Queen Without Crown

Chapter 161 The Lost Time

Princess Juwita approached her bedroom window. Lightning scratches crackled in the sky, shining on his body with a bluish-white light.

"Why do I not know myself?" He muttered with a feeling of sadness. Eldrige's previous words had seized his mind.

The heavy rain sounded like the twang of a coin. The storm continued to approach and the trees swerved in the wind. The thunderous lightning shook the glass, Princess Juwita's body retreated away.

The girl was trembling in fear. But his fear was not because of the thunder but because of another cause.

"Who are you?" His voice was choked to see his reflection on the window pane. The shadow resembled her but her eyes were red in flames.

Duaarrr!

The lightning returned. The terrifying shadow had disappeared and replaced its original shadow. Princess Juwita immediately jumped onto the bed and covered her body with a blanket.

The flame burning on the candle in the corner of the room flickered making the shadows of the objects in the room twitch eerily.

Leg.deg.deg..

The girl's heart was racing. The shadow still haunts him. He didn't know what he saw was real or just his imagination. But that scared him.

Blams.

Suddenly the candle went out. The room is now dark. Every now and then a flash of lightning crashing out there illuminated the place.

Tek.tek..

Strange sounds of footsteps came closer. Slowly Princess Juwita lowered her blanket and peered outside.

..... There's no one. But the nape of the girl is goosebumps. Princess Juwita circulated her gaze, trying to find anything that moved in the room.

A strip of light from outside again illuminated the night before followed by a thunderous breaking sound. That's when Princess Juwita saw her. The figure was standing in the middle of the room turning his back to the window. Her face was invisible, but the girl could surmise that the figure was the one she had seen earlier.

"Yeah..!" The girl screamed. But his screams were muffled by the sound of lightning.

Princess Juwita again infiltrated the blanket. He's very scared. The lightning returned. From inside the blanket he saw a shadow approaching and stopped right beside him. Shortly after, the blanket covering his entire body was snatched away.

"You awake?"

Princess Juwita flinched so face to face with Eldrige's face. But more surprising is the atmosphere of the room that now looks bright.

Princess Juwita blinked her eyes because of the glare of the sun coming through the window. It was hard to believe that time had changed.

"Didn't it rain?" Ask the girl confused.

"It was raining all night with a storm. But it's very bright today. I'm here because you didn't come for breakfast. Did you sleep late last night?" Eldrige smiled as he placed a tray of food in front of Princess Juwita.

"I..Ah, last night I couldn't sleep because of fear. Dead candles and.." The girl did not continue her sentence as she was unable to digest what had happened to her.

"The sound of lightning must have scared you." Eldrige's hand stroked Princess Juwita's head gently.

"Eldrige, actually I don't know what happened. I don't understand how can it be now that it's suddenly noon?"

"You must have fallen asleep. When I got in here you were sleeping curled up in a blanket."

"really?" Princess Juwita wanted to believe Eldrige's words, but her heart still had a hard time accepting them.

"Now eat first, I'll wait for you downstairs." Eldrige clenched his forehead and walked away. The man smiled at her before closing the door.

Princess Juwita. Was last night just a dream? Yeah, that's exactly what happened, he thought.

*****

"Our wedding will be held at the end of this month. The envoys have already departed to spread the invitation." Pertiwi reported the happy news in the afternoon while walking in the park with Princess Juwita and Ningrum.

"Well, congratulations." Princess Juwita said with a smile.

"I still didn't expect that my sister would marry you, Mother Earth." Ningrum said while plucking out a sprig of marigolds.

"true." Princess Juwita and Ningrum nodded simultaneously.

"Are you planning to go back to Elfian, Juwita?" Ningrum's question surprised Princess Pertiwi, the girl immediately turned to Princess Juwita.

"I miss my parents a lot. And I want to see my baby sister too. Yesterday before leaving, Uncle Gaurav said he would stop by the Elfian to tell my parents about it." Reply Princess Juwita.

"Grandmother told me that dad also invited your parents to come to my wedding. Ah.I don't think I'm parting with you, Juwita." Pertiwi's daughter clasped her cousin's shoulder.

"Isn't Ningrum still here? Besides, soon Brother Bagas will be your husband, he will definitely not let you be lonely." Said Princess Juwita while giggling.

Ningrum giggled. While Puteri Pertiwi pretended to sulk with a reddened face, but finally he followed laughing. But their excitement stopped when at the end of the road they saw Eldrige talking to someone.

"Isn't that Mr Eldrige?" Ningrum turned to Princess Juwita.

Princess Juwita observed the Eldrige as if unaware of their presence. The girl wanted to know who Eldrige was talking to.

"I'll see Eldrige first. You guys just keep going on these walks by yourself, okay?" Said Princess Juwita.

"Yes, we understand." Answer the two girls while giggling.

After Princess Pertiwi and Ningrum made a turn, Princess Juwita immediately walked over to Eldrige. But before his steps arrived, Princess Juwita immediately stopped and hid behind a grove of shrubs.

From where it is now, Princess Juwita can now clearly see who Eldrige is talking to. Suddenly, the girl's chest rumbled.

"Do you really mean it, Sekar?" Eldrige's voice reached Princess Juwita's ears.

"You have to trust me, Eldrige. This is the only way." Miss Sekar spoke while looking at Eldrige.

"Are you sure? I'm gonna figure out a way to keep Juwita from knowing." Eldrige said in a firm voice.

"Sooner or later he'll know. If you keep procrastinating on him, it won't be good for him. He would have been more disappointed if he had known this by himself." Miss Sekar approached Eldrige and placed her hand on the man's arm

"No, I won't let it." Eldrige.

Princess Juwita turned her face away. He did not expect to find Eldrige alone with Miss Sekar in this park. Actually, he was curious about their conversation because he mentioned about himself, but he could not wait to see the closeness of the two.

The girl decided to leave. He then quietly walked up to the two girls earlier. Next to her hand rubbed the falling tears without being prevented.

The mood of the girl became bad. He did not say much when he met Princess Pertiwi and Ningrum who kept teasing him about Eldrige. In his mind only contained the shadow of Eldrige who was alone with Miss Sekar.

"Why do you have so much heart, Eldrige?" His inner.

Later that night when the girl was about to go to sleep, Eldrige intercepted her. Eldrige showed absolutely no guilt and acted as if nothing had happened. The man ruffled the hair of Princess Pertiwi who had now returned to her natural color and delivered a very sweet good-bye. Eldrige's attitude made Princess Juwita more hurt.

"I'm sleepy, Eldrige." Princess Juwita took her eyes off the man. Actually he was hoping that Eldrige would at least offend his meeting with Miss Sekar this afternoon.

"Ah, then you'd better get some sleep. It doesn't seem like it's gonna rain tonight, so I hope you sleep well." Eldrige said with a smile.

Princess Juwita nodded slowly then immediately turned around to enter her room. Suddenly a pair of arms hugged him from behind.

"I love you, Juwita." Eldrige whispered in his ear.

Princess Juwita did not say a word, her heart was too sick to hear the words of Eldrige who now felt fake. Slowly let go of Eldrige's embrace.

"I'm tired." Princess Juwita immediately entered the room without looking over.

In the room he stood leaning against the door. His shoulders shook and tears rolled down his cheeks. His body slowly slumped down.

"Why don't you be honest, Eldrige?"

The girl lowered her head hugged her knees while sobbing. His emotions now seemed to explode, between anger and heartache.

After being satisfied crying Princess Juwita raised her face. But his puffy eyes immediately widened when he saw the room was brightly lit. Sunlight shone through the window.

"What's going on?" The girl was shocked because again time passed without realizing it.