139 Side Story: The Seventh Adviser (1)
It was around 7xx, in unnamed small village, a young man died before he had the chance to explore the world. He was known as the smartest young man in the village, the brightest one among the youths in his age, and the one who had the highest possibility to be able to serve the king.
However, that night he drew his last breath with feeling sadness and disappointed. He watched as his family cried before his rigid body. His watched their expressions one by one, and found out his own brother was sneering at him; not at his rigid body, but at him.
“Too bad, lil bro” He mouthed that words without showing an ounce of sadness in his face. Instead, only a victorious expression was shown in his face.
But of course, he knew his brother was such a good actor. Right after he said that, his brother put on a sad expression as he tried to appease his mother.
He even shed some tears.
“Mother, let lil brother have some peace. Let’s go. We need to prepare a proper burial to him.” The older brother, Arya Wijaya, softly asked his mother. He took a side glance to his little brother’s soul which was still floating near them and sneered a bit.
The little brother, Aditya Dananjaya, clenched his fist. Rather than feeling angry, he was feeling sad as he knew the one who caused his death was none other than his own older brother, Arya.
Danan knew the reason behind his brother’s action, though. By the end of the week, both of them would travel to the main city to join the test to enter the kingdom. He had never thought that it would be the reason, but apparently it was. Since he was -said- to be brighter and smarter, his chance to get into the kingdom was higher than his older brother. Therefore, his older brother decided to eliminate him to ensure his chance to get into the kingdom.
Of course, Arya could do that because he believed he could get into the kingdom, only if his younger brother didn’t stand in his way.
.....
Both siblings were bright and smart, but his older brother was always second to his own younger brother. His pride was pricked and slowly he developed jealousy and hatred towards his own brother. He had wanted to kill his younger brother on their way to the main city, but he was afraid he couldn’t find the best reason and alibi for himself when their dearest mother asked about his brother. So, using a ‘help’ from his ‘friend’ he poisoned his own brother.
Danan couldn’t see them any longer as he felt something was pulling him hard. His soul was sucked so fast, by the time he came back to his sense, he found himself in an unknown forest.
Where was he? How did he end up here?
He had those questions in his head, but he couldn’t find the answer. Just as he was thinking about it, he was startled by a voice greeting his.
“Oh my, oh my, oh my. Look who is it. Young man, are you lost?” A kind voice belong to a woman was heard.
Danan turned around, only to see a woman around in her forties was talking to him. For a moment, he was stunned.
Wasn’t he dead? This woman was still a human, right? Then, why?
“Oh my, you’re dead already? What a pity!” The woman put on a sad expression as she studied him further. All the while, Danan had not uttered a word to her.
“Do you want to come with me? I know a place where you can stay.” She smiled gently.
If he were still a human, Danan was sure this woman had bad intention to him. But, now that he was a ghost, what bad thing could happen to him?
So, he followed the woman. They walked further into the forest while talking. No, to be exact, the woman was talking and Danan was listening.
She was a talkative middle-aged woman, he thought. But, he still didn’t say much; only answering yes or no to her questions.
They had walked for a bit while and Danan was thinking where they were heading to. It was not like he could feel tired even after walking that far, but it was just bothering his mind. He didn’t know the place, even though he was a ghost, he was still feeling uneasy with the super long walking.
“Excuse me, but where are we?” For the first time during their conversation, he finally asked a question.
“Oh, you came here but you don’t know where it is?” The woman looked at him in surprised. “This is the inner region of Sacred Forest. You must have heard of it before, right?” She said casually while smiling.
But, her answer made him stunned.
Who didn’t know about Sacred Forest? As far as he knew, this forest was forbidden for human, especially the inner region. Kings or village chiefs could only go to the outer region to make some offerings. No one would dare to enter the inner region.
But, here he was in the inner region with a woman. A human, on top of that! What happened with the legend that humans were not allowed to enter the forest?
“Seeing your reaction, you must have heard of it before. Don’t worry, as long as you’re with me, you’ll be fine. We’re almost there, just hang on for a bit.” She was still smiling as she kept leading the way.
Danan didn’t ask anymore questions, even though he had many inside his mind, and kept following the woman. They walked deeper into the forest, and just as Danan was about to ask again, he caught sight of something that made him dumbfounded.
Unconsciously, he stopped walking. His eyes were scanning through the sight in front of him in surprise.
What on earth happened here? Where did this beautiful village appear out of nowhere?
Laid in front of him was the landscape view of a village. Surrounded by tall trees, with sufficient amount of sunlight, neat rows of wooden houses, this place was just like any other prosperous village. It was just one thing; it was hidden in the inner region of Sacred Forest.
However, that was not the only thing that attracted him.
As where he was standing at was the higher ground than the village itself, he had a better view about the village. From where he was standing, he could see the west part of the village was not occupied by human. Instead of common type of house, there were only three big buildings and two multipurpose buildings without walls. From these five buildings, Danan could see some beings like him were walking around.
No, not only in those buildings, but also in the whole village. It was just... the west part of the village was reserved only for them.
What was this place?
“Welcome to our village!” The woman waited until Danan had fully absorbed about his surrounding before she snapped him out to reality. “This is the Sacred Region, the core of Sacred Forest. As you can see, we live side by side with your kind. The west wing is specially built for your kind and there is a portal there where it can lead to your dimension. But, as a new soul, you must not enter that dimension for now. You’ll be preyed upon by bad guys.”
Danan blinked his eyes and for the first time, he really took a good look upon the woman in front of him. A suspicion poked his heart, as he found this woman’s identity was mostly not ordinary one.
“Sacred Region, fine, I get it. But, who are you?” He asked.
“Ah, I haven’t introduce myself yet, right? My bad.” The woman straightened her back and with a flick of her hand, her aura changed. From a plain woman, she looked noble and graceful. Her plain clothes couldn’t hide her aura, as she stood there with the majestic feeling of a King mixed with the graciousness of a Queen and the free spirit of an unrestrained human, creating a somehow balanced and powerful impression of herself, totally different with her previous self.
“My name is Dewi Sasmaya. I’m the Chief of Sacred Region.” She introduced herself, which only surprised Danan more.
How many surprises would come to his way? He thought.
“Aditya Dananjaya, for not bearing grudge over the misfortune fallen upon you that caused your death, for being able to be clear headed even after your life was taken from you, I personally welcome you to Sacred Region and become the part of Sacred Region’s family member.” She said with a graceful smile on her face.
Danan was stunned. All this time, this woman actually knew about him.
To be able to know about him and the reason he died, just how powerful was she actually?
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