CARA

Satu

"Father, you will also get used to it" said Yu Isma trying to calm Anjani who was crying when bathed that morning. Anjani was crying not because she was raped or anything. He just missed his house. Anjani misses Kangmas Arya, Mbak Rara, and Yu Marsinah. Anjani feels very crybaby, but he wants to go home. This place was too vast and also too foreign to him. No one he knew well in the house.

"Anjani is lonely, Yu," Anjani said with a hiccup.

"Ndak papa, Ndoro Ayu, later if Ndoro Ayu is pregnant and has children, surely will not be lonely again," Yu Isma replied calmly while helping Anjani get dressed.

How to have a child, wong she just does not touch and does not want to be touched by her own husband. Kangmas Reksa did not return full night to the room, making Anjani a great relief. The man didn't meet her face to face at all until this morning. Anjani doesn't care and doesn't want to know either. In his mind was inevitably he had to do 'that' with Kangmas Reksa, because they were obliged to have children. Not to mention, his in-laws would also scold him if he did not go to give birth to a child for his family's successor. And it has to be a man anyway - at least one.

"Ndak not want to have children" said Anjani again with a cry of despair.

Yu Isma simply fell silent and calmed her mistress down with a swipe on her back. Yu Isma took very good care of Anjani, much better than Yu Marsinah. Yu Isma bathed her in flowers, gave her a sweet fragrance of spices and even decorated her hair with small flowers that Yu Isma picked up in the grounds of the main house. In fact, Anjani was not going anywhere that day, yet Yu Isma seemed to be very happy dressing her up, as if she was a puppet. Despite that, Yu Marsinah remained number one in Anjani's heart.

"The beauty of Ndoro Ayu" said Yu Isma when finished dressing Anjani. Anjani looked up at Yu Isma with her face still reluctant to live.

"Yu was very happy when he found out Raden brought a new mistress to this house" said Yu Isma trying to lighten the atmosphere. "Yu had always wanted to have a daughter, so that she could be dressed like this. Raden's family also did not have teenage girls, such as Ndoro Ayu. When Ndoro Ayu came, Yu was impatient to take care of Ndoro Ayu."

Anjani smiled at him, making Yu Isma also smile wider. "Nuwun, Yu," said Anjani slowly.

Suddenly, a female courtier approached them while walking squat. Anjani lowered her head and saw the girl clenched her hands in front of her nose then bowed, in her homage to her new mistress.

"Hail me, Ndoro Ayu. Raden left a message, asking Ndoro Ayu to his study now," said the girl in her polite tone.

Anjani looked at the girl's goal. That girl is so sweet she thinks. The skin is mature flawlessly. His face was small with his big eyes. His forehead was wide with a polite smile. Anjani's mind began to wander everywhere. There's no way Kangmas Reksa wouldn't be tempted to a girl this sweet. Anjani is suspicious, this girl is the illegitimate first wife of Kangmas Reksa and Anjani is only the second wife with the legal status.

At that time, each regent was required to have a legal wife of noble descent. The regent's wife who comes from the common people will only be an unofficial wife, as will Anjani's mother. In the past, Kangmas Arya had told me, if he had to call his own biological mother with the call 'Yu' and call his stepmother with the call 'Mother'. The polygamy system of the Dutch East Indies was very painful for women as well as mothers. The women must be willing to be combined and the mothers - a noble deposit, must be willing to be called 'Yu'.

"Whose name are you?" ask Anjani gently.

The girl clenched her hands back in front of her nose, then said, "Nuwun sewu, Ndoro Ayu, my name is Asih."

Anjani remembered the name with her face that looked weighing. Yu Isma looked a little confused looking at her silent-looking mistress. Anjani immediately stood up from his place, thanking the two courtiers, before walking towards Kangmas Reksa's workspace.

Anjani knelt before the tall door, then knocked gently on it, saying, "Anjani is already outside, Kangmas."

"Come in, Ni," said Reksa from the room.

Anjani opened the door slowly, then walked squatting into the bright workspace. Anjani closed the door again slowly and continued to walk squat until she reached the desk of her husband.

"Sit down, Ni" said Reksa again, looking at Anjani with a faint smile. Anjani looked beautiful that morning with her light blue kebaya and the little flowers of her bun.

Anjani immediately placed his body politely in the front seat of the man's teak desk. Now, the two are only separated by a carved workbench that runs between them.

"Other times, the road is normal, Ni," said Reksa slowly. "There is no angry Rama or Mother."

Anjani looked up and looked at her husband in shock, considering that it was the basic manners that every noble descendant had to perform. "Kangmas mean it?" ask Anjani again.

Anjani does not want to argue anymore, because it certainly benefits him, especially his legs often tingling suddenly. Anjani nodded again with her polite smile.

"Your room has been cleaned, Ni," said Kangmas Reksa softly.

"Nuwun, Kangmas," muttered Anjani with his leg face. Finally he got his own room. Although married, Anjani and Kangmas Reksa still separate rooms, as well as his stepmother and Rama. When they want to spend the night together, then they go to bed. "So, when are we going to spend the night together?"

"It was last night, Kangmas" Anjani replied in a speechless manner as if she knew nothing.

On the other hand, Reksa also smiled calmly to see Anjani's obvious reaction if the girl pretended to be innocent. The two smiled at each other in silence, making Anjani start to feel awkward.

"Oh. that," said Anjani give up, because his cheeks ache. He could have aged from his age, if he had to smile at each other with the man for a long time. Anjani's face suddenly felt sad. Anjani rubbed her eyes, but there were no tears there.

"Everything feels foreign, Kangmas. Anjani misses home" said Anjani forced her tears down, but the only drop came out.

Reksa put his sympathetic face on Anjani. "Pity," said Reksa sympathized, while giving Anjani his handkerchief, which Anjani happily received.

"Kangmas wait for your presence tonight," continued Reksa again, as if unaffected by the tears of crocodile Anjani.

Anjani sighed softly. Her tears did not grow. This guy is hard. Real hard. "It's all too foreign, Kangmas. Anjani it took a few years..."

"I'm getting old first, Ni," cut Reksa again in a calm tone. "I'll give you a month."

Anjani looked up, looking at Reksa. A month? Anjani is not sure he can get used to it in such a short period of time. He squeezed his pull with his mind that began to wander everywhere, trying to find a way out. However, the man had also very well given him time to prepare for this young man. Anjani often gets letters from Mbak Rara, after her brother gets married. Her sister often poured out her feelings of sadness and anger in the letters, telling her husband who always forced his will even though Rara was not ready. Therefore, Anjani nodded in agreement with Reksa.

"Is there anything else you want to say, Ni?" reksa asked quietly, when he saw his wife's expression that looked agitated and gamang in her seat.

"Can Anjani ask you something?" tanya Anjani slowly with her tone and answered with a nod from Reksa. Muta waited for the girl in front of him to speak while leaning against his wooden chair.

"Did Kangmas have another wife besides Anjani?" ask Anjani slowly.

Reksa seemed to not react in the slightest to Anjani's question, making Anjani even more agitated in his place. A thin smile then appeared on Reksa's face, making Anjani more confused how to interpret the smile.

"Just you, Ni. For the next," replied Reksa quietly, making Anjani cranky in place. Anjani's cheeks suddenly turned red upon hearing the simple words of Mutual. Seeing Anjani's timid expression with the girl's cheeks as red as tomatoes, Reksa smiled amusedly in place.

"Therefore, make sure you always take care of your health, Ni," said Reksa again with a mysterious tone.

"... because the Kangmas children will only come from your womb."

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