle, the girl who saved my life. That secret girl I told you about?"

Lwani nodded.

"By the way, she is the same one we saved the other night. The night of the bandits", said The Prince.

"Really?", Lwani remarked.

"Yeah. That was her."

"You should have told me, My Prince. I would have escorted her home myself that morning", said Lwani. "I mean, she has refused the reward. So, treating her like royalty at every chance we get is the best we can do."

As planned, The Prince and Lwani set their journey to the 'Missing maiden's' house, the next day. Lwani led the way. Along the way, The Prince asked a couple of times whether Lwani was leading them the right way. Each time, Lwani agreed, and assured Prince Abasi that they were going the right way.

When they got even closer to their destination, The Prince asked again. And again, Lwani agreed. The Prince felt that the path was too familiar. They arrived at their destination. The Prince asked one last time, with a whisper;

"Lwani, are you sure we came to the right place?"

"Yes, My Prince", Lwani whispered back. "I have been here before. And this is where I apprehended the 'Missing maiden' and brought her to the palace to serve her sentence."

Lwani knocked and the door was answered by grandpa. Grandpa went speechless when he saw Lwani together with The Prince. He realized that on that day, the secret he shared with his granddaughter would be uncovered.

Grandpa offered the two young men a seat on a wooden bench. The Prince's guards stood by. Grandpa also served some drinks. They sat in front of the house, under a tree.

There was an awkward silence that went on for quite some time. Lwani was the only one not sharing in the awkwardness. He sipped from his cup and, seeing that The Prince was mum, he began to speak;

"Kind sir, you must be wondering how your granddaughter is coping at the palace?"

Grandpa awkwardly avoided eye contact, and he did not respond.

"Well, she is doing well. And she is coping quite fine with the labour", said Lwani. "I know that she has not been with us for a full month yet, but I can tell you that she will definitely finish her sentence with no problems or obstacles at all", said Lwani with a smile.

Grandpa tried smiling back, but it proved too hard for him. He cleared his throat and spoke to The Prince.

"Prince Abasi… Please forgive me. Forgive me for not being truthful with you, Prince Abasi", grandpa apologized.

Lwani looked at The Prince, wondering what the old man was apologizing about. The Prince only kept his gaze on the ground. Although, it was well-known that lying to a Crown Prince was a serious matter that could result in a harsh punishment, The Prince still felt uncomfortable hearing an adult apologize so humbly to him. The Prince felt that grandpa was being too respectful and too humble.

"Please punish only me, My Prince", pleaded Grandpa. "I am the one behind the whole lie, Buhle had nothing to do with it."

"Wait. What lie?", Lwani wanted to know.

Not knowing what to say to grandpa, The Prince nudged Lwani and told him, quietly;

"We should return."

Although that was abrupt, Lwani respectfully said his goodbyes to grandpa and the two went their way.

When he was left alone, grandpa sighed. He felt worried that The Prince was disappointed at him. He wondered how the royal family would punish him when they hear the news from The Prince.

On their way, Lwani wanted to know what had just happened. But he decided to keep his curiosities to a minimum; he did not ask.

"Now, you are taking us to the girl that saved your life!", exclaimed Lwani, trying to lift the mood. "Where is her home?!"

The Prince pulled Lwani's arm and, with despair in his voice, he said; "Lwani, that is enough for today. Let us return to the palace."

"But, My Prince—"

"Lwani", said The Prince, interrupting him.

Lwani obliged. On their way back to the palace, The Prince thought back on their visit to grandpa's house. The Prince wondered what he should have said back there. He wondered if he should have encouraged him not to worry himself and assure him that he was not upset at all. Or he should have scolded him, thus upholding the royal family's image of conducting themselves in an authoritarian manner.

They arrived inside the palace and for some reason, Buhle passed by. She was taking a stroll since there was not much she could do in that moment; all tasks were completed. The Prince was on his way to his palace when he saw her.

He stopped walking and stared at her. The Prince seemed out of it. Lwani realized The Prince had stopped walking, he also noticed him staring at Buhle, the maid, he wondered why. Buhle looked over when she had an eerie feeling that someone in that direction was staring at her. And certainly, someone was staring at her, it was The Prince. She stopped and also stared on, wondering why The Prince was staring at her so intensely.

After watching the two, stare at each other, Lwani nudged The Prince, waking him up from his deep thoughts. It worked; The Prince found himself staring at Buhle and realized she was staring back at him. He immediately looked away, slightly abashed.

Prince Abasi stepped on to his palace. There, he dismissed his guards and, maids and manservants, that served him by his side. He wanted to be alone. A part of him felt guilty about his cold reaction towards grandpa earlier. He felt that he did not have to react the 'royal way'. And he felt that he should have asked grandpa some questions.

The Prince avoided thinking about that issue much farther. He quickly drifted to wondering about Buhle. He wondered what was going on. He had been told before that the 'Missing maiden' was an only child living with her grandpa. Yet he just found out that there are two Buhles and they are both related to the grandpa. Ironically, that grandpa had always been recorded as having only one grandchild. It all just did not make sense.

"How did he manage to hide two granddaughters for all these years?", The Prince wondered. "And also, why does the one working here look so unique? She looks like a mystical creature."

The Prince did ponder on the thought that they could be same person, but he rejected that thought. If they were the same person, it would mean that she was a witch. Which was impossible, because she and her grandpa would not be allowed to live among humans.

He wondered on and on. The Prince had a lot of questions. "But then, I only saw the one that saved my life during my stay there as I recovered from the accident… She is the only granddaughter that lived there. Oh yeah, the mystical-looking Buhle lived somewhere else. I had accompanied her home that one night", said The Prince as he thought.

"Only one is serving the sentence of not attending the bride selection. Is that even fair? I should get the other one to come serve the sentence too. It is important to maintain fairness as the royal palace", said The Prince.

The Prince then got distracted and thought about Buhle the 'Missing maiden', serving at the palace. He remembered her calling him 'Perfect'. He smiled, adorably; "She is so adorable", Prince Abasi blurted out.

He quickly covered his mouth as if he had said something he should never say. He looked around to see if there was anyone there who heard. There was no-one. He smiled again; a bit shy, this time. Thinking about the mystical Buhle seemed to give him some comfort lately. It was his little world, he turned to it every now and then during the day, each day.